In most of the nation's largest cities, mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan, though many officeholders and candidates are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia used one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets. As of January 2022, the partisan breakdown of the mayors of the 100 largest U.S. cities was 63 Democrats, 26 Republicans, four independents, and six nonpartisans. The affiliation of one mayor was unknown.
This page includes:
List of mayors: A list of mayors of the 100 cities, including the year each mayor took office, when the current term expires, and the city's type of government.
The following table lists the current mayors of the top 100 U.S. cities by population, including the year each mayor took office, when the current term expires, and the city's type of government. Each type of government has a different distribution of power and different responsibilities between the mayor and the city council. The types of government are:
Strong mayor: The city council serves as the city's primary legislative body, and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Council-manager: An elected city council—which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body—appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and to implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.
City commission: A city council, composed of an elected mayor and a board of elected commissioners, serves as the city's primary legislative and administrative body.
Hybrid: The city council serves as the city's primary legislative body, and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive. The mayor, however, appoints a city manager to oversee the city's day-to-day operations and to implement city policies.
*In Minneapolis, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body while the mayor serves as the city's chief executive, qualifying it as a strong mayor system. However, the mayor has fewer powers with more limitations than most strong mayor and city council systems.[1]
As of January 2022, the mayors of 63 of the country's 100 largest cities are affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Note: Ballotpedia used one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
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