Dan Besse was born in North Carolina, son of a U.S. Marine and a public-school teacher. After most of a decade representing poor families as a legal aid attorney in coastal North Carolina, Dan returned to his native Piedmont and made his home in Winston-Salem. Since 2001, he has represented the Southwest Ward on the Winston-Salem City Council, elected and re-elected to represent his constituents for five terms.
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In both his public and private roles, Dan champions strong neighborhoods, good public schools, first-rate police and fire protection, healthy communities, equal opportunity for all, good affordable housing, good jobs for working families, and building a welcoming community for all.
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As an elected local official, he also makes good transportation a special focus, including safe streets, good public transit, and a growing network of safe biking and pedestrian paths, greenways, and sidewalks. As an attorney, Dan has focused on the areas of environment and public health, clean energy and utilities, and fair employment, housing, and health care access for working families.