Joseph H. Bunce was the eighteenth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 from 1869 to 1870. He was a steamboat

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 captain

Captain (nautical)

A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...

 until the mid-1860s, when he founded a wholesale grocery firm. Typical of Louisville steamboat captains, he lived with his family in the Portland

Portland, Louisville

Portland is a neighborhood and former independent town two miles northwest of downtown Louisville, Kentucky. In its early days it was the largest of the six major settlements at the Falls of the Ohio River, the others being Shippingport and Louisville in Kentucky and New Albany, Clarksville, and...

 district.

A Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, he ran against future mayor John G. Baxter

John G. Baxter

John George Baxter Jr. was the nineteenth and twenty-first mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1870 to 1872 and from 1879 to 1881, respectively...

 and police chief Robert Gilchriest in 1869. Despite not being endorsed by the democratic party or The Courier-Journal

The Courier-Journal

The Courier-Journal, locally called "The C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.- Origins :The...

, Bunce won by 300 votes over Baxter.

He was elected to a two year term, but the city charter was changed in 1870 to allow for a three-year term and Bunce chose to run again for a new term, and was defeated this time by Baxter.