Margaret "Pegeen" Hanrahan (born c. 1966) was the mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...

, her native city, from 2004 through 2010. Described by The Nation

The Nation

The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...

as a "vegetarian

Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...

, bike

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

-riding environmentalist

Environmentalism

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

", Hanrahan has been active in politics since she was a teenager. An environmental engineer, she was elected to the Gainesville City Commission in 1996, and was elected mayor in 2004. In the 2007 mayoral election she was re-elected to another term.

Early life and career

Hanrahan received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Environmental Engineering, as well as a B.A. in Sociology, from the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

. In 2003 she married to Tony Malone. They have a daughter, Evyleen Mary, born in 2005 and son, Quinn Joseph, born in 2007.

Electoral history

Mayor Hanrahan was re-elected on March 6, 2007 beating her opponent Wesley Watson with 73% of the vote.

External links

• Mayor's page at City of Gainesville Web site
• Campaign Web site
• Profile by The Independent Florida Alligator
  The Independent Florida Alligator
  The Independent Florida Alligator is the daily student newspaper of the University of Florida. The Alligator is the largest student-run newspaper in the United States, with a daily circulation of 35,000 and readership of over 52,000...