Esther Manheimer

Manheimer was born on July 24, 1971, in the hamlet of Skyum Bjerge in Thy, Denmark, to American expat parents.^[2] She has two siblings. Her family returned to the United States when she was three, and she lived in San Diego, Olympia and Spokane, Washington, and Bethesda, Maryland before moving to Asheville when she was 17.^[3]

Manheimer graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1993^[4], and she served as campus director of the American Movement for Israel^[5] and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology.^[6] She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning degrees in law and a Master of Public Administration in 1997^[7].

After graduating with a Juris Doctor from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1998^[8], Manheimer returned to Asheville, North Carolina in 2002. She was elected to the Asheville City Council in 2009 and served until 2013. She was elected mayor of Asheville in 2013.^[9]

In March 2016, Manheimer spoke out against the controversial Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, state legislation that eliminated anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community.^[10]

In June 2021, Manheimer was one of 11 U.S. mayors to form Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity (MORE), a coalition of municipal leaders dedicated to starting pilot reparations programs in their cities.^[11] Earlier, in July 2020, the Asheville City Council had "voted to approve reparations in the form of investments in areas of disparity for Black residents."^[12]

In September 2024, Manheimer met with then President Joe Biden aboard Marine One alongside North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to survey damages and discuss disaster relief efforts related to Hurricane Helene.^[13][14][15]

Manheimer is married to Mark Harris, long-time educator and Hall of Fame wrestling coach at Enka High School. They have three sons.^[3] She is the third Jewish mayor of Asheville, after Ken Michalove in 1989 and Leni Sitnik in 1997.^[16]

Manheimer is a principal at the Van Winkle Law Firm in Asheville and focuses on commercial litigation, land use and land disputes^[17]. She was previously an attorney for the North Carolina General Assembly^[18].