List of mayors of Columbus, Ohio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mayor of Columbus
Flag of the City of Columbus
Seal of the City of Columbus
Incumbent Andrew Ginther since January 1, 2016
Style	The Honorable
Term length	Four-year term, no limits
Inaugural holder	Jarvis W. Pike
Formation	February 14, 1812
Deputy	President of Columbus City Council
Salary	$177,000 (2016)
Website	mayor.columbus.gov

A mayor is the leader of a city. They help make important decisions and manage how the city runs. Columbus, Ohio, has had 48 different people serve as mayor. Some of them even served more than one time!

The very first mayor of Columbus was Jarvis W. Pike. He was chosen by the city's council in 1816. Later, in 1834, John Brooks became the first mayor chosen directly by the people voting.

Five mayors have served more than one term, but not in a row. This means they were mayor, then someone else was mayor, and then they became mayor again!

A few mayors have left their job early. The shortest time anyone served as mayor was James Robinson, who was mayor for only eight months in 1827. The longest-serving mayor was Michael B. Coleman. He was mayor for 16 years, from 2000 to 2016. He was also the first African American mayor of Columbus.

The current mayor of Columbus is Andrew Ginther. He started his term on January 1, 2016.

Mayors of Columbus

Jim Rhodes, 44th mayor of Columbus, who also served as Governor of Ohio

Michael B. Coleman, 52nd mayor of Columbus, and the first African American to serve as mayor of Ohio's capital

Political parties

      Party affiliation not known       Democratic       Whig       Republican

No.	Mayor		Took office	Left office	Party	Term	Previous office
1		Jarvis W. Pike (1795–1854)	1816	1817		1 (1816)	Member of Columbus Burough Council (1816–1827)
						2 (1817)
2		John Kerr (1778–1823)	1818	1820		3 (1818)	Member of Columbus Burough Council (1816–1823)
						4 (1819)
3		Eli C. King	1820	1822		5 (1820)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1816–1820)
						6 (1821)
						7 (1822)
4		John Laughrey (1784– )	1823	1823		8 (1823)
5		William T. Martin (1788–1866)	1824	1826		9 (1824)	Recorder of Columbus (1823, 1834–1838)
						10 (1825)
						11 (1826)
6		James Robinson	1827	September 11, 1827		12 (1827)	Member of Columbus Burough Council (1823–1827)
7		William Long (1781–1851)	1827	1833			Recorder of Columbus (1824–1827)
						13 (1828)
						14 (1829)
						15 (1830)
						16 (1831)
						17 (1832)
8		Philo H. Olmsted (1793–1870)	1833	1833	Whig	18 (1833)	Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834)
9		John Brooks (1785–1869)	April 21, 1834	April 21, 1835		19 (1834)
10		John Bailhache (1787–1857)	1835	1835	Whig		Ross County Common Pleas Court Judge (1825)
11		Warren Jenkins	1836	September 4, 1837	Whig	20 (1836)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1835–1837)
12		Philo H. Olmsted (1793–1870)	1838	1839	Whig	21 (1838)	Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834)
13		John G. Miller (1795–1871)	1840	May 4, 1841	Whig	22 (1840)
14		Thomas Wood (1782–1861)	May 1841	1841			Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1828–1843)
15		Abram I. McDowell (1793–1844)	1842	1842		23 (1842)	Clerk for the Court of Common Pleas (1815–1836)
16		Smithson E. Wright (1807–1881)	1843	1844	Whig	24 (1843)
17		Alexander Patton (1791–1857)	1845	1845	Whig	25 (1845)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1843–1849)
18		Augustus S. Decker (1813–1872)	1846	1846	Whig
19		Alexander Patton (1791–1858)	1847	1849	Whig	26 (1847)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1843–1849)
						27 (1849)
20		Lorenzo English (1819–1888)	1850	1861	Whig	28 (1851)	No previous experience in public office
						29 (1853)
						30 (1855)
						31 (1857)
						32 (1859)
21		Wray Thomas (1810–)	1861	1864	Democratic	33 (1861)	Ohio Representative from Delaware and Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834)
						34 (1863)
22		James G. Bull (1838–1927)	1865	1868	Democratic	35 (1865)	No previous experience in public office
						36 (1867)
23		George W. Meeker (1833–1890)	1869	1870	Democratic	37 (1869)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1863–1869)
24		James G. Bull (1838–1927)	1871	1874	Democratic	38 (1871)	Mayor of Columbus (1865–1868)
						39 (1873)
25		John H. Heitmann (1841–1894)	1875	1878	Democratic	40 (1875)	Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1874–1876)
						41 (1877)
26		Gilbert G. Collins (1830–1885)	1879	1880	Republican	42 (1879)	City Attorney of Columbus (1873–1875)
27		George S. Peters (1846–1928)	1881	1882	Democratic	43 (1881)	No previous experience in public office
28		Charles C. Walcutt (1838–1898)	1883	1886	Republican	44 (1883)	Member of Columbus Board of Education (1873–1894)
						45 (1885)
29		Philip H. Bruck (1845–1920)	1887	1890	Democratic	46 (1887)	No previous experience in public office
						47 (1889)
30		George J. Karb (1858–1937)	1891	1894	Democratic	48 (1891)	Columbus Police Commissioner (1889–1890)
						49 (1893)
31		Cotton H. Allen (1834–1900)	1895	1896	Democratic	50 (1895)	No previous experience in public office
32		Samuel L. Black (1859–1929)	1897	April 15, 1899	Democratic	51 (1897)	No previous experience in public office
33		Samuel J. Swartz (1859–1905)	1899	1900	Republican	52 (1899)	Police Court Judge of Columbus (1897–1898)
34		John N. Hinkle (1854–1905)	1901	May 4, 1903	Democratic	53 (1901)	No previous experience in public office
35		Robert H. Jeffrey (1873–1961)	May 4, 1903	January 1, 1906	Republican	54 (1903)	No previous experience in public office
36		De Witt C. Badger (1858–1926)	January 1, 1906	1907	Democratic	55 (1905)	U.S. Representative from Ohio (1903–1905)
37		Charles A. Bond (1873–1943)	1908	1909	Republican	56 (1907)	No previous experience in public office
38		George S. Marshall (1869–1956)	1910	January 1, 1912	Republican	57 (1909)	Asst City Attorney of Columbus (1899–1909)
39		George J. Karb (1858–1937)	January 1, 1912	January 1, 1920	Democratic	58 (1911)	Franklin County Sheriff (1903–1909)
						59 (1913)
						60 (1915)
40		James J. Thomas (1868–1947)	January 1, 1920	January 1, 1932	Republican	61 (1919)	Member of Columbus City Council (1898–1901)
						62 (1923)
						63 (1927)
41		Henry W. Worley (1877–1938)	January 1, 1932	1935	Democratic	64 (1931)	Member of Columbus City Council (1922–1932)
42		Myron B. Gessaman (1894–1975)	1936	1939	Republican	65 (1935)	Member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1934–1935)
43		Floyd F. Green (1900–1952)	1940	1943	Republican	66 (1939)	Member of Columbus City Council (1927–1931)
44		Jim Rhodes (1909–2001)	1944	1952	Republican	67 (1943)	City Auditor of Columbus (1939–1943)
						68 (1947)
						69 (1951)
45		Robert T. Oestreicher (1894–1955)	1953	1953	Republican		President of Columbus City Council
46		Jack Sensenbrenner (1902–1991)	January 1, 1954	January 1, 1960	Democratic		No previous experience in public office
						70 (1955)
47		Ralston Westlake (1907–1978)	January 1, 1960	January 1, 1964	Republican	71 (1959)	Member of Columbus City Council (1956–1959)
48		Jack Sensenbrenner (1902–1991)	January 1, 1964	January 1, 1972	Democratic	72 (1963)	Mayor of Columbus (1954–1960)
						73 (1967)
49		Tom Moody (1929–2008)	January 1, 1972	January 1, 1984	Republican	74 (1971)	Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge (1968–1971)
						75 (1975)
						76 (1979)
50		Buck Rinehart (1946–2015)	January 1, 1984	January 1, 1992	Republican	77 (1983)	Franklin County Treasurer of Ohio (1976–1984)
						78 (1987)
51		Greg Lashutka (born 1944)	January 1, 1992	January 1, 2000	Republican	79 (1991)	City Attorney of Columbus (1978–1985)
						80 (1995)
52		Michael B. Coleman (born 1954)	January 1, 2000	January 1, 2016	Democratic	81 (1999)	President of Columbus City Council (1997–1999)
						82 (2003)
						83 (2007)
						84 (2011)
53		Andrew Ginther (born 1975)	January 1, 2016	Incumbent	Democratic	85 (2015)	President of Columbus City Council (2011–2015)
						86 (2019)
						87 (2023)

See also

• Government of Columbus, Ohio
• Green Lawn Cemetery – Many former mayors of Columbus are buried in this important cemetery. It is located in the southern part of Columbus, Ohio.
• Timeline of Columbus, Ohio