Jordan Marlowe is the current mayor of Newberry, Florida, a town just outside Gainseville with a population of 7,342.^[1] Marlowe was born in 1976. He has served as mayor of Newberry since 2017 after having been one of the city's five commissioners since 2011. Outside of his career in government, Marlowe is an educator at Newberry High School and has taught at the school for close to two decades. Marlowe is maybe most notable for his party switch from Libertarian to the much smaller Forward Party in 2023.^[2][3]

Marlowe began teaching at Newberry High School in 2006.^[4] He has taught African-American history at the school for the last four years.^[4] In July, 2023, Marlowe spoke out against a new set of rules and regulations surrounding the teaching of African American history in Florida public schools.^[5]

Marlowe was elected to the position of City Commissioner in 2011. He received 526 votes out of 3167 registered voters, more than doubling his nearest competitor.^[6] After his first term, in 2013, Marlowe ran again in Commissioner group V and ran unopposed. In 2015 he did the same again, running unopposed for Commissioner group V.^[6] In his first few years at the position, he was commended by local press and community members for being accessible through both online and in-person forums.^[7]

In 2017, Marlowe ran unopposed for mayor in an election that saw turnout at 17%.^[8] Local press reported that Marlowe had said he chose to run for Mayor in order to stay on the city commission, which governs jointly with the mayor. He had reached his term-limit in his seat as commissioner.^[8]

In 2019, Marlowe joined Newberry's opioid task force to try and combat local drug use and addiction related to prescription pain killers like OxyContin and Vicodin.^[9] In 2019, Alachua County had a comparably high opioid prescription, around 26.5 prescriptions per prescriber, when compared with other Florida counties.^{[10] [9]}

In April 2020, Marlowe wrote an opinion piece in Main St. Daily News, Gainsveille Florida, informing his constituents that he was writing a letter to Senator Ron DeSantis asking him to reopen Florida as soon as he could in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Marlowe also recognized that experts should be listened to first and foremost in the making of the decision.^[11]

In 2022, Marlowe was awarded the Home Rule Hero award by the Florida League of Cities (FLC). This award is given to local government officials who are able to make a difference in their communities without significant interference from larger governmental bodies.^[12]

Marlowe won his re-election bid for mayor in February 2023, he ran unopposed and is currently serving his fourth term as mayor.^[13] Local press reported mixed opinions from residents as to whether Marlowe's reelection was indicative of local satisfaction with public officials, or disinterest in the government.

In February 2024, Marlowe helped support and campaign with a group called Newberry Education First (EFN), who's main goal was to convert the towns three public schools into charter schools.^[14] On May 6, 2024, the proposed charter school conversion for Newberry Elementary was passed by voters consisting of parents and teachers.^[15] Shortly after, disputes arose from the school board, and another group called Save Our Schools Newberry, as to the validity of the vote and the exact wording of the law regarding voter thresholds.^[16] Ultimately, the Department of Education approved the vote to convert the only the elementary school out of the three proposed.^[17] Newberry Elementary will function as a charter school starting in the 2025–2026 school year.^[18]

In April 2024, Save Our Schools Newberry, the group opposing the charter conversion, submitted an ethics complaint against Marlowe.^[19][20] The group claimed that Marlowe had used his power in public office to benefit the charter school conversion effort in ways that violated Sunshine law.^[21] Most notably, the group accused Marlowe of ordering city staff to work on a budget for EFN and used city resources to benefit the group without a vote from the city commission.^{[22] [23]}

Ultimately, the complaint was dismissed by the Florida Commission on Ethics who determined the complaint did not meet the threshold for consideration under the commission's jurisdiction.^[21] However, the commission noted that this ruling did not necessarily disprove the accuracy of allegations made by SOS.^[24]

In early May 2023, shortly after winning re-election, Marlowe changed his party affiliation from Libertarian to the Forward Party, a small independent national party founded and co-chaired by 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary candidate Andrew Yang.^[25][26] Marlowe was the first sitting mayor and first elected official in Florida to change his party affiliation to Forward. On May 23, 2023, Yang hosted a speaking event co-headlined by Marlowe in Tampa to promote the Forward Party and their movement.^[27][28] Press quoted Marlowe as saying he has never felt comfortable in either of the two major United States political parties.^[2] Shortly after this, in an interview with WUSF NPR, Yang cited Marlowe's enlistment as indicative of Forward's grassroots approach and potential future party success.^[29]

If Marlowe decides to run for mayor for a fifth term, he will be up for re-election in 2025.