William A. Cocke was the third 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...

. His term of office was from 1836 to 1837, as mayors were then elected to one-year terms. Little is known of his early life. He was elected to the City Council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

 in 1834, and from 1838 to 1843. Previously mayors had been selected by the governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

, Cocke was the first to be elected by the City Council. This was problematic, and took three weeks before a conclusive vote was reached.

He ran in another convoluted election in 1841, this time voted on by citizens. He won it initially, but his opponent, James Harrison, successfully called for a new vote, and both were defeated by David L. Beatty

David L. Beatty

David L. Beatty was the fifth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky serving from 1841 to 1844. He was born to early settlers in Bourbon County, Kentucky and raised by his grandparents in Jefferson County, Kentucky. At 17 he moved to Louisville to work as a machinist, and was an iron foundry foreman 3...

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