James Wallace Knowles III (born July 20, 1979) is an American politician who served as the 11th Mayor of the city of Ferguson, Missouri, from April 2011 to June 2020.[3][4]
Knowles served on the Ferguson city council prior to becoming mayor.[3] Knowles was elected mayor in the nonpartisan election on April 5, 2011, winning 49% of the vote.[3] He defeated two challengers, Pearce Neikirk, a realtor, and former Ferguson mayor Steve Wegert.[3]Voter turnout for the April 2014 mayoral election was extremely low at just 12 percent.[3] Knowles publicly expressed disappointment with the low voter turnout at an April 2014 city council meeting.[9]
Mayor of Ferguson
Knowles became the youngest mayor in Ferguson's history when he took office at the age of 31.[4] He was also believed to be one of youngest mayors in Missouri at the time.[3]
Knowles has defended the Ferguson Police Department in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown in August 2014. He denied that Ferguson had a history of racism in an interview with MSNBC in 2014.[10] An effort to recall Knowles was filed with the city on March 13, 2015.[11] Knowles was re-elected mayor on April 4, 2017, with 57% of the vote.
Knowles was unable to run for re-election in 2020 due to term limits. He was succeeded by Ella Jones, the first black mayor of Ferguson in the city's history.[12]
^Jason Rosenbaum (September 16, 2014). "Ferguson Mayor Says He Overcame Obstacles To Become Mayor". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved November 25, 2014. Knowles – who worked as an aide to former Democratic state Sen. Ted House – said being in the state legislature is a "totally different ballgame from coming home every night and somebody calling you non-stop."