African American mayors in California

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

The following is a list of current and former African American mayors in the State of California. Since Edward P. Duplex was elected in 1888 as mayor of Wheatland, California, ^{[1] [2]} numerous African Americans have been elected or appointed to the post of mayor in California.

Antioch

Population (2020): 115,921

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Wade Harper	2012–2016	First African-American mayor of Antioch [3]
	Lamar Thorpe	2020–Present

Berkeley

Population (2020): 124,321

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Warren Widener	1971–1979	First African-American mayor of Berkeley
	Gus Newport	1979–1986

Carson

Population (2020): 95,558

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Gilbert D. Smith	1970–1971 1974–1975	First African-American mayor of Carson [4]
	Clarence A. Bridgers	1975–1976 1980–1981	[4]
	Thomas G. Mills	1982–1986	[4]
	Daryl W. Sweeney	2001–2003	[4]
	Lula Davis-Holmes	2020–Present	[4]

Compton

Population (2020): 95,740

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Douglas Dollarhide	1969–1973	First African-American American mayor of Compton
	Doris A. Davis	1973–1977
	Lionel Cade	1977–1981
	Walter R. Tucker Jr.	1981–1993
	Walter R. Tucker III	1993–1995
	Omar Bradley	1993–2001
	Eric J. Perrodin	2001–2013
	Aja Brown	2013–2021
	Emma Sharif	2021–Present

Cotati

Population (2020): 7,584

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Robert Coleman-Senghor	2010–2011	First African-American mayor of Cotati

East Palo Alto

Population (2020): 30,034

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Barbara Mouton	1983–1986	First African American mayor of East Palo Alto
	James E. Blakey Jr.	May 1, 1987 – 1988	[5] [6]
	John Bostic	1988–1989	[7]
	William Vines	1989–1990
	Warnell Coats	1991	[8]
	Pat Johnson	1992	[9]
	Sharifa Wilson	1992–1995 1999–2000	[10] [11] [12]
	Rose Jacobs Gibson	1995–1997	[13] [14] [15]
	R.B. Jones	1997–1998	[16]
	Myrtle Walker	2001	[17] [18]
	Patricia Foster	2003 2008	[19] [20]
	Donna Rutherford	2004 2016	[21]
	David E. Woods	2005 2007 2010	[22]
	Lisa Yarbrough-Gauthier	2015 2019 2023
	Larry Moody	2017
	Regina Wallace-Jones	2020

El Centro

Population (2020): 44,322

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	DuBois McGee	1966–1972	First African-American mayor of El Centro [23]

Fontana

Population (2020): 212,704

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Acquanetta Warren	2010–Present	First female and African-American mayor of Fontana [24]

Hawthorne

Population (2020): 88,083

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Chris Brown	2013–2015	First African-American mayor of Hawthorne

Inglewood

Population (2020): 107,762

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Edward Vincent Jr.	1983–1997	First African-American Mayor of Inglewood
	Roosevelt F. Dorn	1997–2010
	Danny Tabor	2010–2011	[25] [26] [27]
	James T. Butts Jr.	2011–Present

Lake Elsinore

Population (2020): 70,265

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Thomas R. Yarborough	1966–1968	First African-American mayor [28] [29]

Lemon Grove

Population (2020): 27,627

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Racquel Vasquez	2016–Present	First African-American female mayor in San Diego County

Long Beach

Population (2020): 466,742

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Rex Richardson	2022–Present	First African-American mayor of Long Beach, California

Lynwood

Population (2020): 67,265

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Robert Henning	1985–1986 1991–1992	First African-American mayor of Lynwood [30]
	Evelyn Wells	1986 1989–1990
	Paul Richards	1986–2003	[31]
	Louis Byrd	1999–2000 2006–2007

Oakland

Population (2020): 440,646

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Lionel Wilson	1979–1993	First African-American mayor of Oakland
	Elihu Harris	1993–1999
	Kevin Jenkins	January 6, 2025 – May 20, 2025	Acting mayor
	Barbara Lee	May 20, 2025 – Present

Los Angeles

Population (2020): 3,898,747

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Tom Bradley	1973–1993	First African-American mayor of Los Angeles
	Karen Bass	2022–Present	First female African-American mayor of Los Angeles 2nd African-American mayor

Menlo Park

Population (2020): 33,780

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Billy Ray White	1980–1981 1982–1983 1985–1986	First African-American mayor of Menlo Park
	Cecilia Taylor	2019–2020
	Drew Combs	2020–2021

Milpitas

Population (2020): 80,273

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Ben F. Gross	1966–1968	First African-American mayor of Milpitas [32]

Oceanside

Population (2020): 174,068

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Terry Johnson	2000–2004	First African-American mayor of Oceanside [33]

Palm Springs

Population (2020): 44,575

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Ron Oden	2003–2007	First African-American mayor of Palm Springs

Pasadena

Population (2020): 138,699

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Loretta Thompson-Glickman	1982–1984	First African-American mayor of Pasadena
	Chris Holden	1997–1999

Rialto

Population (2020): 104,026

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Deborah Robertson	2012–2024	First African-American mayor of Rialto, California [34]

Richmond

Population (2020): 116,448

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	George D. Carroll	1964–1965	First African-American mayor of Richmond
	George Livingston	1969–1970 1985–1993	First elected African-American mayor of Richmond [35]
	Nat Bates	1971–1972 1976–1977	[35]
	Booker T. Anderson	1973–1974	[35]
	Lonnie Washington	1978–1979	[35]
	George Livingston	1985–1989* 1989–1993	First elected African-American mayor of Richmond *appointed in 1985 to finish Thomas Corcoran's term. Won election in 1989 becoming Richmond's first elected African-American mayor [35]
	Irma Anderson	2001–2006	First elected African-American female mayor of Richmond [35]

Sacramento

Population (2020): 524,943

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Kevin Johnson	2008–2016	First African-American mayor of Sacramento

Santa Monica

Population (2020): 93,076

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Nat Trives	1975–1977	First African-American mayor of Santa Monica

San Francisco

Population (2020): 873,965

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Willie Brown	1996–2004	First African-American mayor of San Francisco
	London Breed	2017–2018	First African-American woman mayor of San Francisco

San Ramon

Population (2020): 84,605

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	H. Abram Wilson	2002–2008	First African-American mayor of San Ramon

Seaside

Population (2020): 32,366

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Oscar Lawson	1976–1978	First African-American mayor of Seaside [36]
	Stephen E. Ross	1978–1980	[36]
	Lancelot McClair	1982–1994	[36]
	Don R. Jordan	1994–1998	[36]
	Jerry C. Smith	1998–2004
	Ian Oglesby	2018–Present

Stockton

Population (2020): 320,804

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Michael Tubbs	2017–2021	First African-American mayor of Stockton
	Kevin Lincoln	2021–2025	[37]

Thousand Oaks

Population (2020): 126,966

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Lawrence E. Horner	1976–1977 1981–1982 1984–1885 1988–1989

Tracy

Population (2020): 93,000

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Nancy Young	2020–2024	[38]

Wheatland

Population (2020): 3,712

Image	Mayor	Years	Notes
	Edward P. Duplex	1888	First African American mayor in the state of California [1] [2]

References

1. Lapp, Rudolph M. (1977). Blacks in Gold Rush California. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 112, 189, 253, 259. ISBN   0-300-01988-2.
2. Gardner, Eric (31 May 2013). "Duplex, Edward P." . Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.36744. ISBN   978-0-19-530173-1 . Retrieved 2022-07-30.
3. Burgarino, Paul (December 5, 2012). "Antioch's first black mayor, Wade Harper, looks to lead city after years of racial unrest". The Mercury News . said Harper, 48, who is retiring as a police lieutenant in Tracy
4. "Past Elected Officials". Carson City government website. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
5. "Task force prepares to pitch East Palo Alto site for Giants". The San Francisco Examiner . February 13, 1988 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Bowles, Edith H. (May 21, 1987). "City Breaks Ground On New Era". Peninsula Times Tribune . pp.  A-1, A-12 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Three of five reportedly ready to oust Bostic". Peninsula Times Tribune . July 18, 1988. pp.  A-3, A-4 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Tight elections, council member recalls, revolving managers, revolting crimes, and redevelopment - 20 years of East Palo Alto". Palo Alto Weekly . September 10, 2003.
9. "East Palo Alto: Things Looking Up". The San Francisco Examiner . March 1, 1992 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Schevitz, Tanya (February 28, 1995). "Sharifa Wilson helps tame streets with hands-on spirit". San Francisco Gate . serving first as a councilwoman in 1990 and 1991 and then as mayor from 1992 through this past January. She has turned the often-maligned city from the murder capital of the country in 1992, when 42 people were slain in the city of 23,000, to one that had only eight homicides last year.
11. "Rainbow/Push Plans Bay Office". The San Francisco Examiner . December 14, 1999 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Clinton Hi-Tech and Equality". The San Francisco Examiner . April 18, 2000 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "East Palo Alto marks start of a new era". Ravenswood High School alumni. June 16, 1995.
14. Speier, Jackie (December 18, 2012). In Recognition of San Mateo County Board Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson by Hon. Jackie Speier in the House of Representatives. Congressional Record. p. 17923.
15. "Rose Jacobs Gibson - 2013". Women's Hall of Fame - San Mateo County. 2013.
16. Marcucci, Michele R. (August 25, 2000). "East Palo Alto Alderman Faces New Fraud Charges". Oakland Tribune – via Newspapers.com.
17. Kazak, Don (September 14, 2001). "Mayor claims colleagues are trying to oust her - Walker says she is not involved in recall effort". Palo Alto Weekly .
18. Jouvenal, Justin (May 25, 2001). "East Palo Alto keeps Title of Most Youthful in Bay Area". Oakland Tribune – via Newspapers.com.
19. Zalev, Suzanne (May 9, 2003). "Bay Area Police Chief Accused of Misconduct". Oakland Tribune – via Newspapers.com.
20. "Mayor & City Council". cityofepa.org. Archived from the original on April 8, 2003.
21. "Mayor & City Council". cityofepa.org. Archived from the original on June 4, 2004.
22. Carpenter, Ed (September 9, 2005). "Dozens arrested in drug sting". The San Francisco Examiner – via Newspapers.com.
23. Writer, SANDY SIERRA | Staff (January 19, 2015). "In 1966, El Centro welcomed the city's first African-American mayor". Imperial Valley Press Online.
24. "Acquanetta Warren Mayor, City of Fontana". San Bernardino Countywide Oversight Board. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
25. Taylor, Francis (September 2, 2010). "Inglewood's Mayor: Danny Tabor". Los Angeles Sentinel .
26. Gregg, Reese (December 15, 2010). "Tensions shroud Inglewood in the wake of homicides". Our Weekly Los Angeles.
27. Green, Nick (November 3, 2010). "Tabor cruises to win in Inglewood mayoral race". San Gabriel Valley Tribune .
28. Kabbany, Jennifer (June 26, 2010). "Lake Elsinore: Juneteenth celebration draws families, friends". The San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
29. "Thomas R. Yarborough when he assummed office as the first nego mayor in California in 1964". Lake Elsinore Valley Sun-Tribune. March 27, 1969 – via Newspapers.com.
30. "Lynwood : First Black Mayor Selected". The Los Angeles Times . December 12, 1985.
31. Marosi, Richard (September 24, 2003). "Lynwood Voters Recall Councilman". The Los Angeles Times .
32. McCarthy, Guy (February 22, 2013). "City of Milpitas Tribute to Former Mayor Ben F. Gross: Civil Rights, Union Leader". Patch .
33. Sherman, Lola (December 7, 2020). "From the Archives: First Black mayor in county history took office 20 years ago". The San Diego Union-Tribune .
34. Hall, Alyssah (November 11, 2024). "Updates on the Results of Rialto and Moreno Valley Races for Mayor, City Council". theievoice.com.
35. "BLACK ELECTED OFFICIALS CITY OF RICHMOND 1961 to 2018". City of Richmond . Retrieved February 10, 2021.
36. "Past Mayors". Seaside, California government website. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
37. Beam, Adam (November 18, 2020). "Stockton mayor who pushed guaranteed income isn't reelected". Associated Press . Voters chose Lincoln, a 40-year-old Republican who is Latino and Black.
38. Cummings, Brandi (February 21, 2022). "Celebrating Black History: Meet Dr. Nancy Young, Tracy's first African American mayor". KCRA .