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Chief executive of Boston, Massachusetts
The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four-year term; there are no term limits. The mayor's office is in Boston City Hall, in Government Center.
The current mayor of Boston is Michelle Wu.
Prior to 1822, there was no mayor of Boston, because Boston was incorporated as a town. In Massachusetts, a town is typically governed by a town meeting, with a board of selectmen handling regular business. Boston was the first community in Massachusetts to receive a city charter, which was granted in 1822.[2] Under the terms of the new charter, the mayor was elected annually. In June 1895, the charter was amended, and the mayor's term was increased to two years.[3]
In 1909, the Republican-controlled state legislature enacted strong-mayor charter changes it hoped would dampen the rising power of Democratic Irish Americans.[4] Adopted by public vote in the November 1909 general election, changes included extending the mayoral term to four years, and making the post formally non-partisan.[5] The reforms did not have the intended effect; the first mayor elected under the new charter was Democrat John F. Fitzgerald ("Honey Fitz"), and every mayor since Republican Malcolm Nichols (1926–1930) has been known to be a Democrat.
In a bid to temper the rising power of James Michael Curley, the state legislature in 1918 passed legislation barring the mayor of Boston from serving consecutive terms in office;[6] Curley was prevented from running for re-election twice by this law (November 1925 and November 1933). The law was repealed in 1939,[7] after Curley's political career appeared to be in decline.[8]
Another charter change was enacted in 1949, partly in response to Curley's fourth term (1946–1950), during which he served prison time for crimes committed in an earlier term. Changes included adding a preliminary election to narrow the field to two mayoral candidates in advance of the general election, changing the Boston City Council from having 22 members (one from each city ward) to having nine members (elected at-large), and giving the council ability to override some mayoral vetoes.[9] These changes went into effect in 1951, resulting in the first term of John B. Hynes being shortened to two years.
From 1951 through 1991, Boston mayoral elections were held the year before presidential elections (e.g. mayoral election in 1951, presidential election in 1952). Starting in 1993, due to the election held following Raymond Flynn's appointment as United States Ambassador to the Holy See, Boston mayoral elections are held the year following presidential elections (e.g. presidential election in 1992, mayoral election in 1993).
In June 2018, the council voted to increase the salary of the mayor to $207,000, effective after the mayoral election of November 2021 (term starting in January 2022); this increased the salary of councillors to $103,500, effective after the council elections of November 2019 (terms starting in January 2020). In October 2022, the council voted to increase the salary of the mayor to $250,000. [10][1]
There is no official count of Boston's mayors. The City of Boston does not number its mayors[11] and numbering has been inconsistent over time. For example, Thomas Menino was referred to as the 47th mayor at the time he was sworn in,[12] yet his successor, Marty Walsh, was identified as the 54th.[13] The Walsh administration cited Wikipedia for its use of 54.[13][a] That numbering scheme counted persons who served as elected mayors and counted those who served non-consecutive terms more than once (for example, James Michael Curley served four non-consecutive terms and was counted four times),[13] however, for reasons that are unclear, Leonard R. Cutter, who served as acting mayor in late 1873, was also included in the count. Kim Janey, who became acting mayor in March 2021, referred to herself as the 55th mayor.[14]
Mayor Term In office Party Start End Terms won Duration John Phillips May 1, 1822 May 1, 1823 1 1 year Federalist Josiah Quincy III May 1, 1823 January 5, 1829 6 5 years, 8 months Federalist Harrison G. Otis January 5, 1829 January 2, 1832 3 3 years Federalist Charles Wells January 2, 1832 January 6, 1834 2 2 years Whig Theodore Lyman January 6, 1834 January 4, 1836 2 2 years Democratic Samuel T. Armstrong January 4, 1836 January 1, 1837 1 1 year Whig Samuel A. Eliot January 1, 1837 January 6, 1840 3 3 years Whig Jonathan Chapman January 6, 1840 January 2, 1843 3 3 years Whig Martin Brimmer January 2, 1843 January 6, 1845 2 2 years Whig William Parker ‡ January 6, 1845 February 27, 1845 — 2 months Whig Thomas Aspinwall Davis † February 27, 1845 November 22, 1845 1 9 months Native AmericanKN Benson Leavitt ‡ November 22, 1845 December 11, 1845 — 1 month Whig Josiah Quincy IV. December 11, 1845 January 1, 1849 3 3 years, 1 month Whig John P. Bigelow January 1, 1849 January 5, 1852 3 3 years Whig Benjamin Seaver January 5, 1852 January 2, 1854 2 2 years Whig Jerome V. C. Smith January 2, 1854 January 7, 1856 2 2 years AmericanKN Alexander H. Rice January 7, 1856 January 4, 1858 2 2 years Independent Frederic W. Lincoln Jr. January 4, 1858 January 7, 1861 3 3 years Republican Joseph Wightman January 7, 1861 January 5, 1863 2 2 years Democratic Frederic W. Lincoln Jr. January 5, 1863 January 7, 1867 4 4 years Republican Otis Norcross January 7, 1867 January 6, 1868 1 1 year Republican Nathaniel B. Shurtleff January 6, 1868 January 2, 1871 3 3 years Democratic William Gaston January 2, 1871 January 6, 1873 2 2 years Democratic Henry L. Pierce January 6, 1873 November 29, 1873 1 11 months None Leonard R. Cutter ‡ November 29, 1873 January 5, 1874 — 1 month Democratic Samuel C. Cobb January 5, 1874 January 1, 1877 3 3 years None Frederick O. Prince January 1, 1877 January 7, 1878 1 1 year Democratic Henry L. Pierce January 7, 1878 January 6, 1879 1 1 year Republican Frederick O. Prince January 6, 1879 January 2, 1882 3 3 years Democratic Samuel A. Green January 2, 1882 January 1, 1883 1 1 year Republican Albert Palmer January 1, 1883 January 7, 1884 1 1 year Democratic Augustus Pearl Martin January 7, 1884 January 5, 1885 1 1 year Republican Hugh O'Brien January 5, 1885 January 7, 1889 4 4 years Democratic Thomas N. Hart January 7, 1889 December 31, 1890 2 2 years Republican Nathan Matthews Jr. January 1, 1891 January 7, 1895 4 4 years Democratic Edwin Upton Curtis January 7, 1895 January 6, 1896 1 1 year RepublicanMayoral term increased to two years.
Josiah Quincy January 6, 1896 January 1, 1900 2 4 years Democratic Thomas N. Hart January 1, 1900 January 6, 1902 1 2 years Republican Patrick Collins † January 6, 1902 September 13, 1905 2 3 years, 9 months Democratic Daniel A. Whelton ‡ September 15, 1905 January 1, 1906 — 3 months Democratic John F. Fitzgerald January 1, 1906 January 6, 1908 1 2 years Democratic George A. Hibbard January 6, 1908 February 7, 1910 1 2 years RepublicanMayoral term increased to four years.
John F. Fitzgerald February 7, 1910 February 2, 1914 1 4 years Democratic James Michael Curley February 2, 1914 February 4, 1918 1 4 years Democratic Andrew J. Peters February 4, 1918 February 6, 1922 1 4 years Democratic James Michael Curley February 6, 1922 January 4, 1926 1 4 years Democratic Malcolm Nichols January 4, 1926 January 6, 1930 1 4 years Republican James Michael Curley January 6, 1930 January 1, 1934 1 4 years Democratic Frederick Mansfield January 1, 1934 January 3, 1938 1 4 years Democratic Maurice J. Tobin January 3, 1938 January 4, 1945 2 7 years Democratic John E. Kerrigan ‡ January 4, 1945 January 7, 1946 — 1 year Democratic James Michael Curley January 7, 1946 January 2, 1950 1 4 years Democratic John B. Hynes January 2, 1950 January 4, 1960 3 10 years Democratic John F. Collins January 4, 1960 January 1, 1968 2 8 years Democratic Kevin White January 1, 1968 January 2, 1984 4 16 years Democratic Raymond Flynn January 2, 1984 July 12, 1993 3 9 years, 6 months Democratic Thomas Menino July 12, 1993 January 6, 2014 5 20 years, 6 months Democratic Marty Walsh January 6, 2014 March 22, 2021 2 7 years, 2 months Democratic Kim Janey ‡ March 22, 2021 November 16, 2021 — 8 months Democratic Michelle Wu November 16, 2021 Incumbent 1 3 years, 7 months Democratic† died in office
‡ acting mayor only
^KN Native American Party and American Party were formal names of the "Know Nothing" movement.
Boston's city charter stipulates that the City Council president serves as acting mayor whenever the mayor is absent from the city, unable to serve, or the office is vacant. An acting mayor cannot make permanent appointments, and can only perform urgent tasks "not admitting of delay" (which is somewhat open to interpretation).[15]
The following individuals served as acting mayor during a vacancy in the office.
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