As Charlotte prepares to officially welcome the Democratic Party, holding the spotlight will be Mayor Anthony Foxx, the first Democratoic mayor to govern the city since Harvey Gantt, and a rising African-American politico in the party. Foxx is a graduate of Davidson College and was the first Black student body campus. He earned a law degree from New York University.
Foxx was first elected to the Charlotte City Council in 2005 and was re-elected in 2007. He was elected mayor on November 3, 2009; defeating his Republican opponent and City Council colleague John Lassiter. He won re-election in 2011, carrying two-thirds of the vote. He is the 54th mayor of the Queen City.
As much as the convention is a platform the party nominee, it also serves as a platform for the party's up and coming figures to test their chops before the partisan faithful. Who can forget when a relatively unknown senator from Massahcusetts took the stage in Boston in 2004 and established himself as a potential White House candidate. Could the same be the case for Mayor Foxx?