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Partisanship in United States municipal elections (2021)

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2022
2020
2021 Municipal ElectionsMunicipal Government Final.png


List of current mayors of the top 100 cities
Party affiliation of the mayors of the 100 largest cities
List of current city council officials

Partisanship in United States municipal elections
20202019201820172016


Mayoral elections were held in 28 of the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2021. In 19 of those cities, the incumbent was Democratic at the start of 2021. Seven incumbents were Republican, one was independent, and one was nonpartisan.

Two top-100 mayoral offices changed partisan control in 2021:

Democratic mayors oversaw 65 of the 100 largest cities at the beginning of 2021. Republicans held 26 mayoral offices, independents held four, and five mayors were nonpartisan. Click here to view a history of mayoral partisanship from 2016 to 2021.

Elections on November 2, 2021, did not result in mayoral offices changing partisan control in any of the 100 largest U.S. cities. Click here to read more about these elections.

In cities where mayoral elections are nonpartisan, Ballotpedia uses 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.

This page tracks mayoral elections in the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2021 and notes partisan changes that occurred. The page includes:

Who ran the cities?

Heading into 2021, the mayors of 65 of the country's 100 largest cities were 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.

The following top-100 mayoral offices saw a change in partisan affiliation in 2021:

Once mayors elected in 2021 assumed office, the mayors of 64 of the country's 100 largest cities were affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Changes in party affiliation

Mayoral elections were held in 28 of the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2021. In 19 of the 28 cities that held elections in 2021, the incumbent was Democratic at the start of 2021. Seven incumbents were Republican, one was independent, and one was nonpartisan.

This table tracks partisan changes that occurred in the 2021 mayoral elections.

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.

Note: Boston City Council President Kim Janey (D) was sworn in as mayor on March 22, 2021, following Marty Walsh's (D) resignation to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor.[3]


Battleground election summary

Ballotpedia covered 40 mayoral elections in 2021. This included 28 mayoral elections in the 100 largest U.S. cities and 12 state capitals that did not fall into the top 100 cities.

Click below to expand summaries of key 2021 mayoral battleground elections.


Mayoral partisanship: 2016-2021

The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of mayors of the top 100 cities at the start of each year since 2016.

List of mayors of the 100 largest cities

See also: Party affiliation of the mayors of the 100 largest cities

The following table contains a list of current mayors of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. by population.

Mayoral partisanship in state capitals

Fifteen state capitals held mayoral elections in 2021, including 12 capitals that fell outside of the top-100 cities. As of 2021, 32 state capitals fell outside of the top-100 U.S. cities by population.

One office changed partisan control in 2021:

The following table shows state capital mayoral elections that occurred in 2021.

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.

Once mayors elected in 2021 assumed office, the mayors of 38 state capitals were affiliated with the Democratic Party, six were Republicans, one was independent, and two were nonpartisan. The partisan affiliation of three state capital mayors was unknown.

See also

Footnotes

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