Mayor of Philadelphia explained

Post:	Mayor
Body:	Philadelphia
Insignia:	Seal_of_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania.svg
Insigniasize:	100px
Insigniacaption:	Seal of the City of Philadelphia
Incumbent:	Cherelle Parker
Incumbentsince:	January 1, 2024
Termlength:	four years
Termlength Qualified:	limited to two consecutive terms
Formation:	1691
Salary:	$218,000
Inaugural:	Humphrey Morrey
Website:	Office of the Mayor

The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,^[1] as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Cherelle Parker, who is the first woman to hold the position.

History

18th century

The first mayor of Philadelphia was Humphrey Morrey, who was appointed to the position by William Penn, the founder of the city and the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania, which became the state of Pennsylvania following the American Revolutionary War. Penn subsequently appointed Edward Shippen under the city charter of 1701. The Philadelphia City Council then elected Shippen to a second term. Subsequent mayors, who held office for one year, were elected by the Philadelphia City Council. The initial mayors of Philadelphia were not compensated and candidates sometimes objected strongly to being selected to the position, sometimes choosing even to pay a fine rather than serve in the position.

In 1704, alderman Griffith Jones was elected but declined to serve, for which he was fined twenty pounds. In 1706, Thomas Story, also an alderman, was similarly fined for refusing office.

In 1745, Abraham Taylor, a Philadelphia alderman, was fined thirty pounds for refusing to assume the office. The city council then elected Joseph Turner, who also refused and was likewise fined.^[2] Others who refused election included Richard Hill (1717), Issac Norris (1722), John Mifflin, and Alexander Stedman. In other cases, William Coxe pleaded illness (1758), Samuel Mifflin (1761), William Coxe and Daniel Benezet (1762), and John Barclay and George Roberts (1792). Robert Wharton declined in 1800 and 1811, and ended up 14 one-year terms, making him the most-often-elected (16 times, including refusals) and longest-serving (14 years) mayor in Philadelphia history.^[3]

In 1747, at the request of retiring Mayor William Attwood, Council resolved to institute an annual salary of 100 pounds for the office. The same year, Anthony Morris secretly fled to Bucks County to avoid being notified of his election as the city's mayor. When he could not be located after three days of searching, a new election was scheduled, and Attwood was reelected to a second term.

19th century

In 1826, the Philadelphia City Council altered its protocols for electing a mayor, permitting any Philadelphia citizen to run for the office. Beginning in 1839, mayors were elected by popular vote. If no candidate won a majority of the popular vote, then the joint Councils (Select and Common) determined the winner between the two leading candidates. John Swift was the first mayor to be elected directly by the people in the 1840 Philadelphia mayoral election.

The term of office for the mayor was extended to two years in 1854, to three years in 1861, and to four years in 1885. The Act of 1885 also prohibited mayors from succeeding themselves.^[4]

20th century

The consecutive term limitation for mayor was lifted in the 1940s, which permitted incumbent Bernard Samuel to run for reelection. In 1951, the city's Home Rule Charter established a two-term limit for Philadelphia mayors.^[4] The term limit is consecutive, not lifetime.

The mayor of Philadelphia has been held by Democrats for over seven decades, since 1952. The only Republican who has been competitive in the general election for mayor since then was Sam Katz, who came within half a percentage point of being the first Republican mayor of Philadelphia elected in 1999.

List of Mayors

Parties

Colonial mayors elected by the Common Council

	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Mayorship	Term
1				1	1
2				2	2
					3
3				3	4
4				4	5
5				5	6
6				6	7
7				7	8
					9
8				8	10
9				9	11
10				10	12
11				11	13
12	George Roach			12	14
(8)	Richard Hill			13	15
					16
					17
(11)	Jonathan Dickinson			14	18
					19
13				15	20
					21
					22
14				16	23
15				17	24
16				18	25
17	William Hudson			19	26
18				20	27
19				21	28
					29
20				22	30
					31
21				23	32
					33
(20)	Thomas Griffitts			24	34
(19)	Thomas Lawrence I			25	35
22				26	36
(15)	Clement Plumsted			27	37
(20)	Thomas Griffitts			28	38
23				29	39
24				30	40
(21)	Samuel Hasell			31	41
(15)	Clement Plumsted			32	42
25				33	43
26				34	44
27				35	45
28				36	46
29	William Attwood			37	47
					48
30				38	49
(19)	Thomas Lawrence I			39	50
31				40	51
32				41	52
(26)	Benjamin Shoemaker			42	53
(19)	Thomas Lawrence I			43	54
(30)	Charles Willing			44	55
					56
(31)	William Plumsted			45	57
					58
33				46	59
					60
34	Thomas Lawrence II			47	61
35	John Stamper			48	62
(26)	Benjamin Shoemaker			49	63
36				50	64
37				51	65
38				52	66
(34)	Thomas Lawrence II			53	67
39	John Lawrence			54	68
					69
40	Isaac Jones			55	70
					71
41				56	72
					73
42	John Gibson			57	74
					75
43	William Fisher			58	76
44				59	77
45				60	78

Post-independence mayors elected by the common council

	Mayor		Term start	Term end	Party	Mayorship	Term
(45)					Federalist	61	79
46					Federalist	62	80
47					Federalist	63	81
48					Federalist	64	82
							83
							84
							85
							86
49					Federalist	65	87
							88
50					Federalist	66	89
							90
51					Federalist	67	91
52					Democratic- Republican	68	92
							93
							94
							95
(51)		John Inskeep			Federalist	69	96
(50)		Robert Wharton			Federalist	70	97
							98
53					Democratic- Republican	71	99
							100
(50)		Robert Wharton			Federalist	72	101
54					Democratic- Republican	73	102
(53)		John Barker			Democratic- Republican	74	103
55					Democratic- Republican	75	104
(50)		Robert Wharton			Federalist	76	105
							106
							107
							108
							109
56					Democratic- Republican	77	110
(50)		Robert Wharton			Federalist	78	111
							112
							113
							114
57					National Republican	79	115
							116
							117
							118
58					Democrat	80	119
59					Democratic	81	120
60					National Republican	82	121
(59)		Benjamin W. Richards			Democratic	83	122
							123
61					Whig	84	124
							125
							126
							127
							128
							129
62					Democratic	85	130

Mayors chosen by popular election

		Image	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Party	Mayorship	Term
(61)						Whig	86	131
								132
63						Whig	87	133
								134
								135
64						Whig	88	136
(61)			John Swift			Whig	89	137
								138
								139
								140
65						Democratic	90	141
66						Whig	91	142
								143
								144
								145

Mayors elected following the Act of Consolidation

		Image	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Party	Mayorship	Term
67						Whig	92	146
68						Democratic	93	147
69						Republican	94	148
								149
								150
70						Republican	95	151
71						Democratic	96	152
72						Republican	97	153
								154
								155
73						Democratic	98	156
74						Republican	99	157
75						Republican	100	158
76						Republican	101	159
77						Republican	102	160
78						Republican	103	161
79						Republican	104	162
80						Republican	105	163
81						Keystone	106	164
82						Republican	107	165
83						Republican	108	166
84						Republican	109	167
85						Republican	110	168
(83)						Republican	111	169
86						Republican	112	170
87						Republican	113	171
88						Republican	114	172
89						Republican	115	173
								174
								175

Mayors elected under the Home Rule Charter of 1951

		Image	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Party	Mayorship	Term
90						Democratic	116	176
91						Democratic	117	177
								178
92						Democratic	118	179
								180
								181
93						Democratic	119	182
								183
94						Democratic	120	184
95						Democratic	121	185
								186
96						Democratic	122	187
								188
97						Democratic	123	189
								190
98						Democratic	124	191
								192
99						Democratic	125	193
								194
100					incumbent	Democratic	126	195

See also

• • History of Philadelphia Timeline of Philadelphia

Sources

Books

• Book: Young, John Russell. Memorial History of the City of Philadelphia. 1898. New York History Company. New York, New York.

Websites

• Web site: Mayors of Philadelphia . City of Philadelphia. 13 January 1998 . 2019-12-22. . Official Philadelphia Government list

External links

• Office of the Mayor

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mayors of Philadelphia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210222024814/https://www.phila.gov/phils/Mayorlst.htm . 22 Feb 2021 . 2016-02-19 . Phila.gov.
2. John Thomas Scharf, Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884, Lippincott, Phila., 1884.
3. http://www.seventy.org/stats/mayors.html Committee of Seventy's Historical List of Philadelphia Mayors
4. News: Timeline: A look back at Philly's mayors . Philadelphia Inquirer . 2018-03-12.