Sheldon Neeley

Sheldon Andre Neeley (born September 20, 1968) is an American politician, currently serving as the Mayor of Flint, Michigan. He was elected as Flint's mayor in 2019 and served an abbreviated three-year term before being re-elected in 2022. Neeley is a registered Democrat and a former state representative in Michigan's 34th House district. He served two complete terms and one partial term in the Michigan House of Representatives between 2015 and 2019. He resigned from his position in the House when he was elected as the Mayor of Flint in 2019. Neeley's wife, Cynthia, was elected to his former seat on March 10, 2020. Neeley served two complete terms and one partial term on the Flint City Council between 2005 and 2014, prior to his tenure as Michigan Representative and was the Council's first African-American member to have come from Flint's Sixth Ward.

Neeley was born September 20, 1968, to parents Marva and Sam Neeley. He was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, graduating from Flint Northern High School in 1986.

Neeley obtained his associate degree from Delta College. He later attended Saginaw Valley State University, though he did not graduate. In October 2022, Neeley received backlash after Fox News Digital published an article revealing that multiple sources, including the Mayor of Flint page on the city's website, claimed he had received a bachelor's degree from Saginaw Valley State University. He later claimed this error was the fault of a political staffer.

Neeley worked as a broadcast technician for WJRT-TV12 for 27 years. He was the local union president of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communication Workers of America until 2020. He also served as a work experience counselor for 10 years for the Flint Community Schools. For 4 years, he served as CEO of the Flint Inner City Junior Golf League, an organization founded by his father, Sam Neeley.

Neeley first ran for Flint City Council in 2001, losing to incumbent Mark Horrigan in the city’s 6th Ward primary election.

In Neeley's second bid for Flint City Councilship in 2005, Horrigan chose not to run for re-election, instead opting to endorse Neeley. With Horrigan's retirement from the council, the 6th Ward was left without an incumbent councilman. Neeley won the 6th Ward’s August 2 primary election, allowing him to move on to the general election, where he faced challenger Nancy DeKatch. Neeley and DeKatch each refrained from issuing attacks against one another throughout their campaigns. Neeley received an endorsement from the Genesee County Democratic Black Caucus a few days prior to the Flint City Council’s November 8 general election. Neeley won election to the Flint City Council by a large margin, receiving nearly three times as many votes as DeKatch in the 6th Ward’s general election. Neeley was elected vice president of the Flint City Council by his peers soon after.

Neeley was re-elected vice president of the Flint City Council by his peers in November of both 2006 and 2007.

In 2009, Neeley ran for re-election to the Flint City Council. He won a plurality of votes cast in the 6th Ward’s August 4 primary election, advancing to face primary runner-up J.C. Walker in the general election. In October, Neeley was endorsed by both the Greater Flint AFL-CIO and the Flint Police Officers Association. Neeley won re-election to the Flint City Council in the 6th Ward’s general election on November 3.