Jonathan Weinzapfel

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Jonathan Weinzapfel
33rd Mayor of Evansville
Mayor of the City of Evansville
In office 2004 – Present
Preceded by	Russell G. Lloyd, Jr.
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	November 16, 1965 Evansville, Indiana
Political party	Democrat
Spouse	Patricia Weinzapfel
Residence	Evansville, Indiana
Religion	Roman Catholic

Jonathan Weinzapfel (born November 16, 1965) is the 33rd mayor of Evansville, Indiana. He was elected in November 2003 and is currently serving a four-year term that began January 1, 2004. He is a member of the Democratic party.

[edit] Biography

He was born to Ralph and Sylvia Weinzapfel in Evansville. Ralph is currently a member of the Posey County Council and Sylvia is the Executive Director of the YWCA in Evansville. Jonathan graduated from Reitz Memorial High School in 1984 and attended Indiana University Bloomington where he received a Bachelor's degree. He earned his Master's degree from Georgetown University. When not serving in his public role, Weinzapfel is an attorney and an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Indiana.

He currently resides near the University of Evansville and is married to Patricia, with whom he has three children: Nathaniel, Benjamin and Eleanor. Patricia Weinzapfel is a former reporter for WFIE Channel 14 Evansville.^[1]

[edit] Political career

In 1996 Weinzapfel ran for the United States House of Representatives in the 8th District of Indiana. He was defeated in a close race by one-term incumbent John Hostettler. Weinzapfel went on to serve five years in the Indiana House of Representatives for District 76. In this capacity he served as the Chairman of the Courts and Criminal Code Committee, the Environmental Affairs Committee and the Environmental Quality Service Council.

He also served on the Financial Institutions, the Judiciary and the Public Health Committees. His accomplishments included helping with the founding of the Southwestern Indiana Regional Development Commission and the first president of the group. The Commission is representative of Gibson, Posey, Vanderburgh and Warrick counties in order to promote economic development and to improve the quality of life in Southern Indiana.

His first term as Evansville Mayor began on January 1, 2004. Since taking office, Mayor Weinzapfel has focused on creating jobs and revitalizing downtown. He also started the Evansville Education Roundtable to provide a community-wide dialogue on improving education and has built a collaborative style of decision-making through his "Traveling City Hall" program.

Due to his popularity in a politically competitive part of the state, there has been some talk of Weinzapfel running for governor in 2008 against incumbent Mitch Daniels.^[2]

[edit] References