mayor of San Jose, California
{{Short description|Elective public office in San Jose, California, United States}}
{{for|Mayors of San Jose prior to 1850|List of pre-statehood mayors of San Jose}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox political post
|post = Mayor
|body = the City of San José
|insignia = Seal of San José, California (alternate).svg
|insigniasize = 100px
|insigniacaption = Seal of San José
|flag = Flag of San José, California.svg
|flagcaption = Flag of San Jose
|image = Matt Mahan Portrait.png
|alt =
|incumbent = Matt Mahan
|incumbentsince = January 1, 2023
|termlength = Four years, renewable once
|formation = 1850
|inaugural = Josiah Belden
|website = [http://www.sanjoseca.gov/mayor Office of the Mayor]
}}
The Mayor of San Jose, officially the Mayor of the City of San José, is executive of the Government of the City of San Jose, California in the United States.
The mayor presides over the San Jose City Council, which is composed of 11 voting members, including the mayor. While the mayor is the head of the city council, they have no veto powers over legislation passed by the Council, as the city uses a council-manager form of government. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms.
65 people have served as mayor in San Jose since 1850, when California became a state following the American Conquest of California. Before the conquest, Californios served as Mayor of San Jose during the Spanish and Mexican eras since 1777. The current mayor is Democrat Matt Mahan, who took office in January 2023.
List
=Mayors prior to 1850=
{{further|List of pre-statehood mayors of San Jose}}
=Mayors since 1850=
Before 1967, mayors of San Jose were nominated and elected by the San Jose City Council.{{cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/scott-herhold/ci_24721481/oldest-living-san-jose-mayor-robert-doerr-dies|title=Oldest living San Jose mayor, Robert Doerr, dies at 99|date=13 December 2013|website=mercurynews.com|access-date=6 April 2018}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
!# !Picture !Mayor !Term start !Term end |
| 1
|1850 |1851 |
| 2
| |1851 |1854 |
| 3
| |1854 |1855 |
| 4
|File:Sherman Otis Houghton Crop.jpg |1855 |1856 |
| 5
| |1856 |1856 |
| 6
| |John M. Murphy |1856 |1856 |
| 7
| |George Givens |1856 |1857 |
| 8
| |Ranson G. Moody |1857 |1858 |
| 9
| |Peter O. Minor |1858 |1859 |
| 10
|1859 |1860 |
| 11
| |Richard B. Buckner |1860 |1861 |
| 12
| |Joseph W. Johnson |1861 |1863 |
| 13
| |John Alonzo Quinby |1863 |1868 |
| 14
| |Mark Leavensworth |1868 |1870 |
| 15
| |Adolph Pfister |1870 |1873 |
| 16
| |Bernard D. Murphy |1873 |1877 |
| 17
| |George B. McKee |1877 |1878 |
| 18
| |1878 |1880 |
| 19
| |Bernard D. Murphy |1880 |1882 |
| 20
| |Charles J. Martin |1882 |1884 |
| 21
| |Campbell Thompson Settle |1884 |1886 |
| 22
| |Charles W. Breyfogle |1886 |1887 |
| 23
| |Samuel Watson Boring |1887 |1890 |
| 24
| |Samuel N. Rucker |1890 |1894 |
| 25
| |Paul P. Austin |1894 |1896 |
| 26
| |Valentine Koch |1896 |1898 |
| 27
| |Charles J. Martin |1898 |1902 |
| 28
| |George D. Worswick |1902 |1906 |
| 29
| |Henry D. Mathews |1906 |1908 |
| 30
| |Charles W. Davison |1908 |1910 |
| 31
| |Thomas Monahan |1910 |1914 |
| 32
| |Fred R. Husted |1914 |1916 |
| 33
| |Elmer E. Chase |1916 |1918 |
| 34
| |Charles M. O'Brian |1918 |1920 |
| 35
| |Albert C. Jayet |1920 |1922 |
| 36
| |1922 |1924 |
| 37
| |Joseph T. Brooks |1924 |1926 |
| 38
| |Dan W. Gray |1926 |1928 |
| 39
|1928 |1930 |
| 40
| |W. L. Biebrach |1930 |1932 |
| 41
| |A. M. Meyer |1932 |1934 |
| 42
| |Charles Bishop |1934 |1936 |
| 43
| |Richard French |1936 |1938 |
| 44
| |Clyde L. Fischer |1938 |1940 |
| 45
| |1940 |1944 |
| 46
| |Earl Campbell |1944 |1945 |
| 47
| |1945 |1946 |
| 48
|1946 |1948 |
| 49
| |Fred Watson |1948 |1950 |
| 50
| |1950 |1952 |
| 51
| |Parker Hathaway |1952 |1954 |
| 52
| |1954 |1956 |
| 53
| |1956 |1958 |
| 54
| |Louis Solari |1958 |1960 |
| 55
| |Paul Moore |1960 |1962 |
| 56
| |Robert Welch |1962 |1964 |
| 57
| |1964 |1967 |
=Popularly elected mayors (1967-present)=
File:Norman Mineta, official portrait, DOT.jpg
File:Mayor-ron-gonzales (1).jpg
File:Facebook F8 2017 San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (profile cropped) (cropped).jpg
Since 1967, San Jose has elected its mayors by popular vote.{{cite news|title=New Mayor of San Jose is Japanese |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19710414&id=Yx8qAAAAIBAJ&pg=7313,2193845 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Milwaukee Journal |date=1971-04-14 |access-date=2014-05-24}} Due to state laws regarding primary elections, political parties cannot nominate candidates for mayor, although candidates often choose to identify with a party. All registered candidates, regardless of party affiliation, compete in an election held in June of even-numbered years which are non-leap years. If no person gets over 50% of the popular vote, the top two candidates automatically move to a runoff election. Mayors are limited to two terms.
All elected mayors of San Jose have been members of the Democratic Party. The first elected mayor was Ron James and the first female mayor was Janet Gray Hayes.
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| align=center|#
!Picture ! Mayor ! Term start ! Term end ! class=unsortable| ! style="border-left-style:hidden; padding:0.1em 0;"|Party |
|---|
| align=center|58
| |{{Sortname|Ron|James|Ron James (mayor)}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1967|January|9}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1971|January|9}} |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
| align=center|59
|File:Norman Mineta, official portrait, DOT.jpg |{{Sortname|Norman|Mineta}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1971|January|9}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1975|January|9}} |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
| align=center|60
|File:JanetGrayHayesKPAR (1).jpg |{{Sortname|Janet Gray|Hayes|Janet Gray Hayes}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1975|January|9}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1983|January|9}} |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
| align=center|61
| |{{Sortname|Tom|McEnery|Tom McEnery}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1983|January|9}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1991|January|9}} |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
| align=center|62
|{{Sortname|Susan|Hammer|Susan Hammer}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1991|January|9}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1999|January|1}} |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
| align=center|63
|File:Mayor-ron-gonzales (1).jpg |{{Sortname|Ron|Gonzales|Ron Gonzales}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|1999|January|1}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|2007|January|1}} |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
| align=center|64
|File:Mayor Chuck Reed speaking at the opening ceremony. (2840730500) (cropped).jpg |{{Sortname|Chuck|Reed}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|2007|January|1}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|2015|January|1}} |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
| align=center|65
|File:Sam Liccardo - Jan 2020 (cropped).jpg |{{Sortname|Sam|Liccardo|Sam Liccardo}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|2015|January|1}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|2023|January|1}} |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
| align=center|66
|File:Matt Mahan Portrait (cropped).png |{{Sortname|Matt|Mahan|Matt Mahan}} |align=center|{{Dts|format=mdy|2023|January|1}} |align=center|incumbent |bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}| |Democratic |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
- Arbuckle, Clyde; Clyde Arbuckle's History of San Jose; 1985
- [http://germanamericanpioneers.org/PioneersWhoMadeaDifference.htm Pioneers who made a difference]
- [http://www.ti.org/vaupdate31.html San Jose case study, part one, the urban growth boundary]
Notes
1Elmer E. Chase was the first mayor who was not the city's chief executive; the city moved to a council-manager government corresponding to his election. Chase and all following mayors are simply the president of the city council.
{{SanJoseMayors}}
{{San Jose, California}}