Chris Coursey | |
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Member of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors from the 3rd district | |
Assumed office January 5, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Shirlee Zane |
Chair of the Sonoma County | |
In office January 10,2023 –January 9,2024 | |
Preceded by | James Gore |
Succeeded by | David Rabbitt |
Vice Chair of the Sonoma County | |
In office January 4,2022 –January 10,2023 | |
Preceded by | James Gore |
Succeeded by | David Rabbitt |
Chair Pro Tem of the Sonoma County | |
In office January 5,2021 –January 4,2022 | |
Preceded by | Shirlee Zane |
Succeeded by | David Rabbitt |
Mayor of Santa Rosa,California | |
In office December 6,2016 –December 18,2018 | |
Succeeded by | Tom Schwedhelm |
Personal details | |
Born | November 21,1954 |
Education | University of Northern Colorado (BA) |
Chris Coursey (born November 21,1954) is an American politician and former journalist serving as a member of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. [1] Representing District 3,Coursey assumed office in 2021. He previously served as the mayor of Santa Rosa,California from December 6,2016 to December 18,2018.
The son of a military officer,Coursey attended six different schools before graduating from Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora,Colorado. He had previously lived in twelve cities across five states. [2] He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and sociology from the University of Northern Colorado. [3]
Coursey worked as a daily journalist in Colorado Springs,Colorado before moving to Santa Rosa,where he covered crime,government,and politics The Press Democrat . In 2007,he left his job to work on the Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit,(SMART) train project. [4] Coursey was elected to the Santa Rosa City Council in 2014,and served as mayor from 2016 to 2018. His vice mayor was Jack Tibbets,the youngest council member in city history. [5]
Coursey won election to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on March 3,2020,with 54% of the vote over three-term incumbent supervisor Shirlee Zane. [1] Coursey’s win marked the first successful challenge to an incumbent of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors since 1984. [6]
Coursey's wife died of cancer in 2010. He has four children. [7] Coursey dated the widow Zane,his 2020 election opponent,from 2011 to 2014. [8]