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	4 years
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.^[1] He is elected for a four-year term^[2] and limited to serving no more than two terms.^[3] Under the California Constitution, all judicial, school, county, and city offices, including those of chartered cities, are nonpartisan.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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

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

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

Tom Bradley was Los Angeles' longest-serving mayor.

#	Mayor	Tenure	Terms
1	Alpheus P. Hodges	July 1, 1850–May 7, 1851	1
2	Benjamin D. 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	May 4, 1854–January 13, 1855	1
–	no incumbent	January 13, 1855–January 25, 1855
–	Stephen C. Foster	January 25, 1855–May 9, 1855	Partial
6	Dr. Thomas Foster	May 9, 1855–May 7, 1856	1
–	Stephen C. Foster	May 7, 1856–September 22, 1856	Partial
–	John G. Nichols	October 4, 1856–May 9, 1859	3
7	Damien Marchessault	May 9, 1859–May 9, 1860	1
8	Henry Mellus	May 9, 1860–December 26, 1860†	Partial
–	Damien Marchessault	January 7, 1861–May 6, 1865	4
9	Joseph 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	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	2
15	Bernard Cohn	November 21, 1878–December 5, 1878	Partial
–	James R. Toberman	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
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	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	1
27	William D. Stephens	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	1
31	Frederick T. Woodman	September 5, 1916–July 1, 1919	2
–	Meredith P. Snyder	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	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

† Died in office in 1860.

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 run vie in a runoff two months later. The table below refers to the runoff races over the years.

Year	Winning Candidate	Losing Candidate	Losing Candidate #2
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	Sam Yorty 449,572	Thomas Bradley 394,364
1965	Sam Yorty 395,208	James Roosevelt 249,099
1961	Sam 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	Fletcher Bowron 232,686	Frank L. Shaw 122,198
1932 (recall)	John C. Porter 180,546	Charles W. Dempster 102,815	William G. Bonelli 74,917
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: 1941 election is reported with 1,750 out of 2,753 precincts reporting, but Cunningham conceded at this 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
James K. Hahn	2001–2005	July 3, 1950

See also

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

References

• Los Angeles City Charter

1. ^ Los Angeles City Charter, Vol I, Article II, Sec 230)
2. ^ Los Angeles City Charter, Vol I, Article II, Sec 205)
3. ^ Los Angeles City Charter, Vol I, Article II, Sec 206)
4. ^ California Constitution, Article II, Section 6. [1]
5. ^ Los Angeles City Charter, Vol I, Article IV, Sec 409)
6. ^ Los Angeles City Charter, Vol I, Article II, Sec 240)
7. ^ Office of the City Clerk, Mayors of Los Angeles, 1850 to Present [2]

External links

Los Angeles portal

• City Mayors profile of Antonio Villaraigoso
• Election ordinance