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
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

#No.[1]	Image	Name	Term start	Term end	Terms	Years		Party
Town presidents
1		Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen	August 12, 1833	August 11, 1834	1	1		None
2		John H. Kinzie	1834	May 1837	3	3 years		Whig
Mayors
1		William B. Ogden	May 1837	March 1838	1	10 months		Democratic
2		Buckner S. Morris	1838	1839	1	1		Whig
3		Benjamin W. Raymond	1839	1840	1	1		Whig
4		Alexander Loyd	March 9, 1840	March 4, 1841	1	1		Democratic
5		Francis C. Sherman	March 4, 1841	March 7, 1842	1	1		Democratic
6		Benjamin W. Raymond	March 7, 1842	March 7, 1843	1	1		Whig
7		Augustus Garrett	March 7, 1843	April 2, 1844	1	1 year, 1 month		Democratic
8		Alson Sherman	April 2, 1844	March 10, 1845	1	11 months		Independent Democratic
9		Augustus Garrett	March 10, 1845	March 3, 1846	1	1		Democratic
10		John P. Chapin	March 3, 1846	March 9, 1847	1	1		Whig
11		James Curtiss	March 9, 1847	March 14, 1848	1	1		Democratic
12		James H. Woodworth	March 14, 1848	March 12, 1850	2	2		Independent Democratic
13		James Curtiss	March 12, 1850	March 11, 1851	1	1		Democratic
14		Walter S. Gurnee	March 11, 1851	March 7, 1853	2	2		Democratic
15		Charles McNeill Gray	March 7, 1853	March 15, 1854	1	1		Democratic
16		Isaac L. Milliken	March 15, 1854	March 13, 1855	1	1		Democratic
17		Levi Boone	March 13, 1855	March 11, 1856	1	1		American (Know Nothing)
18		Thomas Dyer	March 11, 1856	March 10, 1857	1	1		Democratic
19		John Wentworth	March 10, 1857	March 2, 1858	1	1		Republican
20		John C. Haines	March 2, 1858	March 22, 1860	2	2		Republican
21		John Wentworth	March 22, 1860	May 6, 1861	1	1 year, 1.5 months		Democratic
22		Julian S. Rumsey	May 6, 1861	May 5, 1862	1	1		Republican
23		Francis C. Sherman	May 5, 1862	May 3, 1865	2	3		Democratic
24		John B. Rice	May 3, 1865	December 6, 1869	2	4 years, 6 months		Republican
25		Roswell B. Mason	December 6, 1869	December 4, 1871	1	2		Citizens
26		Joseph Medill	December 4, 1871	August 22, 1873	1	2		Republican (Dry)
--		Lester L. Bond (acting)	August 22, 1873	December 1, 1873	--	3 months		Republican
27		Harvey Doolittle Colvin	December 1, 1873	July 24, 1876	1	2 years, 8 months		Republican (Wet)
28		Monroe Heath	July 24, 1876	April 28, 1879	2	2 years, 7 months		Republican
29		Carter Harrison III	April 28, 1879	April 18, 1887	4	8		Democratic
30		John A. Roche	April 18, 1887	April 15, 1889	1	2		Republican
31		DeWitt C. Cregier	April 15, 1889	April 27, 1891	1	2		Democratic
32		Hempstead Washburne	April 27, 1891	April 17, 1893	1	2		Republican
33		Carter Harrison III †	April 17, 1893	October 28, 1893	1	6 months		Democratic
34		George Bell Swift (interim mayor)	November 9, 1893	December 27, 1893	​1⁄12	​1⁄6		Republican
35		John P. Hopkins	December 27, 1893	April 8, 1895	1	1 year, 4 months		Democratic
36		George Bell Swift	April 8, 1895	April 15, 1897	1	2		Republican
37		Carter Harrison IV	April 15, 1897	April 10, 1905	4	8		Democratic
38		Edward F. Dunne	April 10, 1905	April 15, 1907	1	2		Democratic
39		Fred A. Busse	April 15, 1907	April 17, 1911	1	4		Republican
40		Carter Harrison IV	April 17, 1911	April 26, 1915	1	4		Democratic
41		William H. Thompson	April 26, 1915	April 16, 1923	2	8		Republican
42		William E. Dever	April 16, 1923	April 18, 1927	1	4		Democratic
43		William H. Thompson	April 18, 1927	April 9, 1931	1	4		Republican
44		Anton Cermak †	April 9, 1931	March 6, 1933	1	1 year, 11 months		Democratic
45		Frank J. Corr (acting mayor)	March 15, 1933	April 8, 1933	--	24 days		Democratic
46		Edward J. Kelly	April 17, 1933	April 15, 1947	3 ​1⁄2	14		Democratic
47		Martin H. Kennelly	April 15, 1947	April 20, 1955	2	8		Democratic
48		Richard J. Daley †	April 20, 1955	December 20, 1976	6	21 years, 8 months		Democratic
49		Michael A. Bilandic	December 20, 1976	April 16, 1979	1	2 years, 4 months		Democratic
50		Jane Byrne	April 16, 1979	April 29, 1983	1	4		Democratic
51		Harold Washington †	April 29, 1983	November 25, 1987	2	4 years, 7 months		Democratic
52		David Orr (acting mayor)[2]	November 25, 1987	December 2, 1987	--	7 days		Democratic
53		Eugene Sawyer	December 2, 1987	April 24, 1989	1	1 year, 4.5 months		Democratic
54		Richard M. Daley	April 24, 1989	May 16, 2011	6 (5 elected)	22 years, 1 month		Democratic1
55		Rahm Emanuel	May 16, 2011	May 20, 2019	2	8		Democratic1
56		Lori Lightfoot	May 20, 2019	May 15, 2023	1	4		Democratic1
57		Brandon Johnson	May 15, 2023	incumbent	1			Democratic1

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)^[3][4] Ray Suarez (2011–2015),^[5][6] 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."^[7]