List of mayors of Des Moines, Iowa

The following is a list of the mayors of Des Moines , Iowa.

List of mayors

Image	Mayor	Term start and end [1]	Political party [2]	Notes
	Thompson Bird	1851 – 1852
	Benjamin Luce	October 1853 – 1854
	Lampson P. Sherman	1854–1855
	Barlow Granger	November 1855 – 1856
	William DeFord	November 1856 – 1857
	Charles W. Nash	1857 – May 1, 1857
	William H. McHenry	May 1, 1857 – 1858	Democratic [3]
	H. E. Lemoreaux	1858–1859
	R. L. Tidrick	1859–1860
	P. H. W. Latshaw	1860–1861	Republican
	Ira Cook	1861	Republican	Resigned from office [4]
	W. S. Barnes	1861–1862	Republican
	Thomas Cavanagh	1862–1863	Democratic [5]
	William H. Leas	1863–1865	Republican
	George W. Cleveland	1865–1868	Republican
	Sumner F. Spofford	1868–1869
	Joshua H. Hatch	1869–1871	Republican
	Martin Tuttle	1871–1872
	J. P. Foster	1872–1873	Republican
	Giles H. Turner	1873 – March 16, 1874	Republican
	A. Newton	March 16, 1874 – 1876 [6]	Republican
	Giles H. Turner (2nd term)	March 1876 – 1877	Republican	Resigned from office [7]
	George Sneer	1877–1880
	William H. Merritt	1880–1882
	P. V. Carey	1882 – March 15, 1886	Republican
	James Harvey Phillips	March 15, 1886 – 1888 [8]
	William Lytle Carpenter [9]	1888 – March 17, 1890	Democratic [10]
	John H. Campbell	March 17, 1890 – April 18, 1892 [11]	Republican
	C. C. Lane	April 18, 1892 – April 16, 1894 [12]	Republican
	Isaac L. Hillis	April 16, 1894 – 1896 [13]	Republican
	John MacVicar	1896 – April 2, 1900
	Jeremiah J. Hartenbower	April 2, 1900 – 1902 [14]
	James M. Brenton	1902–1904
	George W. Mattern	1904 – April 6, 1908
	Adoniram Judson Mathis	April 6, 1908 – April 4, 1910 [15]
	James R. Hanna	April 4, 1910 – April 3, 1916 [16]
	John MacVicar	April 3, 1916 – 1918 [17]
	Thomas Fairweather	1918–1920
	H. H. Barton	1920–1922
	C. M. Garver	1922 – April 5, 1926
	Fred H. Hunter	April 5, 1926 – April 2, 1928 [18]
	John MacVicar†	April 2, 1928 – November 15, 1928 [19] [20]		Died in office
	E. H. Mulock	November 24, 1928 – 1930 [21]
	Parker L. Crouch	1930–1932
	Dwight N. Lewis	1932–1936
	Joseph Holmes Allen [22]	1936–1938
	Dwight N. Lewis†	1938 – May 1, 1938 [23]		Died in office
	Mark L. Conkling	1938–1942
	John MacVicar Jr.	1942–1948
	Heck Ross	1948–1950
	A. B. Chambers	1950–1952
	Allan W. Denny	1952–1954
	Joseph Van Dresser	1954–1956
	Ray Mills	1956–1958
	Charles F. Iles	1958–1960
	Reinhold O. Carlson	1960–1962
	Charles F. Iles	1962–1966
	George C. Whitmer	1966–1968
	Thomas N. Urban	1968–1972 [24]
	Richard E. Olson	1972–1980
	Pete Crivaro†	1980 – December 24, 1986 [25]		Died in office
	George Nahas	January 7, 1987 – April 15, 1987		Long term former councilmember appointed by the city council on January 7, 1987, to serve as mayor until the November election. [26] Prior to that, local citizens secured sufficient votes to force a special election. Nahas served four months as mayor. [27] First Lebanese mayor. [27]
	John "Pat" Dorrian	April 15, 1987 – 1995		Won a special election on April 14, 1987, and sworn on April 15, 1987. Reelected in the November 1987 general election.
	Arthur Davis†	1995–1997		Died in office
	Robert D. Ray	1997	Republican	Former governor. Served as interim mayor after the death of Davis.
	Preston Daniels	1997–2004	Democratic	First African American mayor
	Frank Cownie	2004–2024
	Connie Boesen	January 2, 2024 – Present

See also

• Des Moines City Council

Notes

Works cited

• The History of Polk County, Iowa. Union Historical Company. 1880. pp. 670–676. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
• Dixon, J. M (1876). Centennial history of Polk County, Iowa. Des Moines State Register, Print. p. 259.
• Revised Ordinances of the City of Des Moines. Register & Tribune Company. 1916. pp. 43–60.
• "Local goverment[ sic ]; Mayors of noteworthy cities of the United States". Notable names in American history; a tabulated register. James T. White & Co. 1973. p. 453. ISBN   0-88371-002-1.

References

1. "The Rev. Bird named D.M.'s first mayor". The Des Moines Register. May 20, 1993. pp. 2Q –5Q. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
2. Porter, Will (1898). Annals of Polk County, Iowa, and City of Des Moines. Geo. A. Miller printing Company. p. 650. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
3. Andrews, Lorenzo F. (1908). Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa: And Reminiscences of Early Days, Volume 1. Baker-Trisler Company. pp. 322–323.
4. Andrews 1908, p. 418.
5. Andrews 1908, p. 286.
6. "City Council.; Last Session of Old Council—First Regular Meeting of New Council". The Iowa State Register. March 17, 1874. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
7. Porter 1898, p. 715.
8. "Our New Servants.; Mayor Phillips Assumed Reins of Government Yesterday". The Des Moines Register. March 16, 1886. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
9. Portrait and biographical album of Polk County, Iowa. Chicago: Lake City Publishing. 1890. p. 264. OL   23326400M.
10. Porter 1898, p. 487.
11. "Des Moines' New City Government". Sioux City Journal. March 18, 1890. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
12. "Mayor Lane of Des Moines Appoints his Officers". Ceder Repids Gazette. April 19, 1892. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
13. "Des Moines' New Council Goes In". Sioux City Journal. April 17, 1894. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
14. "The city has new mayor". The Des Moines Register. April 3, 1900. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
15. "New Officials at Des Moines remove police; First act of new administration is to discharge Chief of Police, Captain and two Detectives". Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. April 7, 1908. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
16. "New Council Organizes; Mathis out". Des Moines Tribune. April 4, 1910. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
17. "New Council Sworn in". Sioux City Journal. April 4, 1916. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
18. "Hunter Regime in Power With Few Changes". The Des Moines Register. April 6, 1926. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
19. Churchill, G. W. (April 2, 1928). "Test of Mayor's Pact With Mitchell May Come Thursday". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
20. Beam, Patrice K. "John MacVicar – The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa". uipress.lib.uiowa.edu. University of Iowa Press. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
21. "Mayor is Appointed". The Evening Star . Washington, D.C. Associated Press. November 24, 1928. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
22. "Senator Joseph Holmes Allen". Iowa Legislators Past and Present. Iowa Legislative Services Agency.
23. "Mayor Dwight N. Lewis dies; Heart Attack fatal at Home". The Des Moines Register. May 1, 1938. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
24. Yin, Victoria (July 12, 2020). "Former Des Moines Mayor Thomas Urban dead at age 86". Des Moines Register. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
25. "Des Moines Mayor Dead at 73". Associated Press. December 25, 1986. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020.
26. "Newly Appointed Mayor George Nahas". Ottumwa Courier . January 7, 1987 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
27. Osher, Chris (February 2, 1994). "Former City Council member Nahas dies". The Des Moines Register – via Newspapers.com.