List of mayors of Bridgeport, Connecticut explained

The Mayor is the chief executive of Bridgeport, Connecticut who is directly elected for a four-year term. They have the power to issue executive orders, declare emergencies, submit a yearly budget to the city council and makes appointments to city government offices.

As of July 2012, the Mayor of Bridgeport earns an annual salary of $132,459.^[1]

List of mayors

Name	In office	Party	Notes	Reference
Isaac Sherman	1836–1837			^[2] ^[3]
Daniel Sterling	1837–1838
Alanson Hamlin	1838–1839
Charles Foote	1839
Charles Bostwick	1840
William Burrall	1841–1842?
James Loomis	1843–1844
Henry Harral	1844–1847
Sherwood Sterling	1847–1849
Henry Harral	1849–1851
John Brooks	1851–1852
Henry Harral	1852–1853
Charles Hubbell	1853–1854
John Brook	1854–1855
	1855–1858		Democratic^[4] ^[5]
Silas Booth	1858–1860
Daniel Sterling	1860–1863
Clapp Spooner	1863–1864		Republican^[6]
Jarratt Morford	1864–1865
Stillman Clapp	1865–1866
Monson Hawley	1866–1868
Jarratt Morford	1868–1869
Monson Hawley	1869–1870
Jarratt Morford	1870–1871
Epaphras Goodsell	1871–1874		Democratic^[7]
Robert Clarke	1874–1875			^[8]
Phineas Barnum	1875–1876		Republican^[9]
Jarratt Morford	1876–1878
Robert De Forest	1878–1879		Democratic^[10] ^[11]
John Wessells	1879–1880
Daniel Morgan	1880–1881		Democratic^[12]
John Wessells	1881–1882
Carlos Curtis	1882–1883
John Wessells	1883–1884
Daniel Morgan	1884–1885
Henry Pyle	1885–1886
Civilion Fones	1886–1888		A dentist, his son Alfred Fones was also a dentist and a leader in early oral hygiene and education.^[13] ^[14]
Patrick Coughlin	1888–1889
Robert De Forest	1889–1891		Democratic
William Marigold	1891–1893		Republican^[15]
Walter Bostwick	1893–1895
Frank Clark	1895–1897		Democratic^[16]
Thomas Taylor	1897–1899		Republican^[17]
Hugh Stirling	1899–1901		Republican^[18]
Denis Mulvihill	1901–1905		Democratic^[19]		^[20]
Marcus Reynolds	1905–1907
Henry Lee	1907–1909
	1909–1911		Democratic^[21]
	1911–1921		Republican^[22]
Fred Atwater	1921–1923		Democratic^[23]
William Behrens	1923–1929		Republican^[24]
Edward Buckingham	1929–1933		Democratic
	1933–1957		Socialist^[25]	Longest-serving mayor
Samuel Tedesco	1957–1965		Democratic^[26]
Hugh Curran	1965–1971		Democratic^[27]
Nicholas Panuzio	1971–1975		Republican	Resigned toward the end of his second term to serve as deputy administrator of the General Services Administration in the Gerald Ford administration^[28]
William Seres	1975		Republican	President of the Common Council who succeeded as mayor following Panuzio's resignation; served 55 days^[29]
John C. Mandanici	1975–1981		Democratic^[30]
Lenny Paoletta	1981–1985		Republican^[31]
Thomas Bucci	1985–1989		Democratic^[32]
Mary Moran	1989–1991		Republican	First and only woman to serve as Bridgeport mayor; last Republican to serve as Bridgeport mayor; unsuccessfully sought to have city declared insolvent in municipal bankruptcy^[33] ^[34] ^[35]
Joe Ganim	1991–2003		Democratic	Second-longest serving Bridgeport mayor; was convicted on federal corruption charges in 2003; spent seven years in prison.^[36] ^[37]
John Fabrizi	2003–2007		Democratic	Did not run for a second term in 2007 after admitting to a drinking problem and use of cocaine while in office.^[38] ^[39]
Bill Finch	2007–2015		Democratic	Defeated by Joseph P. Ganim during the Democratic primary in September 2015.^[40]
Joe Ganim			Democratic	Second-longest serving Bridgeport mayor; was convicted on federal corruption charges in 2003; spent seven years in prison; re-elected to office November 3, 2015;^[41] ^[42] ^[43] Sworn in on December 1, 2015.^[44]

References

Specific

General

• Rob Sullivan, Political Corruption in Bridgeport: Scandal in the Park City (The History Press 2014)
• History of Bridgeport and Vicinity (Vol. 2), S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.: 1917, pp. 689–90.
• Men of Progress: Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional Life in and of the State of Connecticut] (ed. Richard Burton, 1898) p. 145.
• Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of Many of the Early Settled Families (Higginson Book Co.: 1899).
• Charles Burr Todd, The History of Redding, Connecticut, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time (Grafton Press: 1906).

Notes and References

1. Web site: Finch, mayor of biggest city, doesn't earn biggest salary . ctnews.com . 30 August 2012. 16 December 2012.
2. http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CT/ofc/bridgeport.html Bridgeport, Connecticut
3. Samuel Orcutt, A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City Bridgeport of Connecticut (Vol. 2), Fairfield County Historical Society: 1886.
4. History of Bridgeport and Vicinity (Vol. 2), pp. 689–90.
5. A. H. Saxon, P.T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man (Columbia University Press, 1989), p. 217.
6. https://books.google.com/books?id=Hp0MAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA742 America's Successful Men of Affairs: An Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous Biography
7. Men of Progress, p. 145.
8. History of Bridgeport and Vicinity (Vol. 2), pp. 607.
9. Susan Nance, "Barnum, P.T. (1810–1891)" in American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History (ed. Gina Misiroglu), M.E. Sharpe: 2009, p. 63.
10. Daniel R. Ernst, Lawyers Against Labor: From Individual Rights to Corporate Liberalism (University of Illinois Press, 19965), p. 41.
11. Gerald W. McFarland, Mugwumps, Morals, & Politics, 1884–1920 (University of Massachusetts Press, 1975), pp. 66–67.
12. Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, p. 165.
13. Mary K. Witkowski, Bridgeport at Work (Arcadia Publishing, 2000), p. 88.
14. Alyssa Picard, Making the American Mouth: Dentists and Public Health in the Twentieth Century (Rutgers University Press, 2009), p. 36.
15. Men of Progress, p. 389.
16. History of Bridgeport and Vicinity (Vol. 2), p. 616.
17. Robert Coltrane, "Taylor, Thomas P." in A Theodore Dreiser Encyclopedia, (Greenwood Press, 2003, ed. Keith Newlin), pp. 360–61.
18. Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, p. 165.
19. Bannister Merwin, Our Own Times: A Continuous History of the Twentieth Century (Vol. 1), J. A. Hill: 1904.
20. http://www.bridgeportct.gov/content/89013/90154/158914.aspx Bridgeport Mayors 1901–Present
21. Cecelia Bucki, Bridgeport's Socialist New Deal, 1915–36 (University of Illinois Press, 2001), pp. 96–97.
22. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 25–26.
23. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, p. 26.
24. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, p. 29.
25. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 31–36, 45
26. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 46–49.
27. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 51–54.
28. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 51–54.
29. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, p. 55.
30. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 56–58.
31. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 66–70.
32. Peter F. Burns, Electoral Politics Is Not Enough: Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Urban Politics (SUNY Press, 2012), p. 15.
33. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 90–92.
34. George Judson, U.S. Judge Blocks Bridgeport From Bankruptcy Court, New York Times (August 2, 1991).
35. Nick Ravo, A Novice Reigns as Bridgeport Mayor, New York Times, November 15, 1989.
36. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 97–98, 102–03.
37. Edmund H. Mahony, Joe Ganim: Is He Back?, Hartford Courant, January 12, 2015.
38. Alison Leigh Cowan, Mayor of Scandal-Weary Bridgeport Admits That He Used Cocaine, New York Times, June 21, 2006.
39. Brian Lockhart, Fabrizi exploring run for mayor, Connecticut Post, June 4, 2014.
40. Joseph De Avila, Ganim, Former Bridgeport Mayor Who Served Prison Time, Wins Primary, Wall Street Journal (September 17, 2015).
41. Political Corruption in Bridgeport, pp. 97–98, 102–03.
42. Edmund H. Mahony, Joe Ganim: Is He Back?, Hartford Courant, January 12, 2015.
43. http://wtnh.com/2015/11/03/ex-convict-declares-victory-in-bridgeport-mayors-race/
44. Associated Press, Ganim Sworn In As Bridgeport Mayor Five Years After Getting Out of Prison (December 1, 2015).