Lauren McLean


Lauren Stein McLean is an American politician and entrepreneur who currently serves as Mayor of Boise, Idaho. McLean served as a member of the Boise City Council from 2011 to 2019, and as council president from 2017 to 2019, before defeating Mayor Dave Bieter in the 2019 mayoral election.

Early life and education

McLean was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Houston, Texas and Cazenovia, New York. McLean received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1997 and a Master of Public Administration in environmental policy from Boise State University in 2001.

Career

McLean serves on the Board of Governors of the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University. She is also a member of the Boise City Planning and Zoning Association and Boise Parks Commission.
The mayor's office is a nonpartisan position, though McLean is a registered Democrat.
McLean was a candidate in the 2019 Boise mayoral election, running against incumbent Dave Bieter, former mayor H. Brent Coles, and others. Since neither Bieter nor McLean had surpassed the 50 percent vote threshold required to claim victory, the two competed in a runoff election held on December 3, 2019. McLean won with 65 percent of the vote to Bieter's 35 percent.
McLean is the first woman elected to the office, and the second to serve as Boise mayor after Carolyn Terteling-Payne, who served briefly on an interim basis from 2003 to 2004. McLean was inaugurated on January 7, 2020.

Personal life

McLean and her husband, Scott McLean, have two children.