Tuesday, December 16, 2025–10:45 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Rome will have a new mayor come January.
Current Mayor Craig McDaniel announced on Monday that he will not seek another term.
“I have officially fired myself,” McDaniel said. “I have two more years on the city commission, and I will not be running for a third term. It’s a blessing to live in Rome, Georgia.”
McDaniel said it has been an honor to serve, and he reflected on some advice he got when he was first selected to serve as mayor.
“Jamie Doss told me that the third year of being mayor is going to be your hardest year,” he said. “I didn’t know what he meant. John Bennett told me when I got on the city commission to write down all the friends I got. He said at the end of the first year, go back and look at that list. You’re not going to have that many friends. Both of those guys were right.”
McDaniel was first elected mayor by the commission in 2021.
After two terms served by Sundai Stevenson, he was reappointed in 2024 and 2025.
