Lorenzo Langford facts for kids

Lorenzo Tyrone Langford (born around 1955) is an American politician from Atlantic City, New Jersey. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Langford served as the Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey two times. He was also the second African American mayor of this famous resort city.

About Lorenzo Langford

Early Life and Education

Lorenzo Langford grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He went to public schools there and graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1973. After high school, he attended Atlantic Community College. This college is now known as Atlantic Cape Community College. He then went to North Carolina Central University. There, he earned a degree in Business Administration.

Career Before Politics

Before becoming a politician, Langford worked in casinos for ten years. He started as a dealer, which is someone who deals cards at games like blackjack. Later, he became a pit boss, who supervises the gaming tables. He left his casino job when he was elected to the City Council.

Start in City Politics

In 1992, Langford decided to run for City Council in Atlantic City. He ran for the Fourth Ward seat. He won the election, which was a surprise victory. He defeated the person who was already the Council President. Langford was re-elected to his City Council seat two more times. During this time, he also tried to become mayor in 1993 and 1997. However, he did not win those elections.

Serving as Mayor of Atlantic City

First Term as Mayor (2002-2006)

On November 6, 2001, Lorenzo Langford was elected mayor of Atlantic City. He won against the person who was mayor at the time, Jim Whelan. Langford won with 56 percent of the votes. He served as mayor until the end of his term in 2006. He did not win the primary election in 2005. A primary election is when members of the same political party vote to choose their candidate for the main election.

Second Term as Mayor (2008-2014)

In June 2008, there was a special election for mayor. This happened after the previous mayor, Bob Levy, resigned. Langford won the primary election for this special mayoral race. He defeated the mayor who was serving at that time, Scott Evans. On November 4, 2008, Langford easily won the special mayoral election. This allowed him to finish the rest of Bob Levy's term.

In June 2009, Langford ran for a full four-year term as mayor. He won a tough primary election against Marty Small. In the main election in November, Langford won by a large margin. He defeated the Republican candidate, Jesse Kurtz. There were some legal questions about the election, but a jury later found the people involved not guilty.

Challenges During His Term

In October 2012, a very strong storm called Hurricane Sandy was approaching. Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Langford had different ideas about how to handle the evacuations. Governor Christie said that Mayor Langford told people they could stay in their homes or a school. This was different from the governor's order for everyone to leave. The governor said that Langford was telling people not to leave.

However, newspaper articles from that time showed that Langford did encourage people to leave. He also said that city schools would be open as a "shelter of last resort." This meant they were a place for people to go if they could not leave the city. The governor later said that Langford had "failed" as mayor. He also said it was "impossible to work with" him.

End of Mayoral Service

In the 2013 mayoral election, Lorenzo Langford ran for re-election. However, he was defeated by his Republican opponent, Don Guardian. Langford left office on January 1, 2014.