Mayor of Philadelphia

The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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.John Thomas Scharf, Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884, Lippincott, Phila., 1884. 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.Committee of Seventy's Historical List of Philadelphia Mayors

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.

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. 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 MayorTerm startTerm endMayorshipTerm 1 Humphrey Morrey 1 1 2 Edward Shippen I 2 2 3 3 Anthony Morris I 3 4 4 Griffith Jones 4 5 5 Joseph Willcox 5 6 6 Nathan Stanbury 6 7 7 Thomas Masters 7 8 9 8 Richard Hill 8 10 9 William Carter 9 11 10 Samuel Preston 10 12 11 Jonathan Dickinson 11 13 12 George Roach 12 14 (8) Richard Hill 13 15 16 17 (11) Jonathan Dickinson 14 18 19 13 William Fishbourn 15 20 21 22 14 James Logan 16 23 15 Clement Plumsted 17 24 16 Isaac Norris 18 25 17 William Hudson 19 26 18 Charles Read 20 27 19 Thomas Lawrence I 21 28 29 20 Thomas Griffitts 22 30 31 21 Samuel Hasell 23 32 33 (20) Thomas Griffitts 24 34 (19) Thomas Lawrence I 25 35 22 William Allen 26 36 (15) Clement Plumsted 27 37 (20) Thomas Griffitts 28 38 23 Anthony Morris II 29 39 24 Edward Roberts 30 40 (21) Samuel Hasell 31 41 (15) Clement Plumsted 32 42 25 William Till 33 43 26 Benjamin Shoemaker 34 44 27 Edward Shippen III 35 45 28 James Hamilton 36 46 29 William Attwood 37 47 48 30 Charles Willing 38 49 (19) Thomas Lawrence I 39 50 31 William Plumsted 40 51 32 Robert Strettell 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 Attwood Shute 46 59 60 34 Thomas Lawrence II 47 61 35 John Stamper 48 62 (26) Benjamin Shoemaker 49 63 36 Jacob Duché 50 64 37 Henry Harrison 51 65 38 Thomas Willing 52 66 (34) Thomas Lawrence II 53 67 39 John Lawrence 54 68 69 40 Isaac Jones 55 70 71 41 Samuel Shoemaker 56 72 73 42 John Gibson 57 74 75 43 William Fisher 58 76 44 Samuel Rhoads 59 77 45 Samuel Powel 60 78

Post-independence mayors elected by the common council MayorTerm startTerm endPartyMayorshipTerm (45) Samuel Powel Federalist 61 79 46 Samuel Miles Federalist 62 80 47 John Barclay Federalist 63 81 48 Matthew Clarkson Federalist 64 82 83 84 85 86 49 Hilary Baker Federalist 65 87 88 50 Robert Wharton Federalist 66 89 90 51 John Inskeep Federalist 67 91 52 Matthew Lawler Democratic-Republican 68 92 93 94 95 (51) John Inskeep Federalist 69 96 (50) Robert Wharton Federalist 70 97 98 53 John Barker Democratic-Republican 71 99 100 (50) Robert Wharton Federalist 72 101 54 Michael Keppele Democratic-Republican 73 102 (53) John Barker Democratic-Republican 74 103 55 John Geyer Democratic-Republican 75 104 (50) Robert Wharton Federalist 76 105 106 107 108 109 56 James N. Barker Democratic-Republican 77 110 (50) Robert Wharton Federalist 78 111 112 113 114 57 Joseph Watson NationalRepublican 79 115 116 117 118 58 George M. Dallas Democrat 80 119 59 Benjamin W. Richards Democratic 81 120 60 William Milnor NationalRepublican 82 121 (59) Benjamin W. Richards Democratic 83 122 123 61 John Swift Whig 84 124 125 126 127 128 129 62 Isaac Roach Democratic 85 130

Mayors chosen by popular election ImageMayorTerm startTerm endPartyMayorshipTerm (61) John Swift Whig 86 131 132 63 John M. Scott Whig 87 133 134 135 64 Peter McCall Whig 88 136 (61) John Swift Whig 89 137 138 139 140 65 Joel Jones Democratic 90 141 66 Charles Gilpin Whig 91 142 143 144 145

Mayors elected following the Act of Consolidation ImageMayorTerm startTerm endPartyMayorshipTerm 67 Robert T. Conrad Whig 92 146 68 Richard Vaux Democratic 93 147 69 Alexander Henry Republican 94 148 149 150 70 Morton McMichael Republican 95 151 71 Daniel M. Fox Democratic 96 152 72 William S. Stokley Republican 97 153 154 155 73 Samuel G. King Democratic 98 156 74 William B. Smith Republican 99 157 75 Edwin H. Fitler Republican 100 158 76 Edwin S. Stuart Republican 101 159 77 Charles F. Warwick Republican 102 160 78 Samuel H. Ashbridge Republican 103 161 79 John Weaver Republican 104 162 80 John E. Reyburn Republican 105 163 81 Rudolph Blankenburg Keystone 106 164 82 Thomas B. Smith Republican 107 165 83 J. Hampton Moore Republican 108 166 84 W. Freeland Kendrick Republican 109 167 85 Harry A. Mackey Republican 110 168 (83) J. Hampton Moore Republican 111 169 86 Samuel D. Wilson Republican 112 170 87 George Connell Republican 113 171 88 Robert E. Lamberton Republican 114 172 89 Bernard Samuel Republican 115 173 174 175

Mayors elected under the Home Rule Charter of 1951 ImageMayorTerm startTerm endPartyMayorshipTerm 90 Joseph S. Clark Jr. Democratic 116 176 91 Richardson Dilworth Democratic 117 177 178 92 James Tate Democratic 118 179 180 181 93 Frank Rizzo Democratic 119 182 183 94 William J. Green III Democratic 120 184 95 Wilson Goode Democratic 121 185 186 96 Ed Rendell Democratic 122 187 188 97 John F. Street Democratic 123 189 190 98 Michael Nutter Democratic 124 191 19299 Jim Kenney Democratic 125 193 194100 Cherelle Parker incumbent Democratic 126 195

Mayor of Philadelphia

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