Mayor of San Francisco
The Mayor of San Francisco is the head of the government of San Francisco, California. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two terms. Because San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, the mayor is the head of government both of the county and city; however, both entities are governed by a combined set of governing bodies.
Gavin Newsom is the 42nd mayor of San Francisco; he will be eligible for re-election in 2007.
Elections
The mayor of San Francisco is elected every four years; elections take place one year before United States presidential elections. The next election for the mayor will be in 2007 and the one after that will be in 2011. Candidates must live and be registered to vote in San Francisco at the time of the election. The mayor is usually sworn in on the January 8 following the election.
Electoral system
Under California law, all city elections in the state are conducted on a non-partisan basis. Candidates' party affiliations are not listed on the ballot, and multiple candidates from a single party can run in the general election, as they are not winnowed by a primary election.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, San Francisco mayoral elections were generally run under a two-round system. If no candidate received a simple majority of votes in the general election, then the two candidates who had received the most votes competed in a second runoff election held several weeks later. Because of San Francisco's generally left-leaning politics, both candidates in these runoff elections were generally Democrats in this time period; in the 2003 election, the two final candidates were a Democrat and a Green.
In 2004, San Francisco's election system was overhauled as a result of a citywide referendum. Today, most city officials, including the mayor and the members of the city's legislature, the Board of Supervisors, are elected by a form of instant-runoff voting in which each voter ranks his or her top three choices. This system was first used in the Board of Supervisors election in 2004; it remains to be seen how it will affect the conduct and results of a city-wide mayor's race.
Electoral history
2003
The mayor's election of 2003 was dominated by three top candidates: Gavin Newsom, Matt Gonzalez, and Angela Alioto. No candidate received a majority of votes in the November election, propelling Newsom and Gonzalez into a runoff. Newsom is a Democrat and held a position on the board of supervisors; Gonzalez is a member of the Green Party and was the president of the board of supervisors at the time. If he had won, Gonzalez would have been the most prominent elected Green Party member in the United States.
The run-off election took place on December 9, 2003. Newsom won with 52.8 percent of the vote to Gonzalez's 47.2 percent.[1]
Succession
If the mayor dies in office, resigns, or is unable to carry out his duties, the president of the Board of Supervisors becomes acting mayor until a special election can be held to fill the vacancy and finish the previous mayors term. This has happened many times, including when Washington Bartlett resigned to become Governor of California and was succeeded by Edward B. Pond, when James Otis died of in office and was succeeded by George Hewston, when James Rolph resigned to become Governor of California in 1931 and succeeded by Angelo Rossi and when George Moscone was assassinated in 1978 and succeeded by Dianne Feinstein.
Duties
The Mayor authors the City budget each fiscal year (from July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008, for instance), which allows for funding of City departments and activities. The Mayor appoints people to positions in the city government, occasionally with the consent of the Board of Supervisors. S/he also signs bills into law. The mayor may also veto a bill and return it to the Board of Supervisors for revision. If there is a vacancy in the Board of Supervisors or another city elected official, the Mayor appoints a replacement to fill the vacancy. The Mayor also appoints Commissioners to the more than 50 citizen-driven Commissions that oversee City departments.
Trivia
Age and Longevity
- The youngest mayor ever sworn in as of 2004 is John White Geary. He was 30 years, 4 months and 1 day old upon becoming mayor in 1850.
- The oldest mayor ever sworn in as of 2004 is Edward Robeson Taylor. He was 68 years, 9 months and 22 days old upon becoming mayor in 1907.
- The average age of accending to the office of mayor is 48 years, 4 months and 1 day, or 17,655 days.
- The longest-lived mayor as of 2006 is George Christopher. He was 92 years, 9 months, and 7 days old when he died in 2000
- The shortest-lived mayor as of 2006 is Levi Richard Ellert. He was 43 years, 9 months, and 2 days old when he died in 1901
- The longest post-mayoral life of any mayor was that of Henry F. Teschemacher. He lived for 41 years, 4 months, and 28 days after the end of his term as mayor.
- Excluding James Otis and George Moscone, who died in office, the shortest post-mayoral life of any mayor was that of George Henry Sanderson. He died only 31 days after the end of his term as mayor.
Birth and Death
- There were four foreign born mayors:
- Frank McCoppin, born in Ireland
- Adolph Sutro, born in Prussia
- P.H. McCarthy, born in Ireland
- George Christopher, born in Greece
- Ten native San Franciscans have served as mayor:
- Between the births of Stephen Randall Harris in 1802 and Gavin Newsom in 1967, there has been a San Francisco mayor born in every decade except the 1840s, 1940s, and 1950s.
- Between the deaths of James Van Ness in 1872 and George Christopher in 2000, a San Francisco mayor has died in every decade except the 1950s.
- Two mayors have died in office:
- James Otis, who died of diphtheria in 1875
- George Moscone, who was assassinated in 1978
- Henry F. Teschemacher died in Switzerland making him the only mayor to die in a foreign country.
Tenure as Mayor
- Charles James Brenham is the only mayor to serve two non-consecutive terms: the first in 1851, and the second again in 1852-1853
- The longest serving mayor of San Francisco is James Rolph. He served for 18 years, 11 months, and 30 days.
- The shortest serving mayor of San Francisco is Charles Boxton. He served only 8 days
- Washington Bartlett and James Rolph both resigned to become Governor of California, but both died soon after taking office.
- James Phelan and Dianne Feinstein are the only mayors to become United States Senators