Mayor of Los Angeles

Mayor of Los Angeles
Seal of City of Los Angeles
Incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa since July 1, 2005
Residence	Getty House
Term length	Four years renewable once
Inaugural holder	Stephen Clark Foster
Formation	1848
Website	Office of the Mayor

The mayor of Los Angeles is the chief executive officer of the city, elected for a four-year term and limited to serving no more than two terms. Under the California Constitution, all judicial, school, county, and city offices, including those of chartered cities, are nonpartisan. The 41st and current Mayor is Antonio Villaraigosa.

The mayor has an office in the Los Angeles City Hall and resides at the Mayor's Mansion, Getty House, located in Windsor Square in Hancock Park.

In the case of an office vacancy, the City Council has a choice to appoint a new mayor or to hold a special election. The mayor is subject to recall.

Duties and powers

Los Angeles has a strong mayor council form of government, giving the mayor the position of chief executive of the city. The city does not have a city manager and as a result, the mayor's office resembles the office of a president or governor. The mayor is given the authority to appoint general managers and commissioners, remove officials from city posts, and is required to propose a budget each year. Most of the mayor's appointments and proposals are subject to approval by the Los Angeles City Council, but the mayor has the power of veto or approval of City Council legislation. The organization of the mayor's office changes with administration, but is almost always governed by a chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, director of communications, and several deputy mayors. Each mayor also organizes his office into different offices, usually containing the Los Angeles Housing Team, Los Angeles Business Team, International Trade Office, Mayor's Volunteer Corps, and Office of Immigrant Affairs, among other divisions.

List of mayors

Since California became a state in 1850, the following Mayors have served.

For pre-statehood mayors, see List of pre-statehood mayors of Los Angeles, California.

Stephen Clark Foster was appointed the first American mayor of Los Angeles under United States military rule in 1848.

Mayor Fred Eaton was instrumental in developing the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

Tom Bradley was Los Angeles' longest-serving mayor.

#	Mayor	Tenure	Terms
1	Alpheus P. Hodges	July 1, 1850–May 7, 1851	1
2	Benjamin Davis Wilson	May 7, 1851–May 4, 1852	1
3	John G. Nichols	May 4, 1852–May 3, 1853	1
4	Antonio F. Coronel	May 3, 1853–May 4, 1854	1
5	Stephen C. Foster (2nd)	May 4, 1854–January 13, 1855	1
	(vacant)	January 13, 1855-January 25, 1855	-
–	Stephen C. Foster (3rd)	January 25, 1855–May 9, 1855	Partial
6	Dr. Thomas Foster	May 9, 1855–May 7, 1856	1
–	Stephen C. Foster (4th)	May 7, 1856–September 22, 1856	Partial
?	Manuel Requena (acting, 3rd)	September 22, 1856-October 4, 1856	Partial
–	John G. Nichols (2nd)	October 4, 1856–May 9, 1859	3
7	Damien Marchesseault	May 9, 1859–May 9, 1860	1
8	Henry Mellus	May 9, 1860–December 26, 1860 (died)	Partial
?	William Woodworth (acting)	December 26, 1860-January 7, 1861	Partial
–	Damien Marchesseault (2nd)	January 7, 1861–May 6, 1865	4
9	Jose Mascarel	May 5, 1865–May 10, 1866	1
10	Cristóbal Aguilar	May 10, 1866–December 7, 1868	2
11	Joel Turner	December 9, 1868–December 9, 1870	2
–	Cristóbal Aguilar (2nd)	December 9, 1870–December 5, 1872	2
12	James R. Toberman	December 5, 1872–December 18, 1874	2
13	Prudent Beaudry	December 18, 1874–December 8, 1876	2
14	Frederick A. MacDougal	December 8, 1876–November 16, 1878 (died)	2
	(vacant)	November 16, 1878-November 21, 1878	-
15	Bernard Cohn (acting)	November 21, 1878–December 5, 1878	Partial
–	James R. Toberman (2nd)	December 5, 1878–December 9, 1882	4
16	Cameron E. Thom	December 9, 1882–December 9, 1884	2
17	Edward F. Spence	December 9, 1884–December 14, 1886	2
18	William H. Workman	December 14, 1886–December 10, 1888	2
19	John Bryson	December 10, 1888–February 25, 1889	1
20	Henry T. Hazard	February 25, 1889–December 5, 1892	2
?	William H. Bonsall (acting)	December 5, 1892-December 12, 1892	Partial
21	Thomas E. Rowan	December 12, 1892–December 12, 1894	1
22	Frank Rader	December 12, 1894–December 16, 1896	1
23	Meredith P. Snyder	December 16, 1896–December 15, 1898	1
24	Fred Eaton	December 15, 1898–December 12, 1900	1
–	Meredith P. Snyder (2nd)	December 12, 1900–December 8, 1904	2
25	Owen McAleer	December 8, 1904–December 13, 1906	1
26	Arthur C. Harper	December 13, 1906–March 11, 1909 (resigned)	1
27	William D. Stephens (acting)	March 15, 1909–March 26, 1909	Partial
28	George Alexander	March 26, 1909–July 1, 1913	2
29	Henry Rose	July 1, 1913–July 1, 1915	1
30	Charles E. Sebastian	July 1, 1915–September 2, 1916 (resigned)	1
31	Frederick T. Woodman	September 5, 1916–July 1, 1919	2
–	Meredith P. Snyder (3rd)	July 1, 1919–July 1, 1921	1
32	George E. Cryer	July 1, 1921–July 1, 1929	3
33	John C. Porter	July 1, 1929–July 1, 1933	1
34	Frank L. Shaw	July 1, 1933–September 26, 1938 (recalled)	2
35	Fletcher Bowron	September 26, 1938–July 1, 1953	4
36	C. Norris Poulson	July 1, 1953–July 1, 1961	2
37	Samuel W. Yorty	July 1, 1961–July 1, 1973	3
38	Thomas Bradley	July 1, 1973–July 1, 1993	5
39	Richard J. Riordan	July 1, 1993–July 1, 2001	2
40	James K. Hahn	July 1, 2001–July 1, 2005	1
41	Antonio Villaraigosa	July 1, 2005–present

• ? Not included in the official mayoral count.

The office of Mayor is nonpartisan. If no candidate receives fifty percent, plus one vote, a runoff election is required. (See Mayoral runoff races below).

Mayoral runoff races

If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary election, the top two finishers meet in a runoff two months later. The table below refers to the runoff races over the years.

Year	Winning Candidate	Losing Candidate
2009	No runoff. Antonio Villaraigosa received a majority in the first round.
2005	Antonio Villaraigosa 289,116	James K. Hahn 203,968
2001	James K. Hahn 304,791	Antonio Villaraigosa 264,611
1997	Richard Riordan 250,771	Tom Hayden 140,648
1993	Richard Riordan 314,559	Michael Woo 268,137
1989	No runoff. Tom Bradley received a majority in the first round.
1985	Thomas Bradley 313,318	John Ferraro 141,499
1981	Thomas Bradley 293,138	Samuel Yorty 148,193
1977	Thomas Bradley 288,636	Alan Robbins 136,515
1973	Thomas Bradley 433,473	Samuel Yorty 335,857
1969	Samuel Yorty 449,572	Thomas Bradley 394,364
1965	Samuel Yorty 395,208	James Roosevelt 249,099
1961	Samuel Yorty 276,106	Norris Poulson 260,381
1957	Norris Poulson 314,910	Robert Yeakel 142,094
1953	Norris Poulson 290,239	Fletcher Bowron 254,114
1949	Fletcher Bowron 238,190	Lloyd Aldrich 207,211
1941	Fletcher Bowron 112,556*	Stephen W. Cunningham 90,597*
1938* (recall)	Fletcher Bowron 232,686	Frank L. Shaw 122,198
1932* (recall)	John C. Porter 180,546	Charles W. Dempster 102,815
1929	John C. Porter	William G. Bonelli
1911	George Alexander	Job Harriman
1909 (recall) March 26	George Alexander 14,043	Fred C. Wheeler 12,341
1872	J. R. Toberman 715	Cristóbal Aguilar 350
1870	Cristóbal Aguilar 436	Andrew Glassell 428

• Note: In the 1932 recall election William G. Bonelli received 74,917 votes.
• Note: The 1941 election results represent 1,750 out of 2,753 precincts reporting, but Cunningham conceded at that point

Living former mayors

As of December 2008, two former mayors were alive, the older being Richard J. Riordan (1993–2001, born 1930). The most recent mayor to die was Thomas Bradley (1973–1993), on September 29, 1998.

Name	Mayoral term	Date of birth
Richard J. Riordan	1993–2001	May 1, 1930 (age 82)
James K. Hahn	2001–2005	July 3, 1950 (age 62)

See also

• History of Los Angeles
• List of Los Angeles municipal election returns

References

• Los Angeles City Charter

External links

• City Mayors profile of Antonio Villaraigosa
• Election ordinance