Kim Bracey

Bracey was born in York, Pennsylvania.[3] She graduated from William Penn Senior High School and attended Bloomsburg University before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1984.[3] Bracey was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1994, reaching the rank of technical sergeant (E-6).[1][3] She moved back to York in 1994 after leaving the Air Force and took a position with the Crispus Attucks Association.[3]

Bracey is married to her husband, Vernon (who petitioned for divorce in 2011;[4]) they have two children, Brandon and Arianna.[5] She is a member of the Friendship Baptist Church in York.[5]

In 2003, York Mayor John Brenner appointed Bracey as the Director of the Department of Community Development. She served in the office from June 2003 until January 2009.[5]

Mayor John S. Brenner announced on July 2, 2008, that he would not seek re-election in 2009, more than a year before the mayoral election.[6] Brenner cited the impending birth of his second child as a major factor in his decision to retire from the mayor's office.[6] He endorsed Bracey, who had served as his Director of the Department of Community Development, in the 2009 election.[7] Bracey resigned as director of community development, in January 2009 which is the city's economic development agency, to pursue her campaign for mayor.[1]

Bracey defeated three other Democratic candidates in the primary election on May 19, 2009.[7] Bracey won the general election on November 3, 2009, beating her Republican opponent, Wendell Banks.[8] Bracey received 2,582, or 81% of the total vote, while Banks placed a distant second with 602 votes, or 19%.[9]

Bracey was sworn in as York's 24th mayor on January 4, 2010.[10] She was re-elected in 2013, though lost a second re-election attempt in 2017 to city council president Michael Helfrich,[11] who was inaugurated to succeed Bracey on January 2, 2018.