Mayor of Chicago

The mayoral term in Chicago was one year from 1837 through 1863, when it was increased to two years. In 1907 it was again lengthened to four years, the present duration.

Mayor of Chicago
Seal of City of Chicago
Incumbent Brandon Johnson since May 15, 2023
Term length	4 years
Inaugural holder	William Butler Ogden
Formation	1837
Website	Office of the Mayor

William Butler Ogden was the first mayor of Chicago

Walter S. Gurnee is the oldest living former Chicago mayor. He was 90 when he died

Roswell B. Mason was the mayor during the Great Chicago Fire in 1871

Carter Harrison, Sr. was the first mayor to be assassinated

William Emmett Dever is thought to be one of the best mayors of Chicago because he helped clean the city

Jane Bryne was the city's first female mayor

Harold Washington is considered to be another great Chicago mayor. He was also the first African-American Chicago mayor

Richard M. Daley is the longest serving mayor of Chicago since his father, Richard J. Daley

Rahm Emanuel is the city's first Jewish mayor

Lori Lightfoot is the city's first female African-American and openly lesbian mayor

Until 1861, municipal elections were held in March. In that year, legislation changed them to April. In 1869, however, election time was changed to November, and terms expiring in April of that year were lengthened.

In 1875, the election day was moved back to April by the city's vote to operate under the Cities and Villages Act of 1872. Lester L. Bond was the acting mayor when Joseph Medill left to a tour around Europe. Thomas Hoyne won election as mayor, but could not become the mayor so the election became a void. As of 1995, no mayor can run for a political party, they are considered as nonpartisans.

List of mayors

#	Name	Term	Party	Notes
1	William Butler Ogden	1837–1838	Democratic
2	Buckner Stith Morris	1838–1839	Whig
3	Benjamin Wright Raymond	1839–1840	Whig
4	Alexander Loyd	1840–1841	Democratic
5	Francis Cornwall Sherman	1841–1842	Democratic
6	Benjamin Wright Raymond	1842–1843	Whig
7	Augustus Garrett	1843–1844	Democratic
8	Alson Sherman	1844–1845	Independent Democrat
9	Augustus Garrett	1845–1846	Democratic
10	John Putnam Chapin	1846–1847	Whig
11	James Curtiss	1847–1848	Democratic
12	James Hutchinson Woodworth	1848–1850	Independent Democrat
13	James Curtiss	1850–1851	Democratic
14	Walter S. Gurnee	1851–1853	Democratic
15	Charles McNeill Gray	1853–1854	Democratic
16	Isaac Lawrence Milliken	1854–1855	Democratic
17	Levi Day Boone	1855–1856	American Party
18	Thomas Dyer	1856–1857	Democratic
19	John Wentworth	1857–1858	Republican
20	John Charles Haines	1858–1860	Democratic
21	John Wentworth	1860–1861	Republican
22	Julian Sidney Rumsey	1861–1862	Republican
23	Francis Cornwall Sherman	1862–1865	Democratic
24	John Blake Rice	1865–1869	Republican
25	Roswell B. Mason	1869–1871	Citizens	Mayor during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
26	Joseph Medill	1871–1873	Fireproof	Born in Canada
27	Harvey Doolittle Colvin	1873–1875	People's
28	Monroe Heath	1876–1879	Republican
29	Carter Harrison, Sr.	1879–1887	Democratic	father of Carter Harrison, Jr.
30	John A. Roche	1887–1889	Republican
31	DeWitt Clinton Cregier	1889–1891	Democratic
32	Hempstead Washburne	1891–1893	Republican
33	Carter Harrison, Sr.	1893	Democratic	First mayor to be assassinated in office; father of Carter Harrison, Jr.
34	George Bell Swift	1893	Republican	Mayor Pro Tem
35	John Patrick Hopkins	1893–1895	Democratic
36	George Bell Swift	1895–1897	Republican
37	Carter Harrison, Jr.	1897–1905	Democratic	First Chicago born mayor; son of Mayor Carter Harrison, Sr.; oldest surviving mayor, died at 93
38	Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne	1905–1907	Democratic
39	Fred A. Busse	1907–1911	Republican
40	Carter Harrison, Jr.	1911–1915	Democratic
41	William Hale Thompson	1915–1923	Republican
42	William Emmett Dever	1923–1927	Democratic
43	William Hale Thompson	1927–1931	Republican
44	Anton Cermak	1931–1933	Democratic	Assassinated in office; second foreign born (in Austria -Hungary)
45	Frank J. Corr	1933	Democratic	32 days, Acting Mayor
46	Edward Joseph Kelly	1933–1947	Democratic	Act of the Illinois legislature permitted City Council to elect a non-alderman to fill the vacancy.
47	Martin H. Kennelly	1947–1955	Democratic
48	Richard J. Daley	1955–1976	Democratic	Died in office; father of Richard M. Daley
49	Michael Anthony Bilandic	1976–1979	Democratic
50	Jane Margaret Byrne	1979–1983	Democratic	First woman mayor
51	Harold Washington	1983–1987	Democratic	Died in office; first African American mayor
52	David Duvall Orr	1987	Democratic	8 days, Interim Mayor
53	Eugene Sawyer	1987–1989	Democratic	Elected by city council to complete Mayor Washington's term
54	Richard M. Daley	1989–2011	Democratic	Longest serving mayor; son of Richard J. Daley
55	Rahm Emanuel	2011–2019	Democratic/Nonpartisans1	First Jewish mayor
56	Lori Lightfoot	2019–2023	Democratic/Nonpartisans	First African-American female and first LGBT individual elected as mayor. In 2023, she became the first mayor in 40 years to lose re-election.
57	Brandon Johnson	Since 2023	Democratic/Nonpartisans

Vice Mayor

The city council elects a vice mayor who is interim mayor in the event of a vacancy in the office of the mayor or the inability of the mayor to serve due to illness or injury. As of May 2023, the current vice mayor is Walter Burnett Jr..

Past holders of this office have included Tom Tunney (2019–2023), Brendan Reilly (2015–2019) Ray Suarez (2011–2015), and David Orr.

Notes

¹ Rahm Emanuel is a Democrat, but he and all other candidates in the 2011 election officially ran as nonpartisans. Under a 1995 Illinois law, "candidates for mayor . . . no longer would run under party labels in Chicago."

Other websites

• "A Chronology of Chicago's Mayors". Chicago Public Library. Retrieved May 26, 2010.