Leirion Gaylor Baird is an American politician. Since the
2019 election, she has been the mayor of
Lincoln, Nebraska, where she previously served as a city councilwoman.
Early life and education
Gaylor Baird grew up in Portland, Oregon; her parents were public school teachers. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in history from
Yale College in 1993. She earned a Master of Science in comparative social policy from
University of Oxford in 1997.[1]
Career
Baird began her career as a management consultant, working also as a city budget and policy analyst. She was the director of an after-school and summer program in San Francisco. Upon moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, she was appointed to the Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Commission and helped develop its 2040 Comprehensive Plan. She was elected to the Lincoln City Council as a city-wide representative in May 2013 and was, at the time, its only female member. She won reelection in 2017.
Following the ratification of a
term limit amendment by
referendum, Baird announced her intention to succeed incumbent three-term Mayor
Chris Beutler.[2] Affiliated with the
Democratic Party, she officially ran as a nonpartisan candidate due to municipal election law.[3] She won the election for mayor on May 7, 2019, against Republican-affiliated Cyndi Lamm.[4][1] She was sworn in on May 20, 2019, alongside the new city council.
Political positions and mayoralty
During her campaign for the mayoralty, Baird campaigned on additional road funding for the city,[5] environmental preservation,[6][7] and community land trusts for housing.[8] During her time as a city councilwoman, she introduced legislation to ban
bump stocks in the city.[9]
A recall against Baird was organized in October 2020. LNK Recall objected to the suspension of city charter rules that allowed Pat Lopez to be designated as health director. Organizers needed at least 21,652 signatures by December 23, 2020, to trigger a
recall election; they were unable to do so. Baird responded by saying she continued to work as mayor.[10][11][12]
Baird was reelected in the
2023 mayoral election. Her two opponents in the primary were Republican state senator
Suzanne Geist and Republican Stan Parker.[13]