mayor of Hartford, Connecticut
{{Short description|Political office in the United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Mayor
| body = Hartford, Connecticut
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| incumbent = Arunan Arulampalam
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| incumbentsince = January 1, 2024
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| type = Mayor
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| formation = June 18, 1774
| first = Thomas Seymour
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The following table lists the individuals who served as mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, their political party affiliations, and their dates in office, as well as other information.Kevin Flood, [http://www.hartfordhistory.net/mayors.html Mayors of Hartford], HartfordHistory.net (retrieved April 26, 2015).
History
The city of Hartford switched from a mayor–council government to a council–manager government in 1947.H. George Frederickson, Gary Alan Johnson & Curtis H. Wood, The Adapted City: Institutional Dynamics and Structural Change (M.E. Sharpe: 2004), pp. 145–47. The mayor was chosen from among the city council until 1969, when the mayor began to be directly elected in partisan elections.Wendy L. Hassett, "Hartford: Politics Trumps Professionalism" in More Than Mayor or Manager: Campaigns to Change Form of Government in America's Large Cities (James H. Svara & Douglas J. Watson eds., Georgetown University Press: 2010), pp. 70–75.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, there were three unsuccessful efforts to amend to city charter to switch from a "weak mayor" system to a "strong mayor" system. Advocates for reform argued a switch to a strong-mayor system would "ameliorate the sense of citizen frustration with the Hartford government and the many problems facing the city," such as a significant drop in the city's population (11.1% from 1990 to 1994, the largest drop for a large U.S. city), crime, a broken school system (which had been taken over by the state), an overstaffed and costly fire department, and a scandal-ridden police department, as well as lackluster economic development. Under the system then in place, the mayor had no vote in the city council, and had only the power to veto council legislation. The city council was also solely responsible for hiring or firing the city manager, with the mayor having no formal role. The mayor also lacked effective executive power; it was the city manager who appointed and supervised department heads. The mayor could only hire and fire his own secretary. Moreover, the mayor's salary was very low, $30,000, which discouraged qualified candidates from running. Because of this system, the mayor's influence was based solely on his "ability to cobble together a council coalition," and the mayor's functions were mostly those of "a policy advocate rather than a player in policy implementation."
in 2000, proposed charter revisions written by a Charter Revision Commission would have eliminated the city manager, made the mayor the chief executive of the city, increase the mayor's salary from $30,000 to $105,000, increased the size of the city council (from nine to fifteen), and switched to elections of council members by ward rather than at-large. The proposed charter revisions were put to a vote in a city special election; the majority of voters supported the revisions, but the revision fell short of the required 15% of all registered voters, and so the proposal failed.
In January 2002, shortly after taking office, mayor Eddie A. Perez—an advocate for a strong-mayor government—formed a new fifteen-member Charter Review Commission to review the charter and recommend changes. The commission recommended several changes, many of which had been recommended by the previous commission. The revision proposed shifted to a strong-mayor system in which the mayor would serve as chief executive officer and chief operating officer of the city, appoint a majority of the board of education, appoint all department heads, remove department heads (with the approval of six council members), and prepare and present the annual city budget to the council. On November 5, 2002, the revisions went to a city vote, and all were approved, with about 77% of voters approving the changes, effective with the 2003 election.
List of mayors
The following table lists the individuals who served as mayor of Hartford, Connecticut.
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| #
! Name ! Party ! Served ! Notes |
|---|
| 1
| Thomas Seymour |{{Party shading/Federalist}}|Federalist | June 18, 1774 – May 28, 1812 | Resigned |
| 2
|{{Party shading/Federalist}}|Federalist | June 8, 1812 – September 9, 1815 | Died in office; Served simultaneously as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut |
| 3
|{{Party shading/Federalist}}|Federalist | September 9, 1815 – November 22, 1824 | |
| 4
|{{Party shading/Whig}}|Whig | November 22, 1824 – March 28, 1831 | |
| 5
|{{Party shading/Whig}}|Whig | March 28, 1831 – April 27, 1835 | |
| 6
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 27, 1835 – June 15, 1835 | Resigned |
| 7
| Jared Griswold |{{Party shading/Whig}}|Whig | June 15, 1835 – November 22, 1835 | Died in office |
| 8
| Jeremy Hoadley |{{Party shading/Whig}}|Whig | November 23, 1835 – April 18, 1836 | |
| 9
| Henry Hudson |{{Party shading/Whig}}|Whig | April 18, 1836 – April 20, 1840 | |
| 10
|{{Party shading/Whig}}|Whig | April 20, 1840 – April 17, 1843 | Resigned |
| 11
| Amos M. Collins |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 17, 1843 – April 19, 1847 | |
| 12
| Philip Ripley |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 19, 1847 – April 21, 1851 | |
| 13
| Ebenezer Flower |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 21, 1851 – April 18, 1853 | |
| 14
| William Jas. Hamersley |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 18, 1853 – April 17, 1854 | |
| 15
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 17, 1854 – April 12, 1858 | |
| 16
| Timothy M. Allyn |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 12, 1858 – April 8, 1860 | |
| 17
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 9, 1860 – February 27, 1862 | Resigned |
| 18
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | February 10, 1852 – April 14, 1862 | Elected by Common Council |
| 19
| William Jas. Hamersley |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 14, 1862 – April 11, 1864 | |
| 20
| Allyn S. Stillman |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 11, 1864 – April 9, 1866 | |
| 21
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 9, 1866 – April 1, 1872 | |
| 22
| Henry C. Robinson |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 1, 1872 – April 6, 1874 | |
| 23
| Joseph H. Sprague |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 6, 1874 – April 1, 1878 | |
| 24
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 1, 1878 – April 5, 1880 | |
| 25
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 5, 1880– April 2, 1888 | |
| 26
| John G. Root |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 2, 1888 – April 7, 1890 | |
| 27
| Henry C. Dwight |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 7, 1890 – April 4, 1892 | |
| 28
| William Waldo Hyde |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 4, 1892 – April 2, 1894 | |
| 29
| Leveret Brainard |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 2, 1894 – April 6, 1896 | |
| 30
| Miles B. Preston |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 6, 1896 – April 2, 1900 | |
| 31
| Alexander Harbison |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 2, 1900 – April 7, 1902 | |
| 32
| Ignatius A. Sullivan |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 7, 1902 – April 4, 1904 | |
| 33
| William F. Henney |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 4, 1904 – April 7, 1908 | |
| 34
| Edward W. Hooker |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 7, 1908 – April 5, 1910 | |
| 35
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 5, 1910 – April 2, 1912 | |
| 36
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 2, 1912 – April 7, 1914 | |
| 37
| Joseph H. Lawler |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 7, 1914 – April 4, 1916 | |
| 38
| Frank A. Hagarty |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 7, 1916 – April 7, 1918 | |
| 39
| Richard J. Kinsella |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 2, 1918 – April 4, 1920 | |
| 40
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 6, 1920 – May 2, 1922 | |
| 41
| Richard J. Kinsella |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 4, 1922 – April 6, 1924 | |
| 42
| Norman C. Stevens |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 1, 1924 – May 1, 1928 | |
| 43
| Walter E. Batterson |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | April 3, 1928 – December 1, 1931 | |
| 44
| William J. Rankin |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | November 3, 1931 – December 4, 1933 | |
| 45
| Joseph W. Beach |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | November 7, 1933 – December 3, 1935 | |
| 46
| John A. Pilgard |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | November 5, 1935 – November 14, 1935 | Died before taking oath of office |
| 47
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | December 3, 1935 – June 18, 1943 | Elected to first term by Common Council; resigned in fourth term. |
| 48
| Dennis P. O'Connor |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | June 24, 1943 – December 7, 1943 | Elected by Common Council |
| 49
| William H. Mortensen |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | December 7, 1943 – December 4, 1945 | |
| 50
| Cornelius A. Moylan |{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | December 4, 1945 – December 24, 1946 | Died in office |
| 51
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | January 3, 1947 – January 6, 1948 | Elected by Common Council |
| 52
| Cyril Coleman |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | January 6, 1948 – December 4, 1951 | |
| 53
| Joseph V. Cronin |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | December 4, 1951 – December 1, 1953 | |
| 54
| Dominick J. DeLucco |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | 1953–1955 | |
| 55
| Joseph V. Cronin |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | 1955–1957 | |
| 56
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | 1957–1960 | |
| 57
| Dominick J. DeLucco |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | November 14, 1960 – December 5, 1961 | Deputy mayor, succeeded to office |
| 58
| William E. Glynn |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | December 5, 1961 – December 7, 1965 | |
| 59
| George B. Kinsella |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | December 7, 1965 – December 5, 1967 | |
| 60
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|Republican | December 5, 1967 – April 12, 1971 | Resigned to take U.S. Department of Transportation post; |
| 61
| George A. Athanson |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | April 12, 1971 – December 1, 1981 | Deputy mayor, succeeded to office |
| 62
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | December 1, 1981 – December 1, 1987 | City's first black mayor, and first black elected mayor in New England[http://www.courant.com/hc-thirman-milner-born-october-29-1933-20130215-photo.html Thirman Milner (born October 29, 1933)], Hartford Courant. |
| 63
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | December 1, 1987 – December 7, 1993 | City's first black female mayor, and first black female elected mayor of a major Northeastern city[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/04/nyregion/1993-elections-connecticut-mayor-perry-denied-fourth-term-voters-hartford.html The 1993 Elections: Connecticut; Mayor Perry Is Denied a Fourth Term by Voters in Hartford], New York Times (November 4, 2001). |
| 64
| Michael P. Peters |{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | December 7, 1993 – December 4, 2001 | |
| 65
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | December 4, 2001 – June 26, 2010 | Resigned after being convicted on federal corruption chargesMichael Winter, [http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/06/hartford-mayor-eddie-perez-resigns-after-corruption-conviction Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez resigns after corruption conviction], USA Today (June 18, 2010). |
| 66
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | June 26, 2010 – December 31, 2015 | City Council president, succeeded Perez; city's first openly gay mayorJenna Carlesso, [https://www.courant.com/2010/11/17/hartford-mayor-segarra-honored-by-out-magazine/ Hartford Mayor Segarra Honored By Out Magazine], Hartford Courant (November 17, 2010). |
| 67
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic | January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2023 | |
| 68
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic |January 1, 2024–present | |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Hartford, Connecticut}}
Category:Hartford, Connecticut