The Mayor of Jacksonville is the chief executive for the city of Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States. Jacksonville currently utilizes the strong mayor form of government, in which the mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 has significant powers compared to the Jacksonville City Council

Jacksonville City Council

The Jacksonville City Council is the legislative governing body of the city of Jacksonville, Florida.-Composition:The Jacksonville City Council is composed of nineteen members who are elected to four-year terms and serve as part-time legislators...

. Since the consolidation

Jacksonville Consolidation

The Jacksonville Consolidation was the city-county consolidation of the governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida. It was effected on October 1, 1968.-Background:...

 of Jacksonville with the Duval County

Duval County, Florida

Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 864,263. Its county seat is Jacksonville, with which the Duval County government has been consolidated since 1968...

 government in 1968, the mayor is the administrator over the entire county. The current holder of the position is Alvin Brown

Alvin Brown (politician)

Alvin Brown is an American politician who is currently Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida. The first African American elected to the position, he succeeded John Peyton on July 1, 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Life and career:...

.

History

The first mayor of Jacksonville, William J. Mills, was elected in 1832. A new city charter in 1841 changed the titled to "Intendant" until 1859 when it was changed back to mayor. The information on mayors of Jacksonville from 1832 to 1848 is limited, mostly due to the Great Fire of 1901

Great Fire of 1901

The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the Southeast. It was similar in scale and destruction to the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.-Origin:...

 which destroyed some of the city's records. Most of the information available today was taken from newspapers published during the period.

There was no election for mayor in 1840, nor during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in 1862, 1863, and 1864. During the Reconstruction era, mayoral elections resumed but the position had no real power, with the city being administered by the United States Military. There is no set amount of time in which one person can stay as mayor, but it is up to the individual to financially support his or her own campaign.

On May 31, 1887, the city instituted a new charter, annexing several suburbs, including LaVilla, Springfield

Springfield, Jacksonville, Florida

Springfield is a historic neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida, located to the north of downtown. Established in 1869, it experienced its greatest growth from the early 1880s through the 1920s...

, Riverside, Brooklyn, East Jacksonville, and Fairfield. The mayor's term of office was also increased from one year to two. The mayor serving at the time, J. Q. Burbridge, had been elected on April 8 of that year, but the new charter required a new election to be held. On December 13, 1887 another election was held and C. B. Smith, a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, won with support from members of the city's large African American community. After this, local Democrats

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...

 petitioned the Florida State Legislature to change the city charter once again in an effort to curb Republican and black participation in local politics. The result was that direct election of mayors in the city was abolished from 1889 until 1893. Mayors during this period were elected by the city council, who were appointed by the Governor of Florida.

The city's charter changed several times over the next several decades, and additional areas were annexed, expanding the city limits. The biggest change to local government, however, was the Jacksonville Consolidation

Jacksonville Consolidation

The Jacksonville Consolidation was the city-county consolidation of the governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida. It was effected on October 1, 1968.-Background:...

, which took effect on October 1, 1968. In this measure, the Duval County

Duval County, Florida

Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 864,263. Its county seat is Jacksonville, with which the Duval County government has been consolidated since 1968...

 and City of Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

 governments were consolidated

Consolidated city-county

In United States local government, a consolidated city–county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state...

, expanding the city limits to include almost the entire county. Mayor Hans Tanzler

Hans Tanzler

Hans Gearhart Tanzler, Jr. is a former American politician and judge. He served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1967 to 1979. During his administration, the City of Jacksonville consolidated with Duval County, making him the last mayor of the old city government and the first mayor of a...

 had just taken office on June 23, 1967; however, consolidation meant that he would have to run again for the office of mayor for the newly consolidated city government. Tanzler was re-elected and took office on March 1, 1968. Since that time mayors have been elected every four years.

Pre-Civil War mayors

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office
1	William J. Mills	1832	1835
2	Unknown	1835	1838
3	Stephen Eddy	1839	1840
4	None	1840	1841

Intendant period

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office
1	Unknown	1841	1844
2	Obediah Congar	1844	1845
3	Unknown	1845	1846
4	Joseph B. Lancaster Joseph B. Lancaster Joseph Bradford Lancaster was an American lawyer and a Whig politician who served on the Florida Supreme Court from 1848 to 1850. An important figure in Florida law and politics, he was the last justice under the system in which the circuit court judges served also on the supreme court...	1846	1847
5	Oliver Wood	1847	1848
6	Unknown	1848	1849
7	Rodney Dorman	1849	1850
8	J. McRobert Baker	1850	1851
9	Rodney Dorman	1851	1852
10	Henry D. Holland	1852	1853
11	Isaac Swart	1853	1854
12	F. C. Barrett	1854	1855
13	Philip Frazer	1855	1856
14	F. I. Wheaton	1856	1857
15	George C. Gibbs	1856	1857
16	John S. Murdock	1858	1859

Pre-Civil War Mayors revived

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office
1	Holmes Steele	1859	1860
2	Halstead H. Hoeg	1861	1862

There were no elections held in 1862, 1863, and 1864.

Pre-consolidation mayors

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	Halstead H. Hoeg	1865	1866	Democrat
2	Holmes Steele	1866	1867	Democrat
3	John Clark	1867	1868	Democrat
4	Edward Hopkins	1868	1870	Democrat
5	Peter Jones	1870	1873	Republican
6	J. C. Greeley	1873	1874	Republican
7	Peter Jones	1874	1876	Republican
8	Luther McConihe	1876	1877	Democrat
9	W. Stokes Boyd	1877	1878	Democrat
10	Luther McConihe	1878	1879	Democrat
11	Peter Jones	1879	1880	Republican
12	J. Ramsey Dey	1880	1881	Republican
13	Morris A. Dzialynski	1881	1883	Democrat
14	W. McClaws Dan	1883	1885	Democrat
15	M.C. Rice	1885	1886	Democrat
16	Patrick McQuaid	1886	1887	Democrat
17	J.Q. Burbridge	1887	1887	Democrat
18	C.B. Smith	1887	1888	Republican
19	Patrick McQuaid	1888	1891	Democrat
20	Henry Robinson	1891	1893	Democrat
21	Duncan U. Fletcher Duncan U. Fletcher Duncan Upshaw Fletcher was an American lawyer and politician of the Democratic Party. Senator Fletcher was the longest serving U.S. Senator in Florida's history.-Early life and career:...	1893	1895	Democrat
22	William M. Bostwick	1895	1897	Democrat
23	William D. Knight	1897	1899	Democrat
24	J. E. T. Bowden	1899	1901	Democrat
25	Duncan U. Fletcher Duncan U. Fletcher Duncan Upshaw Fletcher was an American lawyer and politician of the Democratic Party. Senator Fletcher was the longest serving U.S. Senator in Florida's history.-Early life and career:...	1901	1903	Democrat
26	George M. Nolan	1903	1906	Democrat
27	William H. Baker	1906	1907	Democrat
28	William H. Sebring	1907	1909	Democrat
29	William S. Jordan	1909	1913	Democrat
30	Van C. Swearingen	1913	1915	Democrat
31	J. E. T. Bowden	1915	1917	Democrat
32	John W. Martin John W. Martin John Wellborn Martin was an American politician. He was the 24th Governor of Florida, serving from 1925 to 1929. He also served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1917 to 1923.-Life:...	1917	1923	Democrat
32	John T. Alsop, Jr.	1923	1937	Democrat
32	George C. Blume	1937	1941	Democrat
33	John T. Alsop, Jr.	1941	1945	Democrat
34	Frank Whitehead Frank Whitehead (mayor) C. Frank Whitehead was an American politician. He served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1945 to 1949. He was a member of the Democratic Party.Whitehead ran for Mayor of Jacksonville in 1945. He defeated incumbent John T...	1945	1949	Democrat
35	W. Haydon Burns W. Haydon Burns William Haydon Burns was the 35th Governor of Florida from 1965 to 1967. He was also Mayor of the city of Jacksonville, Florida from 1949 to 1965.-Early life:...	1949	1965	Democrat
36	Lou Ritter Lou Ritter Louis Hampton "Lou" Ritter was an American politician and lobbyist. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1965 until 1967. A Democrat, he assumed office when W. Haydon Burns, mayor since 1949, resigned to become Governor of Florida...	1965	1967	Democrat
37	Hans Tanzler Hans Tanzler Hans Gearhart Tanzler, Jr. is a former American politician and judge. He served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1967 to 1979. During his administration, the City of Jacksonville consolidated with Duval County, making him the last mayor of the old city government and the first mayor of a...	1967	1968	Democrat

Consolidated city mayors

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	Hans Tanzler Hans Tanzler Hans Gearhart Tanzler, Jr. is a former American politician and judge. He served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1967 to 1979. During his administration, the City of Jacksonville consolidated with Duval County, making him the last mayor of the old city government and the first mayor of a...	March 1, 1968	July 1, 1979	Democrat
2	Jake Godbold Jake Godbold Jake Maurice Godbold is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1978–1987....	July 1, 1979	July 1, 1987	Democrat
3	Tommy Hazouri Tommy Hazouri Tommy Hazouri is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He represents Duval County School District 7 in the Duval County School Board, and previously served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida and as a member of the Florida House of Representatives .-Early life:Hazouri was born and raised...	July 1, 1987	July 1, 1991	Democrat
4	Ed Austin, Jr. Ed Austin T. Edward "Ed" Austin, Jr. was an American politician and attorney. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the first Public Defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit from 1963 to 1968, and served as State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit from...	July 1, 1991	July 1, 1995	Democrat / Republican
5	John A. Delaney John Delaney John Adrian Delaney is an American lawyer, politician and university administrator. He currently serves as the president of the University of North Florida. A member of the Republican Party, he served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1995 to 2003...	July 1, 1995	July 1, 2003	Republican
6	John Peyton John Peyton (US politician) John Stephens Peyton is an American businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 2003 to 2011. He was the second Republican to be elected to the position since 1888....	July 1, 2003	July 1, 2011	Republican
7	Alvin Brown Alvin Brown (politician) Alvin Brown is an American politician who is currently Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida. The first African American elected to the position, he succeeded John Peyton on July 1, 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Life and career:...	July 1, 2011	Current	Democrat