Mayor of New Brunswick, New Jersey

Mayor of New Brunswick
Incumbent James M. Cahill since 1991
Inaugural holder	Thomas Farmer
Formation	1747
Website	Mayor's Office

The Mayor of New Brunswick is head of the executive branch of the government of New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The first four mayors are considered "colonial" in that their power stemmed from royal charters granted by the British monarchy. Beginning in 1784, the leader of the city served pursuant to a charter granted by the State of New Jersey.

The leaders of New Brunswick have not always been elected. In the early years of the city, its leaders were selected by the British monarchy, and then later by the State Legislature of New Jersey. During the period of time when the city's third charter was in effect, 1784 to 1801, New Brunswick's top official was referred to as president of the city.

From 1915 to 1970, every four years, the city would elect five commissioners, who would then select from among themselves who would be given the title of mayor. Though not always the case, the title would often go to the candidate who performed best in the preceding election.

# [1]	Term of office	Mayor	Born and died	Notes and references
61	1991–	James M. Cahill		First elected in November 1990, Cahill was re-elected in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022. Currently in his ninth term as mayor, he has been in office for 33 years, 44 days and is the New Brunswick's longest-serving mayor in history.
60	1979–1991	John A. Lynch Jr.	born 1938	First elected in November 1978, and re-elected in 1982 and 1986. He is the son of the prior mayor of the same name. Like his father, John Lynch, Jr. also ascended to a seat in the State Senate. Lynch, Jr. did not run for re-election in 1990, the same year that he became president of the State Senate. Son of former mayor John A. Lynch, Sr.
59	1978	Gilbert L. Nelson	1942-2011	After the resignation of Richard J. Mulligan, Nelson was appointed mayor on September 21, 1978. He finished out Mulligan's term and did not run for a full term.
58	1975–1978	Richard J. Mulligan	born 1942	Elected in November 1974 as an independent candidate. Resigned during his term and moved to Jackson, Wyoming. Son of former Mayor Richard V. Mulligan. [2] [3]
57	1974	Aldrage B. Cooper II	1937-2016	After the resignation of Patricia Q. Sheehan, Cooper was appointed mayor on February 20, 1974 to finish Mayor Sheehan's term, Cooper was New Brunswick's first African-American mayor. Margaret Bertalan replaced Cooper on the City Council, while Cooper unsuccessfully sought a full term as mayor in the 1974 election.
56	1967–1974	Patricia Q. Sheehan	born 1934	First elected to the City Commission in May 1967, Sheehan was selected by her commissioner colleagues to serve as mayor, becoming the city's first female mayor. After voters changed to a new form of government with direct mayor elections, Sheehan was elected to the job in November 1970. She was the last mayor under the commission form of government, and the first under the new form. Sheehan resigned from office to become the Commissioner of the NJ Department of Community Affairs.
54	1955–1967	Chester W. Paulus		Paulus was again selected by his fellow commissioners to serve as mayor in 1955. He was re-elected in 1959 and 1963, and continued to serve as mayor. After 24 years in elected office, Paulus lost his 1967 re-election campaign.
55	1951–1954	John A. Lynch, Sr.	1908–1978	Lynch was appointed to the City Commission on December 3, 1946 (replacing Harry W. Dwyer), and was first elected to body in 1947. Lynch was re-elected in 1951, and selected by his commissioner colleagues to serve as mayor. In 1955, Lynch was re-elected to the commission, but resigned to focus on his campaign for State Senate. [4]
54	1943–1951	Chester W. Paulus		First elected to the City Commission in May 1943, Paulus was selected by his commissioner colleagues to serve as mayor. He was re-elected in 1947 and again served as mayor. After being re-elected to the commission in 1951, he was replaced as mayor. Paulus would be re-installed as mayor after Lynch left the commission in 1955.
53	1942–1943	Harry W. Dwyer		Dwyer was first elected to the City Commission in May 1939, and in 1942, he was selected by his commissioner colleagues to serve as mayor after the resignation of Richard V. Mulligan. Dwyer won re-election to the commission in 1943, but did not continue as mayor. He resigned from the commission to become City Clerk on December 3, 1946.
52	1939–1942	Richard V. Mulligan		Mulligan was appointed to the City Commission June 28, 1938 (replacing Samuel D. Hoffman), and was first elected in May 1939. Mulligan was then selected by his commissioner colleagues to serve as mayor. Mulligan resigned from elected office to take a job with Johnson & Johnson, and Harry W. Dwyer was elevated to the mayor position, while Herbert Dailey was selected to replace Mulligan on the commission March 3, 1942.
51	1935–1939	Frederick F. Richardson		First elected to the City Commission in May 1935, and selected by his commissioner colleagues to serve as mayor. Richardson won re-election to the commission in 1939, but did not continue as mayor.
48	1918–1935	John J. Morrison		An elected member of the inaugural City Commission, Morrison was chosen by his colleagues to take on the position of mayor after death of Edward Farrington. Morrison had previously served as Mayor from 1910 to 1914. He was re-elected to the Commission in 1923, 1927, and 1931. In 1935, he lost his re-election campaign.
50	1915–1918	Edward Farrington	?-1918	Elected to the City Commission on April 6, 1915, Farrington would become New Brunswick's first mayor under the Commission form of government. He was selected from among his fellow commissioners to serve as mayor, led the city government during World War I, but died in office during the 1918 flu epidemic.
49	1914–1915	Austin Scott	1848–1922	Elected in November 1913, Scott was a former Rutgers University president. [5] He was New Brunswick's last mayor under aldermanic form of government, and his term was cut short when voters approved a change to a different form of government.
48	1910–1913	John J. Morrison		First elected mayor in November 1909. He was re-elected in 1911, and later served as mayor under the commission form of government.
47	1908–1909	W. Edwin Florance		Elected in November 1907.
46	1906–1907	Drury W. Cooper		Elected in November 1905.
45	1904–1905	William S. Meyers		Elected in November 1903.
44	1902–1903	George A. Viehmann		Elected in November 1901 after a state law abolished spring municipal elections.
43	1895–1901	Nicholas Williamson		Elected in April 1895, April 1897, and April 1899. His final term was extended until December 31, 1901 by a state law that moved local elections from April to November.
42	1889–1895	James H. Van Cleef
41	1881–1889	William S. Strong
40	1879–1881	T. DeWitt Reiley
27	1877–1879	Lyle Van Nuis		Previously served as mayor from 1856-1857 and 1861-1863.
39	1875–1877	Isaiah Rolfe
38	1873–1875	Thomas M. DeRussy
37	1871–1873	Garret Conover	1817–?
36	1869–1871	George J. Janeway
35	1867–1869	Miles Ross	1827–1903
34	1865–1867	John T. Jenkins		He resigned from office.
33	1865	Augustus T. Stout	1816-1865	He died in office shortly after being elected.
32	1863–1865	Richard MacDonald	1803-1894	He was the first mayor under the seventh city charter of 1863.
27	1861–1863	Lyle van Nuis		Previously served as mayor 1856-1857. Would go on to serve as mayor again from 1877-1879.
31	1860–1861	Ezekiel M. Patterson
30	1859–1860	Peter Conover Onderdonk	1811-1894
29	1858–1859	Tunis Van Doren Hoagland	1813-1872	Hoagland (also spelled "Hoogland") was elected to fill vacancy created by John Bayard Kirkpatrick's resignation.
28	1857–1858	John Bayard Kirkpatrick		Brother of former New Brunswick Mayor Littleton Kirkpatrick and grandson of former New Brunswick President John Bubenheim Bayard. Resigned from office.
27	1856–1857	Lyle van Nuis		Would return as mayor for two more non-consecutive terms, from 1861-1863 and 1877-1879.
26	1855–1856	Abraham V. Schenk
25	1853–1855	John B. Hill
20	1852–1853	John Van Dyke	1807–1878	Previously served as Mayor 1846–1847.
24	1851–1852	Peter N. Wyckoff
23	1849–1851	David Fitz Randolph
22	1848–1849	Augustus F. Taylor		He was a physician, and son of previous Mayor Augustus R. Taylor.
21	1847–1848	Martin A. Howell
20	1846–1847	John Van Dyke	1807–1878	First term as Mayor. He returned for another term in 1852-1853
19	1845–1846	William H. Leupp
18	1843–1845	John Acken
17	1842–1843	Fitz Randolph Smith
16	1841–1842	Littleton Kirkpatrick	1787–1859	A former surrogate Middlesex County, Kirkpatrick defeated incumbent Mayor David W. Vail at the annual town meeting by a vote of 358-304. [6] Kirkpatrick was the grandson of John Bubenheim Bayard, former president of New Brunswick, and went on to be elected to the US Congress, where he served from 1843-1845. His brother John Bayard Kirkpatrick would serve as mayor from 1857-1858.
15	1840–1841	David W. Vail	?-1842
12	1838–1840	Augustus R. Taylor	1782-?	Taylor, who previously served as Mayor from 1824 to 1829, resumed the role of mayor in 1838.
14	1830–1838	Cornelius Low Hardenbergh	1790–1860	Hardenbergh was elected "by plurality of voices" at the 1830 town meeting. [6]
13	1829–1830	J.R. Hardenbergh
12	1824–1829	Augustus R. Taylor		Taylor was a physician [7] who took over as acting mayor after the death of James Schureman. He was officially appointed mayor on November 19, 1824.
11	1821–1824	James Schureman	1756–1824	Schureman returned to the city's top position for a third time following the death of James Bennett. Schureman also died in office.
10	1813–1821	James Bennett	?-1821	Bennett was chosen to replace James Schureman after his resignation. Bennett died in office.
7	1801–1813	James Schureman	1756–1824	This was Schureman's second term as the city's top official, having previously served as president of the city from 1792-1793. He was appointed to serve by the New Jersey Legislature under the 1801 charter, which resumed the use of the word "mayor" for the position. Schureman resigned in 1813, but would return to the mayor role from 1821-1824.
9	1796–1801	Abraham Schuyler
6	1794–1796	John Bubenheim Bayard	1738–1807	Previously served as president of New Brunswick 1792-1793. Bayard returned for another term as the city's leader in 1794, becoming the first to serve two non-consecutive terms leading the city government. [8] He went on to become a judge in the court of common pleas.
8	1793–1794	Lewis Dunham		He was a physician and the son of former mayor Azariah Dunham.
7	1792–1793	James Schureman	1756-1824	Prior to becoming president of New Brunswick, Schureman was a member of the Continental Congress and the 1st United States Congress, leaving federal office in 1791. He returned to Congress in 1797 and was elevated to the US Senate from 1799-1801, before returning to become mayor of New Brunswick twice more, serving terms from 1801-1813 and 1821-1824.
6	1790–1792	John Bayard	1738–1807	Served as a Colonel in Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Bayard was also a member of the Continental Congress and Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly before relocating to New Brunswick. In 1790, he was selected to replace Azariah Dunham as the second president of New Brunswick under the state charter. He would return for another term as president of New Brunswick from 1794-1796, and later became a judge.
5	1784–1790	Azariah Dunham	1718–1790	First president of New Brunswick under the state charter. Died in office.
4	1778–1784	William Harrison		Harrison took over as mayor after the death of William Ouke, and was the last colonial mayor of New Brunswick. His term ended when New Jersey granted New Brunswick's State Charter on September 30, 1784.
3	1762–1778	William Ouke		As the city's recorder, Ouke took over as mayor after the death of James Hude, and was installed as mayor under the city's second royal charter, which was dated February 12, 1763. Ouke died in office after a combined 42 years as alderman, recorder, or mayor.
2	1747–1762	James Hude		After more than 16 years as the city's recorder, Hude was appointed the mayor by order of the colonial governor of New Jersey, Jonathan Belcher, in August 1747. He died in office in November 1762.
1	1730–1747	Thomas Farmer	1675-	Thomas Farmer (sometimes spelled Farmar) was the first mayor of New Brunswick, appointed under the royal charter granted December 30, 1730 by Colonel John Montgomerie, the colonial governor of New York and New Jersey. Farmer served for more than 16 years, until mid-1747.

References

1. Non consecutive terms are not counted as a new mayoral number
2. "RICHARD MULLIGAN OF SURGICAL FIRM". NYT Obituaries. October 10, 1973.
3. "Richard Mulligan Attorney at Law".
4. "John A. Lynch, Senator in Jersey. Mayor of New Brunswick, 1951-55". New York Times . 1978-03-04. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
5. "Austin Scott (1891-1906)". Rutgers University . Retrieved 2010-12-21.
6. Benedict, William (1925). New Brunswick in History.
7. "Augustus R. Taylor". Journal of the Medical Society of New Jersey. Medical Society of New Jersey. September 1, 1916. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
8. "Mayors of New Brunswick, New Jersey". Political Graveyard . Retrieved 2023-08-20.