In 1911, one author estimated that there were twenty-eight such mayors[1] and in 1913 another author estimated thirty-four.[2] In 1967, however, James Weinstein's table of "Cities and Towns Electing Socialist Mayors or Other Major Municipal Officers, 1911–1920" counted 74 such municipalities in 1911 and 32 in 1913, with smaller peaks in 1915 (22) and 1917 (18):[3]:116–118
U.S. towns electing Socialist mayors or major officers, 1911–1920
Year
No.
Year
No.
Year
No.
Year
No.
Year
No.
1911
74
1913
32
1915
22
1917
18
1919
5
1912
8
1914
5
1916
6
1918
2
1920
2
Total
82
Total
37
Total
28
Total
20
Total
7
In 1911, the SPA won election to about 1,141 local offices in total.[4]
↑ Bloom ran for the Rockford Progressive Party, which was formed by dissidents of the Rockford Labor Party in 1929.[32][33]
↑ Hallstrom ran for the Rockford Labor Legion from 1921–1927, in 1929 the Labor Party refused to nominate him on the grounds that he had moved from some of the party's principles. He ran as an independent from 1929-33.[33] The Rockford Labor Legion was a coalition of local trade unions, socialist organizations and temperance societies.[33]
↑ Barewald resigned from the Socialist Party during the first week of January 1921 and captured national headlines by declaring radicals "insane" and instructing local police to greet unwanted members of the Industrial Workers of the World with "hot lead." See: "Wants Town Rid of IWW: Mayor Barewald Advises Use of Riot Guns," Eugene Morning Register, Jan. 9, 1921, pg. 1.
↑ Weinstein, James (1967). The Decline of Socialism in America, 1912–1925. New York: Monthly Review Press, reprinted in 1969 by Vintage Books (Random House). Table 2: "Cities and Towns Electing Socialist Mayors or Other Major Municipal Officers, 1911–1920"
↑ Early, Richard. "Richmond Progressive Alliance's Lessons for Local Organizers". Jacobin. Nationwide, about half of the two hundred elected officials affiliated with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are members of city councils or commissions. Seven are mayors, including Martinez in Richmond and Emma Mulvaney-Stanak in Burlington, a former Vermont Progressive Party leader who now presides over a city council on which Progressives have almost as many seats as Democrats.
1 2 "A statement on our victories and on growing Democratic Socialist electoral power in Los Angeles". Democratic Socialists of America - Los Angeles. November 14, 2022. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. We'd like to congratulate members and movement allies Kenneth Mejia, Nikki Perez, Liz Alcantar, Kelsey Iino, and Ingrid Gunnell on their victories, as well as the not-yet-decided campaigns of Aaron Reveles, David Kim, and Juan Munoz.
↑ "15 DSA Members Elected!, 2017 election". dsausa.org. Democratic Socialists of America. November 9, 2017. Archived from the original on July 8, 2025. A full list of the candidates who won can be found below along with some of their statements: Vanessa Agudelo (I) [....] Scott Alberts (D) [....] Lee Carter (D) [....] Charles Decker (D) [....] Ben Ewen-Campen (D) [....] Kara Gloe (I) School Board, Moorhead MN [....] Ross Grooters(I) [....] Denise Joy (I) [....] Kristin LaLonde (I) [....] Brian Nowak (D/WF) [....] Anita Prizio (D) [....] Tristan Rader (D) [....] Carlina Rivera (D) [....] JT Scott (I) [....] Seema Singh Perez (I)
↑ Abramsky, Sasha (November 15, 2023). "The People's Republic of Portland, Maine". The Nation. ISSN0027-8378. Retrieved December 7, 2023. For Strimling, though, the loss turned out to be liberating, allowing him to push for radical policy reforms from the grassroots up rather than the City Council down. No longer constrained by the dysfunctional city government, the ex-mayor threw in his lot with members of the local DSA branch and took his ideas about housing reform directly to the people.
↑ Lerer, Lisa (July 16, 2009). "Where's the outrage over AIG bonuses?". The Politico. Retrieved August 4, 2009. Only a handful of members, including self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), criticized Goldman's payments and questioned whether the company also received additional government assistance through the Federal Reserve.
↑ Democratic Left Editorial Team (Fall 1999). "Millenium Issue #1"(PDF). Democratic Left. Democratic Socialists of America. p.26. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
↑ Belgum, David Rudolph (1990). Memoirs of Iowa's Only Socialist Mayor. Iowa City: Rose of Sharon Publishing House.
↑ "Freese Quits Socialists In Norwalk: Mayor Heads Party of Independents for November Election," Hartford Courant, August 14, 1951. Freese ran again for office as an independent, winning additional two year terms in 1951, 1953, and 1957. See: Ross, The Socialist Party of America, pg. 612.
1 2 Fry, Amy Lyons (2003). "Socialist Mayors". In John J. Duffy; Samuel B. Hand; Ralph H. Orth (eds.). The Vermont Encyclopedia. University of Vermont Press. p.274.
↑ "Associate Pastor of Mayor's Church". The Boston Globe. February 25, 1912.
↑ Hoyt, Carlyle (December 4, 1924). "Minister-Mayor Has Novel Ideas". The Boston Globe.
↑ "A Socialist Mayor: New Jersey Socialists Carry Rahway," The New Age (Buffalo), June 1, 1922, pg. 5.
↑ John S. McCormick and John R. Sillito, A History of Utah Radicalism: Startling, Socialistic, and Decidedly Revolutionary. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 2011; pg. 192.
↑ Love was elected by a margin of 164 votes in the April 1916 election. "About the Milwaukee Election: Socialists Elect Mayor and Two Socialist Aldermen in West Allis," St. Louis Labor, whole no. 794 (April 22, 1916), pg. 8.
↑ "Comrades Who Will Control the City Government of St. Marys Ohio for the Next Two Years," International Socialist Review, vol. 12, no. 6 (Dec. 1911), pp. 376-378.
↑ "Elect Mayor as Socialist," Chicago Daily Socialist, vol. 4, no. 156 (April 27, 1910), pg. 4.
↑ LeSueur was elected on a ballot which did not list party affiliation but he was a veteran Socialist nominated to run by Local Grand Forks. See: Mila Tupper Maynard, "A Socialist Mayor and an Almost Mayor," Social-Democratic Herald [Milwaukee], vol. 13, no. 35, whole no. 648 (Dec. 31, 1910), pg. 2.
↑ "Brainerd, Minn., Elects Socialist Mayor," St. Louis Labor, vol. 6, whole no. 429 (April 24, 1909), pg. 5.
↑ John S. McCormick and John R. Sillito, A History of Utah Radicalism, pg. 190.
↑ Won 4th term in Nov. 1911 according to "Elections Bring Victory!!" Social Democratic Herald [Milwaukee], vo. 14, no. 28, whole no. 693 (Nov. 11, 1911), p. 1.
↑ "Deadly Assault on Socialist Mayor," Chicago Daily Socialist, Dec. 17, 1906, pg. 3.
↑ "Address of a Socialist Mayor," American Labor Union Journal, vol. 1, no. 26 (April 2, 1903), pg. 2
↑ Peter Buckingham, "Red Tom" Hickey: The Uncrowned King of Texas Socialism. College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press, 2020; p. 153
↑ "Socialist Mayor Assumes Office: The Inauguration of Mayor Born at Sheboygan Marks the First Municipal Victory for Socialism in Wisconsin," Social Democratic Herald [Milwaukee], April 25, 1903, pg. 1.
↑ Expelled by State Executive Board of the Social Democratic Party of Wisconsin on Jan. 16, 1904, for approving a private concession for a city trolley line. See: "The Expulsion of Mayor Born," Social Democratic Herald, Jan. 23, 1904, pg.5.
1 2 3 Bedford, Henry (1966). Socialism and the workers in Massachusetts, 1886-1912. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN9780870230103.
↑ Won election in November 1899 by a plurality of 1,564. See: Appeal to Reason, Dec. 16, 1899, pg. 4.
Bibliography
Henry Bengston, On the Left in America: Memoirs of the Scandinavian-American Labor Movement. SIU Press, 1999; pg. 237.
David R. Berman, Socialist Mayors in the United States: Governing in an Era of Municipal Reform. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2022.
Jack Ross, "Socialist Elected Officeholders, 1897-1960." The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 2015; pp.609–638.
James Weinstein, The Decline of Socialism in America 1912–1925. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1967; pp.116–118.
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