Shirley Franklin

Shirley Clarke Franklin ( born May 10, 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American politician of the Democratic Party. She was on January 7, 2002 to January 3, 2010, the 58th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.

Franklin was born in Philadelphia. She attended Howard University and achieved a degree in sociology there.

Political career

Franklin was under Mayor Maynard Jackson Commissioner for Cultural Affairs. In 2001, she ran for mayor. She won with 50 percent of the vote and succeeds by Bill Campbell. On November 8, 2005, she was re-elected with over 90 percent of the vote. In the next mayoral election Franklin was not allowed to run after two terms and thus different early January 2010 from office. Her successor was her party colleague Kasim Reed.