Mayor of San Jose

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For Mayors of San Jose prior to 1850, see List of pre-statehood mayors of San Jose.
Mayor of the City of San José
Flag of San José, California.svg
Flag of San Jose
Facebook F8 2017 San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (profile cropped) (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Sam Liccardo
since January 1, 2015
Term lengthFour years, renewable once
Inaugural holderJosiah Belden
Formation1850
WebsiteOffice 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.

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.

There are 65 people who have served as mayor in San Jose since 1850, when California became a state following the American Conquest of California. Prior to the conquest, Californios served as Mayor of San Jose during the Spanish and Mexican eras since 1777. The current mayor is Democrat Sam Liccardo, who took office in January 2015 and was elected with 50.76% of the popular vote.

List[]

Mayors prior to 1850[]

Further information: 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.[1]

  1. Josiah Belden 1850–1851
  2. Thomas White 1851–1854
  3. O. H. Allen 1854–1855
  4. Sherman Otis Houghton 1855–1856
  5. Lawrence Archer 1856
  6. 1856
  7. 1856–1857
  8. 1857–1858
  9. 1858–1859
  10. Thomas Fallon 1859–1860
  11. 1860–1861
  12. 1861–1863
  13. 1863–1868
  14. 1868–1870
  15. 1870–1873
  16. 1873–1877
  17. 1877–1878
  18. Lawrence Archer 1878–1880
  19. 1880–1882
  20. 1882–1884
  21. 1884–1886
  22. 1886–1887
  23. 1887–1890
  24. 1890–1894
  25. 1894–1896
  26. 1896–1898
  27. 1898–1902
  28. 1902–1906
  29. 1906–1908
  30. 1908–1910
  31. 1910–1914
  32. 1914–1916
  33. 1916–1918 1
  34. 1918–1920
  35. 1920–1922
  36. 1922–1924
  37. 1924–1926
  38. Dan W. Gray 1926–1928
  39. Fred Doerr 1928–1930
  40. 1930–1932
  41. 1932–1934
  42. 1934–1936
  43. 1936–1938
  44. 1938–1940
  45. Harry Young 1940–1944
  46. 1944–1945
  47. Ernest E. Renzel 1945–1946
  48. Albert J. Ruffo 1946–1948
  49. 1948–1950
  50. Clark L. Bradley 1950–1952
  51. 1952–1954
  52. George Starbird 1954–1956
  53. Robert Doerr 1956–1958
  54. 1958–1960
  55. 1960–1962
  56. 1962–1964
  57. 1964–1967

Popularly elected mayors (1967-present)[]

Since 1967, San Jose has elected its mayors by a popular vote.[2] 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 vote held in June of the election year. If no person gets over 50% of the popular vote, the top two candidates automatically move to a runoff election.

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.

Josiah Belden, first mayor of San Jose
Sherman Otis Houghton, fourth mayor of San Jose
Norman Y. Mineta, 59th mayor of San Jose
Ron Gonzales, 63rd mayor of San Jose
Chuck Reed, 64th mayor of San Jose
# Mayor Term start Term end   Party
58 Ron James January 9, 1967 January 9, 1971 Democratic
59 Norman Mineta January 9, 1971 January 9, 1975 Democratic
60 Janet Gray Hayes January 9, 1975 January 9, 1983 Democratic
61 Tom McEnery January 9, 1983 January 9, 1991 Democratic
62 Susan Hammer January 9, 1991 January 1, 1999 Democratic
63 Ron Gonzales January 1, 1999 January 1, 2007 Democratic
64 Chuck Reed January 1, 2007 January 1, 2015 Democratic
65 Sam Liccardo January 1, 2015 incumbent Democratic

Other offices held[]

Many mayors of San Jose have either served in other public offices or been influential in the private sector following their tenures. Norman Mineta subsequently became a congressman, U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Mayor Ron Gonzales served as Mayor and Councilmember of the City of Sunnyvale prior to being elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors where he was elected to serve as a County Supervisor before his election to the San Jose City Council where he serve two terms as Mayor.

Chuck Reed served as an elected member to the San Jose City Council for four consecutive terms. Two as the District 4 representative and two terms as Mayor. He was also appointed to the San Jose Planning Commission. The following is a list of statewide or federal public offices held by mayors before or after their term(s).

Mayor Mayoral term Other offices held
Sherman Otis Houghton 1855–1856 U.S. Representative (1871-1875)
United States Mint Commissioner (1881)
Norman Mineta 1971–1975 U.S. Secretary of Transportation (2001-2006)
U.S. Secretary of Commerce (2000-2001)
U.S. Representative (1975-1995)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Oldest living San Jose mayor, Robert Doerr, dies at 99". mercurynews.com. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  2. ^ "New Mayor of San Jose is Japanese". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. 1971-04-14. Retrieved 2014-05-24.

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.

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