This is a list of mayors of Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA. Kenosha was originally incorporated as the village of Southport in 1841, before Wisconsin statehood. In 1850, the village of Southport was replaced by the incorporation of the city of Kenosha. For most of its history, Kenosha utilized a mayor–council government, but experimented with a council–manager government from 1922 to 1958. Kenosha's mayors were initially elected to one-year terms, like most other local officials in early Wisconsin. Today Kenosha mayors are elected to four-year terms.[1][2]
The first mayor of Kenosha was Michael Frank, a pioneer educator who is considered the father of Wisconsin public schools. The current mayor is David Bogdala, who previously served 16 years on the city council. Kenosha's longest-serving mayor is John Antaramian, from 1992 to 2008, and from 2016 to 2024. The most notable mayors were Joseph V. Quarles, who went on to become a U.S. senator and a U.S. district judge, and Zalmon G. Simmons, who founded the Simmons Company and is the namesake of several Kenosha institutions, such as SimmonsIsland.
In 1850, Kenosha was incorporated as a city using the Mayor-Aldermanic system of government with the first officeholders elected in an 1850 general election.[2]
In 1921, Kenosha elected to move to a council-manager style government where the chief executive and administrator was a city manager elected by the city commissioners.[4]
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