Inaugural holder Josiah Belden Website [1] | Formation 1850 | |
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Term length Four years, renewable once | ||
The Mayor of San Jose is the head of the government of the city of San Jose, California,the tenth-largest city in the United States. The mayor presides over the San Jose City Council, which is composed of 11 voting members, including the mayor. While the mayor is the head of the city council, he or she has no veto powers over legislation passed by the Council, as the city uses a council-manager form of government. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms.
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There are 65 people who have served as San Jose's mayor. The current mayor is Democrat Sam Liccardo, who took office in January 2015 and was elected with 50.76% of the popular vote.
Popularly elected mayors (1967-present)
Since 1967, San Jose has elected its mayors by a popular vote. Due to state laws regarding primary elections, political parties cannot nominate candidates for mayor, although candidates often choose to identify with a party. All registered candidates, regardless of party affiliation, compete in an vote held in June of the election year. If no person gets over 50% of the popular vote, the top two candidates automatically move to a runoff election.
All elected mayors of San Jose have been members of the Democratic Party. The first elected mayor was Ron James and the first female mayor was Janet Gray Hayes.
Council-elected mayors (1850-1967)
Before 1967, mayors of San Jose were nominated and elected by the San Jose City Council.
- Josiah Belden 1850–1851
- Thomas White 1851–1854
- O. H. Allen 1854–1855
- Sherman Otis Houghton 1855–1856
- Lawrence Archer 1856
- John M. Murphy 1856
- George Givens 1856–1857
- Ranson G. Moody 1857–1858
- Peter O. Minor 1858–1859
- Thomas Fallon 1859–1860
- Richard B. Buckner 1860–1861
- Joseph W. Johnson 1861–1863
- John Alonzo Quinby 1863–1868
- Mark Leavenworth 1868–1870
- Adolph Pfister 1870–1873
- Bernard D. Murphy 1873–1877
- George B. McKee 1877–1878
- Lawrence Archer 1878–1880
- Bernard D. Murphy 1880–1882
- Charles J. Martin 1882–1884
- Campbell Thompson Settle 1884–1886
- Charles W. Breyfogle 1886–1887
- Samuel Watson Boring 1887–1890
- Samuel N. Rucker 1890–1894
- Paul P. Austin 1894–1896
- Valentine Koch 1896–1898
- Charles J. Martin 1898–1902
- George D. Worswick 1902–1906
- Henry D. Mathews 1906–1908
- Charles W. Davison 1908–1910
- Thomas Monahan 1910–1914
- Fred R. Husted 1914–1916
- Elmer E. Chase 1916–1918 1
- Charles M. O'Brian 1918–1920
- Albert C. Jayet 1920–1922
- M. E. Arnerich 1922–1924
- Joseph T. Brooks 1924–1926
- Dan W. Gray 1926–1928
- Fred Doerr 1928–1930
- W. L. Biebrach 1930–1932
- A. M. Meyer 1932–1934
- Charles Bishop 1934–1936
- Richard French 1936–1938
- Clyde L. Fischer 1938–1940
- Harry Young 1940–1944
- Earl Campbell 1944–1945
- Ernest E. Renzel 1945–1946
- Albert J. Ruffo 1946–1948
- Fred Watson 1948–1950
- Clark L. Bradley 1950–1952
- Parker Hathaway 1952–1954
- George Starbird 1954–1956
- Robert Doerr 1956–1958
- Louis Solari 1958–1960
- Paul Moore 1960–1962
- Robert Welch 1962–1964
- Joseph L. Pace 1964–1967
Other offices held
Many mayors of San Jose have either served in other public offices or been influential in the private sector following their tenures. Norman Y. Mineta subsequently became a congressman, U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Secretary of Transportation. After his terms, Tom McEnery has served on the Board of Directors of the San Jose Sharks and founded the Irish Innovation Center and Silicon Valley Global, two downtown-based groups that fund and house Silicon Valley startups.
The following is a list of statewide or federal public offices held by mayors before or after their term(s).