Mayor of Chicago facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Mayor of Chicago
Incumbent Brandon Johnson since May 15, 2023
Government of Chicago
Style	His Honor The Honorable
Term length	4 years
Inaugural holder	William B. Ogden
Formation	1837
Salary	$216,210

The mayor of Chicago is the main leader of the city government in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor's job is to run different city departments and make sure the city's rules are followed. They also suggest new ideas to the Chicago City Council and create the city's yearly budget. The mayor also chooses people to lead city departments and join city committees.

When the City Council meets, the mayor leads the meeting. The mayor usually cannot vote on issues. However, they can vote if there is a tie. The role of mayor was created when Chicago became a city in 1837.

History of Chicago's Mayors
Mayor's Power to Appoint Leaders
How Mayors Are Elected and Replaced
List of Chicago Mayors
Role of the Vice Mayor
- List of Vice Mayors
See also

History of Chicago's Mayors

William B. Ogden was Chicago's first mayor.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry leaving the mayor's office in 2016.

The first mayor of Chicago was William B. Ogden, who served from 1837 to 1838. Since then, 46 men and two women have held the job. The two women mayors were Jane Byrne (1979–1983) and Lori Lightfoot (2019–2023).

Interestingly, two father-and-son pairs have been mayors. They are Carter Harrison III and Carter Harrison IV, and Richard J. Daley and Richard M. Daley. Carter Harrison IV was the first mayor born in Chicago.

David Duvall Orr was an interim mayor for only one week in 1987. This was the shortest time anyone has held the office. Richard M. Daley was elected six times. He served for 22 years, becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor. He even served longer than his father, who was mayor for 21 years.

The first Irish Catholic mayor was John Patrick Hopkins (1893–1895). Rahm Emanuel (2011–2019) is the only Jewish American to have been mayor.

Harold Washington (1983–1987) was the first African American mayor. Lori Lightfoot was the first African American woman mayor. She was also the first openly LGBT mayor. Brandon Johnson (2023–present) is the fourth African American mayor. Eugene Sawyer was chosen by the council to be mayor after Harold Washington passed away.

Mayor's Power to Appoint Leaders

The mayor chooses the leaders for many important city departments. This includes the commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department and the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. They also appoint leaders for departments like Water Management and Streets & Sanitation.

The mayor also picks members for the boards of several important city groups. These include the City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Library, Chicago Housing Authority, and Chicago Transit Authority. The mayor also appoints the leaders of the Chicago Public Schools.

The Chicago City Clerk, City Treasurer of Chicago, and the 50 alderpersons (who are like city council members) are elected by the public. However, if any of these positions become empty, the mayor can choose someone to fill the spot. If the mayor's office becomes empty, the City Council chooses one of its members to be the acting mayor.

Chicago's government is set up as a "weak-mayor" system. This means the City Council usually has most of the power. But in reality, Chicago's mayor has always been one of the most powerful city leaders in the country. Unlike other "weak-mayor" systems, Chicago's mayor gets to create the city's budget. The mayor's office is sometimes called "the fifth floor" because it is located on the fifth floor of Chicago City Hall. This name shows how much power the mayor has.

How Mayors Are Elected and Replaced

Chicago's mayor is elected by the people every four years. The election happens on the last Tuesday in February. If no candidate gets more than half of the votes, a second election (called a run-off) is held on the first Tuesday in April. These elections are non-partisan, meaning candidates do not run as members of a political party. Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. that does not limit how many terms a mayor can serve.

If the mayor's office becomes empty, or if the mayor cannot serve due to illness, the City Council chooses a vice mayor to be the temporary mayor. This temporary mayor serves until the City Council picks one of its members to be the acting mayor, or until the mayor's term ends.

However, if the mayor's office becomes empty with more than 28 months left in the term, and at least 130 days before the next city election, a special election is held. This special election chooses a new mayor to finish the rest of the term. If there are fewer than 28 months left, or fewer than 130 days before the next election, the acting mayor serves until the term ends.

These rules for replacing a mayor were made clearer after Richard J. Daley passed away while in office. They were used again when Harold Washington passed away, and Vice Mayor David Orr became acting mayor. Before these rules, the laws were unclear.

If the mayor is not at a City Council meeting, the president pro tempore (a council member chosen by the council) leads the meeting. Unlike the mayor, the president pro tempore can vote on all issues. If neither the mayor nor the president pro tempore can lead, the vice mayor steps in.

List of Chicago Mayors

Joseph Medill (#26) was the first foreign-born mayor.

John Patrick Hopkins (#35) was the youngest and first Catholic mayor.

William Hale Thompson (#41) was Chicago's last Republican mayor.

Jane Byrne (#50) was the first female mayor.

Harold Washington (#51) was the first African American mayor.

Richard M. Daley (#54) was the longest-serving mayor (22 years).

Lori Lightfoot (#56) was the first African American female and first openly gay female mayor of Chicago.

Before 1837, Chicago was a town led by town presidents. Since 1837, it has been a city led by mayors.

The mayor's term was one year from 1837 to 1863. Then it changed to two years. In 1907, it changed again to four years.

#No.	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 1⁄12	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)	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

^† Died/murdered in office.
¹ Since 1999, mayoral elections have officially been nonpartisan. A 1995 Illinois law stated that "candidates for mayor ... no longer would run under party labels in Chicago". However, Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel, Lori Lightfoot, and Brandon Johnson are known to be Democrats.

Role of the Vice Mayor

Vice mayor of Chicago
Incumbent Walter Burnett since May 15, 2023
Inaugural holder	Casey Laskowski
Formation	1976
Salary	$0

Illinois law says that the City Council chooses a vice mayor. This person steps in as temporary mayor if the mayor's office is empty. They also serve if the mayor cannot do their job due to illness or injury. The current vice mayor is Walter Burnett.

This position was created after Richard J. Daley passed away while in office. There was a power struggle over who should take over. The vice mayor position helps avoid such problems.

If neither the mayor nor the president pro tempore can lead a City Council meeting, the vice mayor takes charge.

For a long time, the vice mayor's job was mostly symbolic. But in 2023, Mayor Brandon Johnson helped pass a plan that gave the office a $400,000 budget. He also asked his vice mayor, Burnett, to work as an official link between the mayor's office and the community.

List of Vice Mayors

	Tenure	Mayor(s) serve under	Notes
Casey Laskowski	1976–1979	Michael Bilandic
Richard Mell	1979–1987	Jane Byrne Harold Washington
David Orr	1987–1988	Harold Washington Eugene Sawyer	Served as Acting Mayor for 1 week
Terry Gabinski	1988–1998	Eugene Sawyer Richard M. Daley
Bernard Stone	1998–2011	Richard M. Daley
Ray Suarez	2011–2015	Rahm Emanuel
Brendan Reilly	2015–2019	Rahm Emanuel
Tom Tunney	2019–2023	Lori Lightfoot
Walter Burnett Jr.	2023–present	Brandon Johnson