List of mayors of Manchester, New Hampshire facts for kids

A mayor is the leader of a city. They help make important decisions and manage how the city runs. This page lists all the people who have been the mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire.

Even though political parties are sometimes shown for mayors, elections in Manchester are officially non-partisan. This means candidates don't run as part of a specific political party.

For most of the last century, elections for mayor happened every two years, in odd-numbered years. Mayors serve for a two-year term. The very first city election in Manchester was held on August 19, 1846.

The mayor has a very important job. They are in charge of supervising the city's daily operations. The mayor also leads meetings of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, which is like the city council. Plus, the mayor is the head of the Board of School Committee, which looks after all the schools in the city. To become mayor, a person must have lived in Manchester for at least one year before they run for office.

Over time, the length of a mayor's term changed:

• From 1846 to 1857, mayors served for one year. Their term ended in March.
• From 1857 to 1872, their term ended in December.
• In 1873, it went back to ending in March.
• Finally, in 1880, the term became two years long, which is how it is today.

Meet Manchester's Mayors

Here is a list of the people who have served as mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire.

Mayor	Term	Party	Notes	Photo
Hiram Brown	1846–1847	Whig	He was elected as Manchester's first mayor on August 19, 1846.
Jacob F. James	1847–1849	Whig	He was elected after earlier elections didn't have a clear winner. He was re-elected in 1848 after similar issues.
Warren L. Lane	1849–1850	Democrat	Elected in a special election in October 1849, after previous elections had no clear winner.
Moses Fellows	1851–1852
Frederick Smyth	1852–1855
Theodore T. Abbott	1855–1857	American	Elected in March 1855 and re-elected in March 1856.
Jacob F. James	1857		Elected in November 1856.
Alonzo Smith	1858
Edward W. Harrington	1859–1860
David A. Bunton	1861–1862	Republican
Theodore T. Abbott	1863	American
Frederick Smyth	1864	Republican	He later became the governor of New Hampshire in 1865.
Darwin J. Daniels	1865 – August 15, 1865		He passed away while still in office.
John Hosley	August 1865 – 1866		He was elected to fill the mayor's spot after the previous mayor passed away.
Joseph B. Clark	1867
James A. Weston	1868	Democrat	He later became Governor of New Hampshire from 1871–1872.
Isaac W. Smith	1869	Republican
James A. Weston	1870–1871	Democrat
Person Colby Cheney	1872	Republican	He served as Governor of New Hampshire from 1875–1877. He was also appointed as a U.S. Senator.
Charles H. Bartlett	1873		He resigned because he held another government job that didn't allow him to be mayor at the same time.
John P. Newell	1873		He was chosen by the city's leaders to fill the mayor's spot.
James A. Weston	1874–1875	Democrat
Alpheus Gay	1875–1876
Ira Cross	1876–1877	Republican	He resigned from his position.
John L. Kelly	1877–1880
Horace B. Putnam	1881–1884
George H. Stearns	1885–1886		He lived to be 91 years old.
John Hosley	1887–1888
David B. Varney	1889–1890
Edgar J. Knowlton	1891 – May 10, 1894		He resigned in May 1894. David B. Varney then served as mayor for a period.
William C. Clarke	1895–1902
Eugene E. Reed	1903–1910	Democrat	He served in the U.S. Congress from 1913 to 1915.
Edward C. Smith	1911–1912	Republican
Charles C. Hayes	1913–1914	Republican
Harry W. Spaulding	1915–1917	Republican
Moise Verrette	1918–1921	Democrat	He was an Executive Councillor before becoming mayor.
George E. Trudel	1922–1925
Arthur E. Moreau	1926–1931	Republican
Damase Caron	1932–1941	Democrat
Wilfred A. Laflamme	1942–1943	Republican
Josephat T. Benoit	1944–1961	Democrat	He served a record nine terms in a row. He was born in Canada and moved to the U.S. when he was seven.
John C. Mongan	1962–1963	Republican	He was the first mayor since 1946 to be sworn into office outside of City Hall.
Roland S. Vallee	1964–1967	Democrat	He was known as the "singing mayor."
John C. Mongan	1968–1969	Republican
Henry J. Pariseau	1970	Republican	He passed away while in office.
Charles R. "Dick" Stanton	1970–1971	Democrat	He was chosen by the city leaders to finish the term of the previous mayor.
Sylvio L. Dupuis	1972–1975	Democrat	He resigned in May 1975 to help start the Catholic Medical Center.
Charles R. "Dick" Stanton	1975–1981	Democrat	He was chosen to finish a term, then won three more elections on his own.
Emile Beaulieu	1982–1983	Democrat	He lost his re-election bid in 1983.
Robert F. Shaw	1984–1987	Republican	He later changed his political party in 1995.
Emile Beaulieu	1988–1989	Democrat	He lost his re-election bid in 1989. He also changed his political party later.
Raymond Wieczorek	1989–2000	Republican	He lost his re-election bid in 1999. He later served as an Executive Councillor.
Robert A. Baines	2000–2006	Democrat	He lost his re-election bid in 2005.
Frank Guinta	2006–2010	Republican	He was the youngest Manchester mayor in over 150 years when he started. He later served as a U.S. Representative.
Theodore "Ted" Gatsas	2010–2018	Republican	He lost his re-election bid in 2017. He is currently serving as an Executive Councillor.
Joyce Craig	2018–2024	Democratic	She was the first woman elected mayor of Manchester.
Jay Ruais	2024–present	Republican	He was sworn into office on January 2, 2024.

More to Explore

• Mayoral elections in Manchester, New Hampshire