The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and recommendations to the Chicago City Council, is active in the enforcement of the city's ordinances, submits the city's annual budget and appoints city officers, department commissioners or directors, and members of city boards and commissions.
During sessions of the city council, the mayor serves as the presiding officer. The mayor is not allowed to vote on issues except in certain instances, most notably where the vote taken on a matter before the body results in a tie.
The office of mayor was created when Chicago became a city in 1837.
History
William B. Ogden was the first mayor of Chicago.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry leaving "The Fifth Floor" office of the mayor in 2016
The first mayor was William B. Ogden (1837–1838). Forty-six men and two women (Jane Byrne, 1979–1983, and Lori Lightfoot, 2019–2023), have held the office. Two sets of father and son have been elected Mayor of Chicago: Carter Harrison III (1879–1887, 1893) and Carter Harrison IV (1897–1905, 1911–1915), as well as Richard J. Daley (1955–1976) and Richard M. Daley (1989–2011). Carter Harrison IV was the first mayor to have been born in the city.
As an interim mayor, David Duvall Orr (1987) held the office for one week, the shortest time period. Richard M. Daley was elected six times becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, his 22 years surpassing his father's record of 21 years.[1]
The first Irish Catholic mayor was John Patrick Hopkins (1893–1895), and Rahm Emanuel (2011–2019) is the only Jewish American to have served as mayor.
Harold Washington (1983–1987) was the first African American mayor. Lightfoot (2019–2023) was the city's first African American woman and first LGBT mayor. Brandon Johnson (2023–present) is the fourth African American mayor, Eugene Sawyer (1987–1989) having been selected by the council after Washington died in office.
The Chicago City Clerk and City Treasurer of Chicago are elected separately, as are the 50 alderpersons who form the city council. The mayor is empowered, however, to fill vacancies in any of these 52 elected offices by appointment. In turn, the city council elects one of its own to fill a mayoral vacancy.
By charter, Chicago has a "weak-mayor" system, in which most of the power is vested in the city council. In practice, however, the mayor of Chicago has long been one of the most powerful municipal chief executives in the nation. Unlike in most other weak-mayor systems, the mayor has the power to draw up the budget. For most of the 20th century, before the decline of patronage and the mayor's office becoming officially nonpartisan in 1999, the mayor was the de facto leader of the city's Democratic Party, and had great influence over the ward organizations.[3] Located in City Hall, "the fifth floor" is sometimes used as a metonym for the office and power of the mayor.[4]
The mayor of Chicago is elected by popular vote every four years, on the last Tuesday in February. A run-off election, in case no candidate garners more than fifty percent of the vote, is held on the first Tuesday in April. The election is held on a non-partisan basis. Chicago is the largest city in the United States not to limit the term of service for its mayor.
In accordance with Illinois law,[5][6] the city council elects a vice mayor who serves as interim mayor in the event of a vacancy in the office of the mayor or the inability of the mayor to serve due to illness or injury, until the city council elects one of its members acting mayor or until the mayoral term expires.[6][7] However, if a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor with more than 28 months remaining in the mayoral term and at least 130 days before the next general municipal election, then a special election must be held to choose a new mayor to serve out the remainder of the term at that general municipal election; if a vacancy occurs with fewer than 28 months remaining in the mayoral term or fewer than 130 days before the next general municipal election, then the acting mayor serves as mayor until the mayoral term expires.
The order-of succession involving the vice mayor was made concrete following disputes that arose in the aftermath of the death in office of Richard J. Daley, and was subsequently implemented following the death in office of Harold Washington, which saw Vice Mayor David Orr become acting mayor.[8] Prior to this, the city had vague succession laws which indicated that the president pro tempore of the City Council would succeed as mayor. This was not followed after the death of Daley, and the city council appointed Michael Bilandic acting mayor instead of having pro tempore Wilson Frost become mayor,[9] due to City Corporation Counsel William R. Quinlan ruling that, since the city did not have a statute specifically outlining succession, the City Council would need to elect the interim mayor.[10]
Six instances have seen the City Council appoint either an acting mayor, acting mayor pro tempore, or interim mayor.
In the absence of the mayor during meetings of the city council, the president pro tempore of the city council, who is a member of and elected by the city council, acts as presiding officer. Unlike the mayor, the president pro tempore can vote on all legislative matters. If neither the mayor nor pro tempore can preside, the vice mayor presides.[11]
List of mayors
Joseph Medill (#26) was the first foreign-born mayor.John Patrick Hopkins (#35) was the youngest and the first Catholic mayor.William Hale Thompson (#41) was the last Republican mayor of Chicago.Jane Byrne (#50) was the first female mayor.Harold Washington (#51) was the first African American mayor.Richard M. Daley (#54) was the longest-serving mayor (22 years).Lori Lightfoot (#56) was the first African American female and the first openly gay female mayor of Chicago.
Between 1833 and 1837, Chicago was incorporated as a town and headed by town presidents. Since 1837, it has been incorporated as a city and headed by mayors.
The mayoral term in Chicago was one year from 1837 through 1863, when it was changed to two years. In 1907, it was changed again, this time to four years. Until 1861, municipal elections were held in March. In that year, legislation moved them to April. In 1869, however, election day was changed to November, and terms expiring in April of that year were changed. In 1875, election day was moved back to April by the city's vote to operate under the Cities and Villages Act of 1872.
1 2 3 4 Since 1999, mayoral elections have officially been nonpartisan. A 1995 Illinois law stipulated that "candidates for mayor ... no longer would run under party labels in Chicago". However, Daley, Emanuel, Lightfoot, and Johnson are known to be Democrats.[14]
In accordance with Illinois law, the city council elects a vice mayor who serves as interim mayor in the event of a vacancy in the office of the mayor or the inability of the mayor to serve due to illness or injury, until the city council elects one of its members acting mayor or until the mayoral term expires. The current vice mayor is Walter Burnett.
The position was created by a state law that was passed in response to the power struggle that took place over succession following Richard J. Daley's death in office.[9][15][16]
If neither the mayor nor president pro tempore can preside over a City Council meeting, then the vice mayor presides.[11]
The position was long considered to be largely ceremonial.[17][18][19] However, in 2023, Mayor Brandon Johnson successfully championed a resolution that gave the office a $400,000 budget. He also had his vice mayor, Burnett, act as an official community liaison for the mayoral administration.[20]
Banfield, Edward C. (1961). Political Influence.–covers major public issues 1957 to 1958 in Chicago
Becker, Richard Edward. Edward Dunn, Reform Mayor of Chicago: 1905-1907 (PhD thesis). The University of Chicago.
Bennett, Larry (2011). "The Mayor among His Peers: Interpreting Richard M. Daley". In Judd, Dennis R.; Simpson, Dick (eds.). The City, Revisited: Urban Theory from Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. University of Minnesota Press. pp.242–272. ISBN978-0-8166-6575-4. JSTOR10.5749/j.cttts735.14.
Biles, Roger (1984). Big City Boss in Depression and War: Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago.
Biles, William Roger (1981). Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago: Big City Boss in Depression and War (PhD thesis). University of Illinois at Chicago.
Bradley, Donald S.; Zald, Mayer N. (1965). "From commercial elite to political administrator: The recruitment of the mayors of Chicago". American Journal of Sociology. 71 (2): 153–167. doi:10.1086/224030. JSTOR2774548.
Bradley, Donald S. (1963). The historical trends of the political elites and metropolitan Central City: the Chicago mayors.
Bukowski, Douglas (1998). Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image.
Bukowski, Douglas (1978). "William Dever and Prohibition: The mayoral election of 1923 and 1927". Chicago History. 7 (2): 109–118.
Carl, Jim (2009). "'Good Politics Is Good Government': The Troubling History of Mayoral Control of the Public Schools in Twentieth-Century Chicago". American Journal of Education. 115 (2): 305–336. doi:10.1086/595666.
Cohen, Adam; Taylor, Elizabeth (2001). American pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley, his battle for Chicago and the nation. Little, Brown. ISBN0316834890.
Fehrenbacher, Don E. (1957). "Lincoln and the Mayor of Chicago". Wisconsin Magazine of History. 40 (4): 237–244. JSTOR4633136.–about Long John Wentworth
Gottfried, Alex (1962). Boss Cermak of Chicago: A Study of Political Leadership. University of Washington Press.
Green, Paul M.; Holli, Melvin G. (2013). The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition (4thed.).–scholarly biographies about Medill, Harrison II, Dunne, Busse, Thompson, Dever, Cermak, Kelly, Kennelly, both Daleys, Bilandic, Byrne, Washington, and Emanuel. [) online
Holli, Melvin G., and Paul M. Green. A View from Chicago's City Hall: Mid-Century to Millenium (Arcadia Publishing, 1999). online
Holli, Melvin G.; Jones, Peter d'A., eds. (1981). Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980. Greenwood Press.–short scholarly biographies each of the city's mayors 1820 to 1980; see index at p.408 for list
Holli, Melvin G., ed, The American Mayor: The Best & The Worst Big-City Leaders (Penn State Press, 1999), compares all mayor of major cities online.
Jones, Gene Delon (1974). "The Origin of the Alliance Between the New Deal and the Chicago Machine". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 67: 253–274.
Kleppner, Paul (1985). Chicago Divided: The Making of a Black Mayor.
Lydersen, Kari (2013). Mayor 1%: Rahm Emanuel and the Rise of Chicago's 99%. Haymarket Books.
Koeneman, Keith (2013). First Son: The Biography of Richard M. Daley. University of Chicago Press.
McCarthy, Michael P. (1974). "Prelude to Armageddon: Charles E. Merriam and the Chicago Mayoral Election of 1911". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 67 (5): 505–518. JSTOR40191143.
Mangeu, Xolela, et al. Chicago’s Modern Mayors: From Harold Washington to Lori Lightfoot (University of Illinois Press, 2024) online.
Mantler, Gordon K. (2023). The Multiracial Promise. Harold Washington's Chicago and the Democratic Struggle in Reagan's America. University of North Carolina Press.
Marshall, Jon; Connor, Matthew (2019). "Divided Loyalties: The Chicago Defender and Harold Washington's Campaign for Mayor of Chicago". American Journalism. 36 (4): 447–472. doi:10.1080/08821127.2019.1683405.
Morton, Richard Allen (1997). Justice and Humanity: Edward F. Dunne, Illinois Progressive. SIU Press.
Morton, Richard Allen (1988). Justice and humanity: The politics of Edward F. Dunne (PhD thesis). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
O'Malley, Peter Joseph. "Mayor Martin H. Kennelly of Chicago: A Political Biography" (PhD Dissertation. University of Illinois at Chicago; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 1980. 8023247).
Pacyga, Dominic A.Clout City: The Rise and Fall of the Chicago Political Machine (U of Chicago Press, 2025) online
Preston, Michael B. (1983). "The Election of Harold Washington: Black Voting Patterns in the 1983 Chicago Mayoral Race". PS. 16 (3): 486–488. doi:10.2307/418606. JSTOR418606.
Rex, Frederick (1947). The mayors of the city of Chicago from 1837 to 1933.
Schottenhamel, George (1952). "How Big Bill Thompson Won Control of Chicago". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 45 (1): 30–49. JSTOR40189189.
Schmidt, John R. (1989). The Mayor Who Cleaned up Chicago: A Political Biography of William E. Dever.
Shipps, Dorothy (2009). "Updating Tradition: The Institutional Underpinnings of Modern Mayoral Control in Chicago's Public Schools". In Viteritti, Joseph P. (ed.). Brookings Institution Press. Brookings Institution Press. pp.117–147. ISBN978-0-8157-9044-0. JSTOR10.7864/j.ctt6wphgm.11.
Simpson, Dick (2018). Rogues, Rebels, and Rubber Stamps: The Politics of the Chicago City Council, 1863 to the Present.
Simpson, Dick; Mouritsen, Melissa; O'Shaughnessy, Betty (2014). "Chicago: The Election of Rahm Emanuel". Local Politics and Mayoral Elections in 21st Century America. Routledge. pp.99–115.
Tompkins, C. David (1963). "John Peter Altgeld as a Candidate for Mayor of Chicago in 1899". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 56 (4): 654–676. JSTOR40189944.
Wendt, Lloyd; Kogan, Herman (1953). Big Bill of Chicago.–Popular biography of Big Bill Thompson
Zald, Mayer N.; Anderson, Thomas A. (1968). "Secular Trends and Historical Contingencies in the Recruitment of Mayors: Nashville as Compared to New Haven and Chicago". Urban Affairs Quarterly. 3 (4): 53–68. doi:10.1177/107808746800300403.
Primary sources
Byrne, Jane (2004). My Chicago. Northwestern University Press.
Harrison, Carter Henry (1935). Stormy Years: The Autobiography of Carter H. Harrison, Five Times Mayor of Chicago.
Simpson, Dick (2017). The Good Fight: Life Lessons from a Chicago Progressive. Golden Alley Press. ISBN978-0998442945.
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