List of mayors of Brownsville, Texas

The following is a list of mayors of the city of Brownsville, Texas, United States.

Former city hall building in Brownsville, Texas (photo 2014)

• Stephen Powers, c.1850s ^[1]
• William Neale, 1858–1859, 1866-1869 ^[1]
• Franklin Cummings ^[1]
• John Salmon Ford, 1874 ^[1]
• Thomas Carson, c.1880 ^[1]
• Emilio Forto ^[1]
• John Bartlett, 1904 ^[2]
• Frederick J. Combe, c.1905-1908 ^[2]
• Benjamin Kowalski, c.1911-1912 ^[3]
• A.B. Cole, c.1929
• Robert Byron Rentfro, c.1929-1936 [1]
• Robert Runyon, 1941-1943 ^[1]
• H. L. Stokely, c.1952-1954 ^[4]
• E. E. Watts, c.1955 ^[4]
• Ruben H. Edelstein, 1975-1979 ^[5]
• Ygnacio "Nacho" Garza, c.1991 ^[6]
• Patricio M. “Pat” Ahumada Jr., c.1991, 2007-2011 [7]
• Henry Gonzalez, c.1997-1998 [8]
• Blanca Vela, 1999-2003 ^[4]
• Eddie Treviño, 2003-2007
• Antonio "Tony" Martinez, 2011-2019 ^[9]
• Juan “Trey” Mendez III, 2019-2023 [10] ^[11]
• John Cowen Jr., 2023-present ^[12]

See also

• Timeline of Brownsville, Texas

References

1. "Handbook of Texas Online". Texas State Historical Association . Retrieved June 6, 2025.
2. Dermot H. Hardy; Ingham S. Roberts, eds. (1910), Historical review of south-east Texas: and the founders, leaders, and representative men of its commerce, industry, and civic affairs, vol. 2, Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co. – via HathiTrust
3. "Our former mayor claims the office", Brownsville Herald, Texas, November 25, 1912 – via Library of Congress' Chronicling America
4. Lawrence Kestenbaum (ed.), "Brownsville, Texas", Political Graveyard, retrieved June 6, 2025
5. "Senate Resolution No. 272: In Memory of Ruben H. Edelstein", texas.gov, Texas Legislature, 2015
6. "Newsletter" (PDF), brownsvillehistory.org, Texas: Brownsville Historical Society, April 2022
7. "Commission". www.ci.brownsville.tx.us. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
8. "Brownsville City Commission". www.ci.brownsville.tx.us. Archived from the original on December 3, 1998 – via Wayback Machine.
9. "House Resolution No. 1674", texas.gov, Texas Legislature, 2019
10. "City Commission", www.brownsvilletx.gov, archived from the original on May 12, 2021 – via Wayback Machine
11. "Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez announces he won't be running for office in 2023", valleycentral.com , November 23, 2022
12. "New mayor, city commissioners take office in Brownsville", valleycentral.com, May 17, 2023