Mayor of St. Louis

Mayor of St. Louis
Seal of City of St. Louis
Incumbent Tishaura Jones since April 20, 2021 (April 20, 2021)
Style	His/Her Honor
Term length	Four years, no term limits
Inaugural holder	William Carr Lane
Formation	April 14, 1823
Salary	$170,000
Website	Office of the Mayor

The mayor of St. Louis is the chief executive officer of St. Louis's city government. The mayor has a duty to enforce city ordinances and the power to either approve or veto city ordinances passed by the Board of Aldermen. The current mayor is Tishaura Jones, who took office on April 20, 2021.

Forty-seven people have held the office, four of whom — William Carr Lane, John Fletcher Darby, John Wimer, and John How — served non-consecutive terms. Lane, the city's first mayor, served the most terms: eight one-year terms plus the unexpired term of Darby. Francis Slay is the longest-serving mayor, having served four 4-year terms. The second-longest-serving mayor was Henry Kiel, who served 12 years and nine days over three terms in office. Two others — Raymond Tucker and Vincent C. Schoemehl — also served three terms, but seven fewer days. The shortest-serving mayor was Arthur Barret, who died 11 days after taking office. The first female mayor was Lyda Krewson, who served from 2017 to 2021.

Duties and powers

St. Louis was incorporated as a city on December 9, 1822, four months after Missouri was admitted as a state to the Union. In accordance with its new charter, the city changed its governance to a mayor-council format and elected its first mayor, William Carr Lane, on April 7, 1823.

Elections

The mayor is elected for four years during the general municipal election, which is held every two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April. The candidates are selected through a combined approval voting primary, with the top two advancing to the general. The mayor is usually sworn during the first session of the Board of Aldermen two weeks after the election.

Under the original city charter, the mayor was elected to a one-year term. Terms became two years under the 1859 city charter. The mayor's office was extended to its present four-year term after passage of the Charter and Scheme in 1876 which separated the City of St. Louis from St. Louis County.

Succession

If the office of mayor becomes vacant through death, resignation, recall, or removal by the board of aldermen, the president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor until a special mayoral election can be held; if the office is only temporarily vacant due to disability of the mayor, the president only acts out the duties of mayor. Should both offices be vacant, the vice-president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor.

Five people have acted as mayor: Wilson Primm following the resignation of John Darby; Ferdinand W. Cronenbold following the resignation of Chauncey Filley; Herman Rechtien following the death of Arthur Barret; George W. Allen following the resignation of David Francis; and Aloys P. Kaufmann following the death of William Becker.

List of mayors

#	Portrait	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Terms[B]		Party
1		William Carr Lane	April 14, 1823	April 14, 1829	6		Whig
2		Daniel Page	April 14, 1829	November 11, 1833	4½[C]		Whig
3		John W. Johnston	November 11, 1833	April 14, 1835	1½[C]		Whig
4		John Fletcher Darby	April 14, 1835	October 31, 1837	2½[D]		Whig
—		Wilson Primm	October 31, 1837	November 15, 1837	—[E]		Whig
1		William Carr Lane	November 15, 1837	April 14, 1840	2½		Whig
4		John Fletcher Darby	April 14, 1840	April 13, 1841	1		Whig
5		John D. Daggett	April 13, 1841	April 12, 1842	1		Whig
6		George Maguire	April 12, 1842	April 11, 1843	1		Democratic
7		John Wimer	April 11, 1843	April 9, 1844	1		Democratic
8		Bernard Pratte	April 9, 1844	April 14, 1846	2		Whig
9		Peter G. Camden	April 14, 1846	April 13, 1847	1		Know Nothing
10		Bryan Mullanphy	April 13, 1847	April 11, 1848	1		Democratic
11		John Krum	April 10, 1849	April 10, 1849	1		Democratic
12		James G. Barry	April 10, 1849	April 9, 1850	1		Democratic
13		Luther Martin Kennett	April 9, 1850	April 12, 1853	3		Whig
14		John How	April 12, 1853	April 10, 1855	2		Democratic
15		Washington King	April 10, 1855	April 15, 1856	1		Know Nothing
14		John How	April 15, 1856	April 14, 1857	1		Democratic
7		John Wimer	April 14, 1857	April 13, 1858	1		Democratic
16		Oliver Filley	April 13, 1858	April 9, 1861	2[F]		Republican
17		Daniel G. Taylor	April 9, 1861	April 14, 1863	1[G]		Republican
18		Chauncey Filley	April 14, 1863	March 19, 1864	½[H]		Republican
—		Ferdinand W. Cronenbold	March 19, 1864	April 11, 1864	—[I]
19		James Thomas	April 11, 1864	April 13, 1869	2½		Republican
20		Nathan Cole	April 13, 1869	April 11, 1871	1		Republican
21		Joseph Brown	April 11, 1871	April 13, 1875	2		War Democrat
22		Arthur Barret	April 13, 1875	April 24, 1875	⅓[J][K]		Democratic
—		Herman Rechtien	April 24, 1875	May 29, 1875	—[L]
23		James H. Britton	May 29, 1875	February 9, 1876	⅓[M]		Democratic
24		Henry Overstolz	February 9, 1876	April 12, 1881	1⅓[L][N]		Independent
25		William L. Ewing	April 12, 1881	April 14, 1885	1		Republican
26		David R. Francis	April 14, 1885	January 2, 1889	1[O]		Democratic
—		George W. Allen	January 2, 1889	April 6, 1889	—[P]		Democratic
27		Edward A. Noonan	April 6, 1889	April 8, 1893	1		Democratic
28		Cyrus Walbridge	April 8, 1893	April 10, 1897	1		Republican
29		Henry Ziegenhein	April 10, 1897	April 9, 1901	1		Republican
30		Rolla Wells	April 9, 1901	April 13, 1909	2		Democratic
31		Frederick Kreismann	April 13, 1909	April 12, 1913	1		Republican
32		Henry Kiel	April 12, 1913	April 21, 1925	3		Republican
33		Victor J. Miller	April 21, 1925	April 18, 1933	2		Republican
34		Bernard F. Dickmann	April 18, 1933	April 15, 1941	2		Democratic
35		William D. Becker	April 15, 1941	August 1, 1943	½[J]		Republican
36		Aloys P. Kaufmann	August 1, 1943	April 19, 1949	1½[Q]		Republican
37		Joseph Darst	April 19, 1949	April 21, 1953	1		Democratic
38		Raymond Tucker	April 21, 1953	April 20, 1965	3		Democratic
39		Alfonso J. Cervantes	April 20, 1965	April 17, 1973	2		Democratic
40		John Poelker	April 17, 1973	April 19, 1977	1		Democratic
41		James F. Conway	April 19, 1977	April 21, 1981	1		Democratic
42		Vincent C. Schoemehl	April 21, 1981	April 20, 1993	3		Democratic
43		Freeman Bosley Jr.	April 20, 1993	April 15, 1997	1		Democratic
44		Clarence Harmon	April 15, 1997	April 17, 2001	1		Democratic
45		Francis Slay	April 17, 2001	April 18, 2017	4		Democratic
46		Lyda Krewson	April 18, 2017	April 20, 2021	1		Democratic
47		Tishaura Jones	April 20, 2021	Incumbent	1		Democratic

The Mayor of St. Louis has an office on the second floor of City Hall.

Notes

• A. ^ 47 people have served as mayor, four twice; the table includes these non-consecutive terms as well.
• B. ^ The fractional terms of some mayors are not to be understood absolutely literally; rather, they are meant to show single terms during which multiple mayors served, due to resignations, deaths and the like.
• C. ^{a b} Samuel Merry was elected mayor of St. Louis in April 1833; however, his eligibility was questioned by the City Council as he was a federal officer—United States Receiver of Public Moneys in St. Louis. Merry filed suit to force the council's compliance and in October 1833, he was ruled ineligible by the Missouri Supreme Court. Johnston was elected mayor in a special mayoral election held a month later on November 9. Page continued to serve as mayor until the case was settled and Johnston elected.
• D. ^ Darby resigned from office. William Carr Lane was later elected to fill the vacancy.
• E. ^ As president of the Board of Aldermen, Primm acted as mayor following the resignation of Darby.
• F. ^ Oliver Filley's second term was the first mayoral term to last 2 years.
• G. ^ Daniel G. Taylor was the candidate of a one-time coalition of traditional Missouri Democrats, pro-slavery activists, and secessionists calling itself the "Union Anti-Black Republican" ticket. The coalition was suspicious of the Abolitionist platform of the Republican party, and argued that St. Louis should not be governed by "Black Abolitionists" who would support newly elected President Lincoln in acting, including the use of military force, to prevent secession of southern states. Mayor Taylor worked in concert with Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson, until Jackson fled the state capitol to establish a Confederate aligned state government-in-exile. Mayor Taylor then cooperated with the new conservative-Unionist Governor, Hamilton Gamble.
• H. ^ Chauncey Filley resigned after serving one year of his two-year term as mayor due to poor health.
• I. ^ As president of the Board of Common Council, Cronenbold acted as mayor following the resignation of Chauncey Filley.
• J. ^{a b} Died in office.
• K. ^ Barret became suddenly ill and died after only 11 days in office.
• L. ^ As president of the City Council, Rechtin acted as mayor following the death of Arthur Barret.
• M. ^{a b} Henry Overstolz was declared defeated by James Britton in the 1875 election, but contested the election and was seated as mayor nine months later after a recount of the ballots.
• N. ^ Per the new city charter of 1876, Overstolz became the first mayor of St. Louis elected to a four-year term.
• O. ^ Resigned from office to become Governor of Missouri.
• P. ^ As president of the City Council, Allen acted as mayor following the resignation of David Francis.
• Q. ^ As president of the Board of Aldermen, Kaufmann became mayor following the death of William Becker. He was later elected mayor, in a special mayoral election in November 1944, to fill Becker's unexpired term.

References

General

• "St. Louis Mayors". St. Louis Public Library. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
• "Laws of the City of St. Louis". St. Louis Public Library. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
• Cornwell, Charles H. (1965). St. Louis Mayors: Brief Biographies. St. Louis, Missouri: St. Louis Public Library.
• Reavis, L. U. (1876). Saint Louis: The Future Great City of the World (Centennial ed.). St. Louis: C. R. Barns. pp. 74–77. OCLC 2186198. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
• Stevens, Walter Barlow (1911). St. Louis: The Fourth City, 1764-1911. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. pp. 91–123. OCLC 9351989. Retrieved August 22, 2008.

Charters

• "St. Louis City Charter". St. Louis Public Library. Archived from the original on September 22, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
• The Scheme of Separation Between St. Louis City and County and the Charter of the City of St. Louis, with All Amendments and Modifications to May 1, 1902: And Constitutional Provisions Specially Applicable to the City of St. Louis. St. Louis: Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co. 1902. OCLC 19450592. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
• The Ordinances of the City of St. Louis. St. Louis: George Knapp & Co., Printers and Binders. 1861. Retrieved September 2, 2008.

Specific

External links

• "Missouri City Directories: St. Louis Directories, Gazetteers, Rosters and Guides", Missouri Digital Heritage, Missouri Secretrary of State