List of elected socialist mayors in the United States

Updated on Dec 08, 2023

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The following is a list of mayors who have declared themselves to be socialists or have been a member of a socialist party in the United States.

In 1911 it was estimated there were twenty-eight such mayors and in 1913 thirty-four. In 1967, however, James Weinstein's table of "Cities and Towns Electing Socialist Mayors or Other Major Municipal Officers, 1911–1920" counted 74 such municipalities in 1911 and 32 in 1913, with smaller peaks in 1915 (22) and 1917 (18).

Notes

I^ Barewald resigned from the Socialist Party during the first week of January 1921 and captured national headlines by declaring radicals "insane" and instructing local police to greet unwanted members of the Industrial Workers of the World with "hot lead." See: "Wants Town Rid of IWW: Mayor Barewald Advises Use of Riot Guns," Eugene Morning Register, Jan. 9, 1921, pg. 1.

II^ Ran for the Rockford Progressive Party, which was formed by dissidents of the Rockford Labor Party in 1929.

III^ Clavelle became a member of the Democratic Party in 2004.

IV^ Chase and Coulter were both elected mayor for the Social Democratic Party, but the party later merged itself with a dissident faction of the Socialist Labor Party in 1901 and founded the Socialist Party of America.

V^ His name is alternatively spelled Lewis J. Duncan.

VI^ Was running for the Rockford Labor Legion from 1921–1927, in 1929 the Labor Party refused to nominate him on the grounds that he had moved from some of the party's principles. He ran as an independent from 1929-33.

The Rockford Labor Legion was a coalition of local trade unions, socialist organizations and temperance societies.

VII^ Sanders has self-declared himself to be a democratic socialist.

VIII^ Van Lear was expelled from the Socialist Party in 1918

References

List of elected socialist mayors in the United States Wikipedia

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