| Post: | Mayor |
| Body: | St. Louis |
| Flag: | Flag of St._Louis, Missouri.svg |
| Flagcaption: | Flag of St. Louis |
| Flagborder: | yes |
| Insignia: | Seal of St. Louis, Missouri.svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Seal of St. Louis |
| Incumbent: | Tishaura Jones |
| Style: | His/Her Honor |
| Termlength: | Four years |
| Formation: | April 14, 1823 |
| Inaugural: | William Carr Lane |
| Succession: | President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen |
| Salary: | $170,000[1] |
| Website: | Office of the Mayor |
The mayor of St. Louis is the chief executive officer of St. Louis's city government. The mayor has a duty to enforce city ordinances and the power to either approve or veto city ordinances passed by the Board of Aldermen.[2] The current mayor is Tishaura Jones, who took office on April 20, 2021.
Forty-seven people have held the office, four of whom — William Carr Lane, John Fletcher Darby, John Wimer, and John How — served non-consecutive terms. Lane, the city's first mayor, served the most terms: eight one-year terms plus the unexpired term of Darby. Francis Slay is the longest-serving mayor, having served four 4-year terms. The second-longest-serving mayor was Henry Kiel, who served 12 years and nine days over three terms in office. Two others — Raymond Tucker and Vincent C. Schoemehl — also served three terms, but seven fewer days. The shortest-serving mayor was Arthur Barret, who died 11 days after taking office. The first female mayor was Lyda Krewson, who served from 2017 to 2021.
St. Louis was incorporated as a city on December 9, 1822, four months after Missouri was admitted as a state to the Union. In accordance with its new charter, the city changed its governance to a mayor-council format and elected its first mayor, William Carr Lane, on April 7, 1823.[3]
The mayor is elected for four years during the general municipal election, which is held every two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April. The candidates are selected through a combined approval voting primary, with the top two advancing to the general.[4] The mayor is usually sworn during the first session of the Board of Aldermen two weeks after the election.
Under the original city charter, the mayor was elected to a one-year term. Terms became two years under the 1859 city charter.[5] The mayor's office was extended to its present four-year term after passage of the Charter and Scheme in 1876 which separated the City of St. Louis from St. Louis County.[6]
The mayor is not term limited.
If the office of mayor becomes vacant through death, resignation, recall, or removal by the board of aldermen, the president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor until a special mayoral election can be held; if the office is only temporarily vacant due to disability of the mayor, the president only acts out the duties of mayor. Should both offices be vacant, the vice-president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor.
Five people have acted as mayor: Wilson Primm following the resignation of John Darby; Ferdinand W. Cronenbold following the resignation of Chauncey Filley; Herman Rechtien following the death of Arthur Barret; George W. Allen following the resignation of David Francis; and Aloys P. Kaufmann following the death of William Becker.
| align=center | Portrait | Mayor | Term start | Term end | Terms | class=unsortable | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Carr Lane | 6 | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 2 | Daniel Page | 4½ | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 3 | John W. Johnston | 1½ | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 4 | John Fletcher Darby | 2½ | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| — | Wilson Primm | — | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 1 | William Carr Lane | 2½ | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 4 | John Fletcher Darby | 1 | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 5 | John D. Daggett | 1 | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 6 | Peter_G._Camden_(1801–1873).png | George Maguire | 1 | bgcolor= | |||||
| 7 | John Wimer | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 8 | Bernard Pratte | 2 | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 9 | Peter G. Camden | 1 | bgcolor= | ||||||
| 10 | Bryan Mullanphy | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 11 | John Krum | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 12 | James G. Barry | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 13 | Luther Martin Kennett | 3 | bgcolor= | Whig | |||||
| 14 | John How | 2 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 15 | Washington King | 1 | bgcolor= | Know Nothing | |||||
| 14 | John How | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 7 | John Wimer | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 16 | Oliver Filley | 2 | bgcolor= | ||||||
| 17 | Daniel G. Taylor | 1 | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 18 | Chauncey Filley | ½ | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| — | Ferdinand W. Cronenbold | — | |||||||
| 19 | James Thomas | 2½ | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 20 | Nathan Cole | 1 | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 21 | Joseph Brown | 2 | bgcolor= | ||||||
| 22 | Arthur Barret | ⅓ | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| — | Herman Rechtien | — | |||||||
| 23 | James H. Britton | ⅓ | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 24 | Henry Overstolz | 1⅓ | bgcolor= | Independent | |||||
| 25 | William L. Ewing | 1 | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 26 | David R. Francis | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| — | George W. Allen | — | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 27 | Edward A. Noonan | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 28 | Cyrus Walbridge | 1 | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 29 | Henry Ziegenhein | 1 | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 30 | Rolla Wells | 2 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 31 | Frederick Kreismann | 1 | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 32 | Henry Kiel | 3 | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 33 | Victor J. Miller | 2 | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 34 | Bernard F. Dickmann | 2 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 35 | William D. Becker | ½ | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 36 | Aloys P. Kaufmann | 1½ | bgcolor= | Republican | |||||
| 37 | Joseph Darst | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 38 | Raymond Tucker | 3 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 39 | Alfonso J. Cervantes | 2 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 40 | John Poelker | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 41 | James F. Conway | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 42 | Vincent C. Schoemehl | 3 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 43 | Freeman Bosley Jr. | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 44 | Clarence Harmon | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 45 | Francis Slay | 4 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 46 | Lyda Krewson | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic | |||||
| 47 | Tishaura Jones | Incumbent | 1 | bgcolor= | Democratic |