James H. Suttle (born June 13, 1944) is an American corporate executive, engineer, and politician who served as the 50th mayor of

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

from 2009 to 2013.

Early career

Suttle attended

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

, graduating with his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in civil engineering. He worked for Henningson, Durham & Richardson, an

-based engineering firm until 1981, when newly elected Mayor

Mike Boyle Michael David Boyle (January 19, 1944 – September 10, 2021) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Nebraska who served as mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha and later as a member of the Douglas County, Nebra ...

appointed him as the city's public works director. He served as public works director until 1987, when he returned to HDR.

City Council

In 2005, Suttle announced that he would challenge City Councilman Marc Kraft, a Republican, in the 1st district, which was based in the neighborhoods of Benson,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. Suttle, a Democrat, challenged Kraft, a Republican, along with Republican businessman Rick Bettger. In the primary election, Suttle placed first with 39% of the vote, leading Kraft, who won 36%, and Bettger, who won 24%. In the general election, Suttle narrowly defeated Kraft, winning 53% of the vote to Kraft's 46%.

Mayor of Omaha

When Mayor Mike Fahey announced that he would not seek re-election in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, Suttle ran to succeed him, running against Hal Daub, the former Mayor and a former member of Congress, and fellow City Councilman Jim Vokal. At the primary election, Daub and Suttle placed first and second, winning 33% and 32% of the vote, respectively. In the general election, despite Daub's higher name recognition, Suttle narrowly defeated him, winning 50% of the vote to Daub's 48%. In fall of 2010, shortly into Suttle's second year in office, an opposition campaign organized a recall campaign against him, citing his decision to raise taxes during a recession. The organizers ultimately gathered enough signatures to place a recall election on the ballot in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Suttle narrowly defeated the recall, with voters opposed to the recall outvoting supporters with 51% of the vote. Suttle ran for re-election in 2013, and faced several prominent challengers, including City Councilwoman Jean Stothert, businessman Dave Nabity, State Senator Brad Ashford, and former City Councilman Dan Welch. Suttle placed a distant second in the primary election, winning 24% of the vote to Stothert's 32%. At the ensuing general election, Suttle was defeated in a landslide, winning just 43% of the vote to Stothert's 57%.

References

External links

Jim Suttle for Mayor website (circa 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suttle, Jim 21st-century mayors of places in Nebraska Nebraska Democrats Omaha City Council members Mayors of Omaha, Nebraska Living people 1944 births People from Morrison, Colorado West Virginia University alumni