List of mayors of Baltimore


The Mayor of Baltimore is the head of the executive branch of the government of the City of Baltimore, Maryland. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills / ordinances / resolutions passed by the unicameral Baltimore City Council. In addition, the Mayor oversees all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and shares with the Governor of Maryland, responsibilities for the public school system within the city limits. As of May 2, 2019, the Office of Mayor of the City of Baltimore has changed hands 61 times with 51 different individuals in assuming office in the 220 years of city government, 1797-2017.
The Office of the Mayor is located in the historic / architectural landmark with signature dome of the Baltimore City Hall, at 100 Holliday Street facing City Hall / War Memorial Plaza and the War Memorial building, in downtown Baltimore. Recent incumbent Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, decided not to run for reelection. Maryland State Senator Catherine Pugh beat out previous Mayor Shelia Dixon, in the Democratic Party municipal primary election. She then defeated Republican Alan Walden and Green Party candidate Joshua Harris to become the 50th Mayor of Baltimore. She was sworn in on December 6, 2016. Pugh resigned on May 2, 2019, amid a scandal surrounding misuse of her political position to sell copies of her children's book series, making then-Baltimore City Council President Jack Young step up to the position.

History

James Calhoun was first elected in 1794 under the old Baltimore Town government with a group of town commissioners, and continued as the new first mayor under the new City Charter in 1796–97, when the City was incorporated as the "City of Baltimore" under the authority of the General Assembly of Maryland which had originally authorized the port in 1706 and the creation in 1729 and laying out of a town in early 1730. Calhoun continued to serve for another seven years until 1804.
Serving as the "county seat" since finagling a scheme to move the courthouse, replacing old Joppa in 1767 of surrounding Baltimore County which had been "erected" in 1659 as the fifth county designated in the Province and first county in northern Maryland. The City was separated from the adjacent County by the provisions of the adoption of the new second Maryland Constitution of 1851 and became an independent city with the same status as the other 22 counties of Maryland. Then the county seat for Baltimore County was moved after an election/referendum to Towsontown, a few miles north of Baltimore with the building there of its first Courthouse structure three years later with surrounding square of landscaped grassy lawns between Allegheny, Pennsylvania and Chesapeake Streets in 1854.
Six individuals are credited with multiple, non-consecutive returns to the office after completing an initial term, and are counted as separate mayoralties. These are:
Edward Johnson, John Montgomery, Ferdinand C. Latrobe, Howard W. Jackson, William F. Broening, and Theodore R. McKeldin.
Originally elected for a term of only two years under the original first City Charter of 1796/1797, now traditionally, the current edition of the limits a mayoral term to four years since the revisions of 1920. However, the 2015 municipal /mayoral primary / general elections was postponed to 2016 in order to better align with national elections.

List