The Mayor of Wilmington is the chief executive of the government of Wilmington, Delaware, as stipulated by the Charter. The current Mayor of Wilmington is Mike Purzycki.
| Elections in Delaware |
|---|
 |
The Mayor of Wilmington is the chief executive of the government of Wilmington, Delaware, as stipulated by the Charter. The current Mayor of Wilmington is Mike Purzycki.
| Rank | Image | Mayor | Start | End | Party | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Richard Bayard [1] | 1832 | 1834 | Whig | Wilmington incorporated in 1832. |
| 2 | Nicholas Williamson | 1834 | 1843 | Whig | ||
| 3 | David C. Wilson | 1843 | 1845 | Whig | ||
| 4 | Alexander Porter | 1845 | 1848 | Whig | ||
| 5 | William Huffington | 1848 | 1850 | Democratic | ||
| 6 | Joshua Driver | 1850 | 1851 | |||
| 7 | Columbus Evans | 1851 | 1852 | Whig | Editor of the Delaware Republican. | |
| 8 | William Hemphill Jones | 1852 | 1853 | First mayor elected by popular vote. | ||
| 9 | John Alderdice | 1853 | 1854 | Publisher of The Journal . | ||
| 10 | Heyward, James F. | 1854 | 1855 | |||
| 11 | William Wiggins | 1855 | 1856 | |||
| 12 | William Huffington | 1856 | 1857 | Democratic | Non-continuous terms. | |
| 13 | George Sparks | 1857 | 1858 | |||
| 14 | Thomas Young | 1858 | 1860 | |||
| 15 | Vincent Glipin | 1860 | 1863 | |||
| 16 | John Turner | 1863 | 1865 | |||
| 17 | Joshua Maris | 1865 | 1867 | |||
| 18 | Joshua Valentine | 1867 | 1872 | |||
| 19 | Joshua Simms | 1872 | 1875 | Democratic | ||
| 20 |  | William G. Whiteley | 1875 | 1878 | Democratic | |
| 21 | John Allmond | 1878 | 1882 | |||
| 22 | John Wales | 1882 | 1885 | Son of Senator John Wales. | ||
| 23 | Calvin Rhoads | 1885 | 1891 | Democratic | Choir director | |
| Sandsbury Wiley | 1891 | 1893 | Republican | Term changed to two years, Saturday election in June. | ||
| E. G. Shortridge | 1893 | 1894 | Republican | |||
| Charles Jefferies | 1895 | ? | Democratic | |||
| John Fahey | 1899 | ? | Democratic | |||
| George Fisher | 1903 | 1903 | ||||
| Charles Bird | 1903 | ? | Democratic | |||
| Horace Wilson | 1905 | 1907 | Republican | |||
| Harrison Howell | 1911 | 1915 | Republican | |||
| John Lawson | 1919 | ? | ||||
| LeRoy Harvey | 1921 | 1923? | Founded Wilmington Music School. | |||
| William Taylor | ? | 1925 | Republican | Lost at Sea | ||
| George Forrest | 1923 | 1931 | First intern at Delaware Hospital. | |||
| Frank Sparks | 1931 | 1933 | Republican | |||
| William Speer | 1933 | 1935 | Democratic | |||
| Walter Bacon | 1935 | 1940 | Republican | Resigned when elected Governor. | ||
| Albert James | 1941 | 1944 | Republican | Filled term of Gov. Bacon. | ||
| Thomas Herlihy | 1945 | 1946 | Republican | Resigned when appointed Chief Judge of Municipal Court. | ||
| Joseph Wilson | 1947 | 1949 | Republican | |||
| James Hearn | 1949 | 1953 | Republican | |||
| August Walz | 1954 | 1955 | Republican | |||
| 47 |  | Eugene Lammot | 1957 | 1960 | Democratic | Resigned when elected Lt. Gov. Election Tues. in Nov. |
| 48 | John Baribarz | 1961 | 1969 | Democratic | 1968 Occupation | |
| 49 | Harry Haskell [2] | 1969 | 1973 | Republican | ||
| 50 | Thomas Maloney | 1973 | 1977 | Democratic | ||
| 51 | William McLaughlin | 1977 | 1984 | Democratic | ||
| 52 | Daniel Frawley | 1985 | 1993 | Democratic | Stadium named after. | |
| 53 | James Sills [3] | 1993 | 2001 | Democratic | First African American Mayor | |
| 54 | James Baker | 2001 | 2013 | Democratic | First 3-Term Mayor with 4-year terms | |
| 55 |  | Dennis Williams | 2013 | 2017 | Democratic | Served in the Delaware House of Representatives |
| 56 |  | Mike Purzycki [4] | 2017 | Currently Serving | Democratic | Spearheaded successful Riverfront redevelopment |
| Rank | Chief Burgess | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shipley, William | 1739 | William Penn granted charter on November 16, 1739. |
| 2 | Way, Joseph | 1742 | |
| 3 | Shipley, William | 1743 | 2nd non-consecutive term. |
| 4 | Hannum, Robert | 1744 | |
| 5 | Peters, Joseph | 1745 | |
| 6 | Stapler, John | 1748 | Stapler Park named after |
| 7 | Few, James | 1750 | |
| 8 | Littler, Joshua | 1751 | |
| 9 | Stapler, John | 1752 | 2nd non-consecutive term. |
| 10 | Littler, Joshua | 1753 | 2nd non-consecutive term. |
| 11 | Littler, Joshua | 1754 | 3rd term. |
| 12 | Dawes, Edward | 1755 | |
| 13 | Stapler, John | 1756 | 3rd non-consecutive term. |
| 14 | Gilpin, Thomas | 1757 | |
| 15 | Stapler, John | 1758 | 4th non-consecutive term. |
| 16 | McKinly, John | 1759 | |
| 17 | Dawes, Edward | 1762 | |
| 18 | Lea, John | 1764 | Lea Blvd. named after. |
| 19 | Way, Joseph | 1765 | |
| 20 | McKinly, John | 1767 | |
| 21 | Bennet, Joseph | 1770 | Bennet Street named after. |
| 22 | McKinly, John | 1771 | |
| 23 | Robinson, Nicholas | 1774 | |
| 24 | McKinly, John | 1775 | |
| 25 | Bennett, Joseph | 1777 | |
| 26 | Stidham, Joseph | 1778 | |
| 27 | Broom, Jacob | 1783 | Broom Street named after. |
| 28 | Kean, Thomas | 1784 | |
| 29 | Broom, Jacob | 1785 | |
| 30 | Gibbson, James | 1786 | |
| 31 | Way, Thomas | 1788 | |
| 32 | Shallcross, Joseph | 1790 | Shallcross Avenue named after. |
| 33 | Bush, David | 1792 | |
| 34 | Broom, Jacob | 1794 | |
| 35 | Brynberg, Peter | 1796 | |
| 36 | Warner, Joseph | 1798 | |
| 37 | Tilton, Hehemiah | 1799 | |
| 38 | Brobson, James | 1801 | |
| 39 | Hendrickson, Isaac | 1802 | |
| 40 | Brobson, James | 1803 | |
| 41 | Lea, James | 1806 | |
| 42 | Dixon, Isaac | 1807 | |
| 43 | Brobson, James | 1808 | |
Wilmington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley metropolitan area. Wilmington was named by Proprietor Thomas Penn after his friend Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, who was prime minister during the reign of George II of Great Britain.
Seaford is a city located along the Nanticoke River in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the city is 6,928, an increase of 3.4% from the 2000 census. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area.
John Charles Carney Jr. is an American politician serving as the 74th governor of Delaware since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Carney served as the U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district from 2011 to 2017 and as the 24th lieutenant governor of Delaware from 2001 to 2009. He also served as Delaware's secretary of finance from 1996 to 2000. He first unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2008, losing to Jack Markell. He ran for governor again in 2016 and won, succeeding Markell, who was term-limited. He was reelected in 2020, defeating Republican Julianne Murray with 59.5% of the vote.
Wilmington station, also known as the Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station, is a passenger rail station in Wilmington, Delaware. It serves nine Amtrak train routes and is part of the Northeast Corridor. It also serves SEPTA Regional Rail commuter trains on the Wilmington/Newark Line as well as DART First State local buses and Greyhound Lines intercity buses.
Harry Garner Haskell Jr. was an American businessman and Republican politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He served as mayor of Wilmington from 1969 to 1973 and represented Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1957 to 1959.
The Delaware Democratic Party (DelDems) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is headquartered in New Castle County and chaired by Erik Raser-Schramm.
Delaware has three county boards of election which are charged with the calculation and certification of election results, election dispute resolution, validation of qualified voter rolls and of materials used during elections, such as voting machines. Delaware also has a State Election Commissioner who is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Delaware Senate.
Joseph Purzycki is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware from 1981 to 1984 and James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia from 1985 to 1990, compiling a career college football coaching record of 55–51–3. Purzycki played college football at the University of Delaware and was later an assistant coach at his alma mater, where he learned the Wing T offense from head coach Tubby Raymond. When Purzycki was hired as the head football coach at Delaware State in January 1981, he became the first white man appointed to that role for the historically black school. Many students and players had expected Delaware State to hire Billy Joe, an African American who had played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and was then an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Some students and players protested Purzycki's hiring.
Dennis P. Williams is an American politician who served as the Mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, from 2013 to 2017. He previously served in the Delaware House of Representatives from 1995 to 2013 in a district based in northern Wilmington. He won the mayoral election for the city of Wilmington on November 6, 2012. Williams ran for a second term as mayor in 2016, but lost in the primary to Mike Purzycki, who succeeded him as mayor.
Lisa LaTrelle Blunt Rochester is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman and first African American to represent Delaware in Congress.
Michael S. Purzycki is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 56th mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, since 2017. He previously served as the executive director of the Riverfront Development Corporation and briefly played in the National Football League for the New York Giants in the 1967–1968 season.
The 2016 Wilmington mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, to elect the mayor of Wilmington, Delaware. Incumbent mayor Dennis P. Williams ran for reelection to a second term, but was defeated in the Democratic primary on September 13, 2016, by Mike Purzycki, the former executive director of the Riverfront Development Corporation. Purzycki defeated Republican Robert Martin and Delaware Independent Steven Washington in the general election.
Mick Purzycki is an American internet entrepreneur and the CEO of Jerry Media. He is the co-creator and Emmy nominated producer of the 2019 Netflix documentary Fyre, in which he also appears. He is the founder and lead strategist for Meme 2020, an issue based political marketing company that launched the first influencer marketing campaign in presidential political history when collaborating with the Michael Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign. Purzycki is also the founder of Jerry News, Civil Jewelry, Meme Media and Biff's Crush.
The 2024 United States Senate election in Delaware will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Delaware. Primary elections will take place on September 3, 2024. Incumbent Democrat Tom Carper, who was re-elected with 60.0% of the vote in 2018, has announced he will not seek re-election to a fifth term in office.
The 2020 Wilmington mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, to elect the mayor of Wilmington, Delaware. Incumbent mayor Mike Purzycki won re-election to a second term. Mike Purzycki first won election in 2016 with 82.2% of the vote.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in Delaware, United States.
The 2024 Delaware gubernatorial election will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Delaware, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic Governor John Carney is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third term in office. Primary elections will take place on September 10, 2024.
The 2024 Wilmington mayoral election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, to elect the mayor of Wilmington, Delaware. Incumbent Democratic mayor Mike Purzycki was re-elected in 2020 unopposed. Purzycki announced on October 3, 2023, that he would not seek a third term in office.