Lauren McLean

Lauren McLean

Nonpartisan

Mayor of Boise

Tenure

2020 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

5

Prior offices

Boise City Council Seat 1 (Historical)

Successor: Patrick Bageant

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Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

University of Notre Dame

Graduate

Boise State University

Personal

Profession

Owner/president, Confluence Group

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Lauren McLean is the Mayor of Boise in Idaho. She assumed office on January 7, 2020. Her current term ends on January 9, 2028.

McLean ran for re-election for Mayor of Boise in Idaho. She won in the general election on November 7, 2023.

McLean was a member of the Boise City Council in Idaho. She was first elected in 2011, and she served until her election as mayor.

While McLean has held nonpartisan office, she told Boise State Public Radio that she is a Democrat.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

McLean was born in Boston, Mass., but lived in Houston, Texas, for most of her childhood. She obtained a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.P.A. from Boise State University. Her professional experience includes working for Trillium Asset Management and as the president and owner of the Confluence Group. She has experience with the following organizations:

• Board member, Capital City Development Corporation (CCDC)
• Board member, The Andrus Center at Boise State University
• Board member, The Deans Council at the School of Public Service at Boise State University
• Board member, Resource Media
• Steering committee member, Boise Chamber’s Leadership Boise Alumni Association
• Officer, Conservation Voters for Idaho
• Member, Boise City Planning and Zoning Association
• President, Boise Parks Commission
• Graduate, Leadership Boise

Elections

2023

See also: Mayoral election in Boise, Idaho (2023)

General election

General election for Mayor of Boise

Incumbent Lauren McLean defeated Mike Masterson, Joe Evans, and Aaron Reis in the general election for Mayor of Boise on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lauren McLean (Nonpartisan)	55.4	33,926
	Submit photo	Mike Masterson (Nonpartisan)	43.4	26,542
		Joe Evans (Nonpartisan)	0.9	563
	Submit photo	Aaron Reis (Nonpartisan)	0.3	153

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 61,184
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for McLean in this election.

2019

See also: Mayoral election in Boise, Idaho (2019)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Mayor of Boise

Lauren McLean defeated incumbent David Bieter in the general runoff election for Mayor of Boise on December 3, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lauren McLean (Nonpartisan)	65.5	30,306
		David Bieter (Nonpartisan)	34.5	15,998

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 46,304
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

General election

General election for Mayor of Boise

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Boise on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lauren McLean (Nonpartisan)	45.7	23,669
✔		David Bieter (Nonpartisan)	30.3	15,711
	Submit photo	Rebecca Arnold (Nonpartisan)	13.2	6,863
		Brent Coles (Nonpartisan)	7.3	3,804
	Submit photo	Wayne Richey (Nonpartisan)	1.6	847
		Adriel J. Martinez (Nonpartisan)	1.1	588
	Submit photo	Cortney Nielsen (Nonpartisan)	0.7	360

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 51,842
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

• Conservation Voters for Idaho
• Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii

2015

See also: Boise, Idaho municipal elections, 2015

The city of Boise, Idaho, held elections for mayor and city council on November 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was September 4, 2015.

In the Seat 1 race, incumbent Lauren McLean was unopposed in the general election on November 3, 2015.

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Lauren McLean did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Lauren McLean completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by McLean's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Though it may not be my hometown, Boise is the home of my heart. Over 20 years ago, my husband Scott and I set out West looking to start our lives. I'll never forget my first look at the Foothills from the airplane window: the hills were bathed with golden winter afternoon light and purple shadows. It was love at first sight: here in Boise we found good jobs, bought a home, raised two kids, and got to work serving this community. Anything felt possible.

But I'm worried about our Boise. Like so many here, I'm worried that future generations won't have any chance to build a life in Boise. We aren't the city we were 16 years ago and the challenges have changed. My priorities will be to address affordable homes for people, build a regional vision for transit to reduce traffic and congestion, and to increase transparency and accountability at City Hall.

I'm committed to providing a new style of leadership with an eye towards the future, not mired in the baggage of the past. Our brightest days can still be ahead, but we must be bold about keeping our city truly livable.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I will keep our neighborhoods people-scaled and people-friendly, knowing that strong neighborhoods need housing at every price point. As Mayor, I will introduce a slate of bold new measures to get at the root of our crisis.
• I will deliver an actionable Plan for Regional Transit within my first term, relentlessly strengthening and resetting key relationships in our valley, and recognizing that our quality of life and air depends on it.
• As Mayor, my agenda would center on a city for people, built together. In a city for everyone, it shouldn't matter who you are or what part of town you live in to be safe, feel at home, and make a prosperous life.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Conservation is a core value and has been a central theme throughout my career.

In 2001, I helped lead the historic Boise Foothills Open Space Campaign, successfully protecting the Boise Foothills for future generations. This experience tied me deeply to our community, was an incredible honor, and shaped my beliefs about the power of organizing passionate people, helping them impact the communities and places they care about.

As Boise City Council President, I sponsored the Clean Energy Plan and advocated to accelerate our citywide goal of 100% clean energy to 2035 and, as Mayor, I will beat that goal.

I will continue the work of protecting and keeping the water of our treasured Boise River clean, from its headwaters to the heart of our city and beyond. I will recognize that healthy, clear air for all Boiseans is only possible through reduced car emissions, and will keep better transit at the top of my priorities. And I will prioritize open spaces, parks, and gathering places, especially for our neighborhoods who need them the most. We need to be protecting our open spaces and farmlands as quickly as we are developing.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2015

McLean's website highlighted the following campaign themes:

Downtown Boise

• Excerpt: "Ensure that the development of key areas Downtown, such as 30th Street, incorporate commercial centers, residential development, pedestrian-friendly streets, and public gathering spaces."

Community and schools

• Excerpt: "Support fully funded schools to continue providing small class sizes, great teachers, and the educational programs that have earned Boise’s public schools the proud distinction of being among the best in the country."
• Excerpt: "Work with neighborhood groups and Boise schools to create opportunities for shared recreational spaces, urban gardens, and safe walking and biking routes to school."

Economy

• Excerpt: "If we have a clear vision for our economy, encourage public and private investment in our city, provide the best education possible, boast well-educated students, and offer an unrivaled quality of life, we will succeed in building Boise’s economy."

Quality of life

• Excerpt: "Work with business leaders, conservationists, and concerned citizens to give cities the authority to ask their voters to approve funds for public transportation, pedestrian pathways, and roads – to create a better transportation system and a better city."

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

McLean was mayor of Boise during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Boise, Idaho, took place at the Idaho State Capitol on Sunday, May 31, 2020. No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a White officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

See also

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Mayor of Boise 2020-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Boise City Council Seat 1 (Historical) 2011-2020	Succeeded by Patrick Bageant