theGrio’s 100: Anthony Foxx leading in the New South

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Who is Anthony Foxx? 

Anthony Foxx is the mayor of Charlotte and considered a rising political star not only in the state but nationally. Nearly every list of blacks who could eventually become a governor or U.S. senator includes Foxx.

Why he is on the Grio’s 100? 

Foxx, a Democrat, emerged as a top Obama surrogate in North Carolina during the 2012 campaign, as well as helping host the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. And his role in party politics will only become more important in a state that Democrats feel is gradually trending toward them because of its growing minority population, even though Mitt Romney won there last year.

“This convention is an enormous source of pride for any of us who spend time in this city. …I can trace my family back five generations. The piece of this convention that I’m also looking forward to is seeing my 95-year-old grandmother watching the president’s renomination speech knowing all of the things she had to put up with in her life in order to make it possible for me to become mayor of this city. All I need out of this is to see her in that moment,” he told the Washington Post last year.

What’s next for Foxx? 

As mayor of the state’s largest city (the population of Charlotte is about 750,00), the 41-year-old has obvious potential to rise in politics.

“I ran for an office in 2009 that had not been occupied by a Democrat in over 20 years, where as an African-American, some may have questioned my electability and in fact some did,” Foxx said in a recent interview with theGrio. “So I do think that the very fact that I’m the mayor of Charlotte [a city that is 35 percent African-American] is an indication that there has been progress.”

Follow Anthony Foxx on Twitter @MayorFoxx