Oxford resident Dave Donovan has announced his candidacy for the position of Town Commissioner in the election to take place on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
Donovan was a partner in the Washington, DC office of WilmerHale, an international law firm. In addition to 27 years with WilmerHale, from which he retired at the end of 2018, he served from 2005 to 2011 as the General Counsel of the Washington Redskins NFL franchise—and for part of that time, also as the team’s Chief Operating Officer. During his career, he represented national and international corporations, executives, and individuals in matters involving employment law, internal investigations, securities, products liability, oil & gas, fraud, contracts, pension liability, corporate control, trademark, and international antitrust.
For 15 years, he was responsible for recruiting and hiring more than 800 attorneys at WilmerHale. During his NFL tenure, he was involved in hiring executives in finance, stadium operations, security, transportation, and communications.
Donovan received his law degree in 1984 after graduating magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center. He grew up in a small town in western Iowa, and both he and his wife—who have been married for 44 years—graduated from Iowa State University in 1980. After careers in the D.C. area where they raised two sons and a daughter, the couple purchased a home in the Oxford Historic District following his retirement, after nearly a decade of regular visits to Oxford to see lifelong friends. They now have two grandchildren.
“I had no aspirations with respect to elective office when we moved to Oxford,” Donovan said, “but following an initial difficult experience with the Historic Commission and then observing and participating in Town Commission meetings over the past several years, friends and acquaintances here convinced me that I had something to offer. This is a wonderful town and we feel so fortunate to have found such an idyllic place to spend the rest of our lives.”
“Recent progress, however, has been hard-fought, and unfortunately some 2-1 votes on the Commission in the past two years have created or needlessly exacerbated divisions and diverted the Commissioners from addressing important challenges we face.”
“Perhaps most distressing is the failure, or even refusal, of the Commissioners to engage in open dialog with the citizens. Too often, decisions are made without adequate consultation, or important questions—on everything from personnel decisions to election issues to the mismanagement of the Strand project—are simply ignored.”
“It is critical that Oxford voters have a choice in this election to change the status quo. I hope that if I am fortunate enough to be elected, I can help restore confidence and avoid some of the needless mistakes of the past several years.”
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