The mayor of Chicago is the
chief executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of city
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, the
third-largest city in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and recommendations to the
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...
, is active in the enforcement of the city's ordinances, submits the city's annual budget and appoints city officers, department commissioners or directors, and members of city boards and commissions.
During sessions of the city council, the mayor serves as the presiding officer. The mayor is not allowed to vote on issues except in certain instances, most notably where the vote taken on a matter before the body results in a tie.
The office of mayor was created when Chicago became a city in 1837.
History
![William B Ogden by GPA Healy, 1855](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/William_B_Ogden_by_GPA_Healy%2C_1855.jpg)
The first mayor was
William Butler Ogden
William Butler Ogden (June 15, 1805 – August 3, 1877) was an American politician and railroad executive who served as the first Mayor of Chicago. He was referred to as "the Astor of Chicago." He was, at one time, the city's richest citizen ...
(1837–1838). Forty-five men and two women (
Jane Byrne
Jane Margaret Byrne (née Burke; May 24, 1933November 14, 2014) was an American politician who was the first woman to be elected mayor of a major city in the United States. She served as the 50th Mayor of Chicago from April 16, 1979, until April ...
, 1979–1983,
Lori Lightfoot
Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as ...
, 2019–), have held the office. Two sets of father and son have been elected Mayor of Chicago:
Carter Harrison, Sr.
Carter Henry Harrison Sr. (February 15, 1825October 28, 1893) was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1879 until 1887; he was subsequently elected to a fifth term in 1893 but was assassinated before completing t ...
(1893) and
Carter Harrison, Jr.
Carter Henry Harrison IV (April 23, 1860 – December 25, 1953) was an American newspaper publisher and Democratic politician who served a total of five terms as mayor of Chicago (1897–1905 and 1911–1915) but failed in his attempt to becom ...
(1897–1905, 1911–1915), as well as
Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
(1955–1976) and
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...
(1989–2011). Carter Harrison, Jr. was the first mayor to have been born in the city.
As an interim mayor,
David Duvall Orr
David Duvall Orr (born October 4, 1944) is an American Democratic politician who served as the Cook County Clerk from 1990 to 2018. Orr previously served as alderman for the 49th ward in Chicago City Council from 1979 to 1990. He briefly serve ...
had the shortest mayoral term. Richard M. Daley was elected six times becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, surpassing his father's record.
The first Irish Catholic mayor was
John Patrick Hopkins (1893–1895), and
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
(2011–2019) is the only Jewish American to have served as mayor.
Harold Washington
Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as may ...
(1983–1987) was the first African American mayor. Current Mayor Lightfoot (sworn in May 2019) is the city's first African American woman and first
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
mayor.
Appointment powers
The mayor appoints the commissioner of the
Chicago Fire Department, the superintendent of the
Chicago Police Department and the heads of other departments, the largest of which are the Water Management Department (formed by the consolidation of the former Water Department and Sewer Department under
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...
), and the Streets & Sanitation Department. The mayor also appoints members to the boards of several
special-purpose governmental bodies including
City Colleges of Chicago,
Chicago Park District
The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, several boat harbors, two botanic conservatorie ...
,
Chicago Public Library
The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the ...
,
Chicago Housing Authority
The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is a municipal corporation that oversees public housing within the city of Chicago. The agency's Board of Commissioners is appointed by the city's mayor, and has a budget independent from that of the city of ...
,
Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...
, and the
Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, commonly known as MPEA or McPier, is a corporation that owns Navy Pier and McCormick Place in Chicago. It also manages the city's collection of taxes for vehicles picking up passengers (including li ...
. Under
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...
, the
Illinois legislature
The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 18 ...
granted the mayor power to appoint the governing board and chief executive officer of the
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles.
...
and subordinated the district to the mayor; the district had long been an independent unit of government.
The
Chicago City Clerk
The City Clerk of Chicago is in charge of record-keeping for the city of Chicago and its elections. When the Chicago City Council is in session, the City Clerk serves as council secretary. This position is a citywide elected office, one of three ...
and
City Treasurer of Chicago
The City Treasurer of Chicago is an elected official of the City of Chicago.
Current Occupant
The current City Treasurer of Chicago is Democrat Melissa Conyears. Conyears was elected by Chicago citizens on April 2, 2019, and took the oath of ...
are elected separately, as are the 50 aldermen who form the city council. The mayor is empowered, however, to fill vacancies in any of these 52 elected offices by appointment. In turn, the city council elects one of its own to fill a mayoral vacancy.
By charter, Chicago has a "
weak-mayor" system, in which most of the power is vested in the city council. In practice, however, the mayor of Chicago has long been one of the most powerful municipal chief executives in the nation. Unlike in most other weak-mayor systems, the mayor has the power to draw up the budget. For most of the 20th century, before
the decline of patronage and the mayor's office becoming officially nonpartisan in 1999, the mayor was the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' leader of the city's Democratic Party, and had great influence over the ward organizations. Located in
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, "the fifth floor" is sometimes used as a
metonym
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.
Etymology
The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
for the office and power of the mayor.
Election and succession
The mayor of Chicago is elected by popular vote every four years, on the last Tuesday in February. A run-off election, in case no candidate garners more than fifty percent of the vote, is held on the first Tuesday in April. The election is held on a
non-partisan
Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party.
While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers s ...
basis. Chicago is the largest city in the United States not to
limit the term of service for its mayor.
In accordance with Illinois law,
the city council elects a vice mayor who serves as interim mayor in the event of a vacancy in the office of the mayor or the inability of the mayor to serve due to illness or injury, until the city council elects one of its members
acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad r ...
mayor or until the mayoral term expires.
As of May 2019, the current vice mayor is
Tom Tunney
Thomas M. Tunney (born August 22, 1955) is an American politician and entrepreneur from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2003, he has served as an alderman on the Chicago City Council. He represents the prominent 44th Ward of the city, which includes ma ...
.
However, if a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor with more than 28 months remaining in the mayoral term and at least 130 days before the next general municipal election, then a special election must be held to choose a new mayor to serve out the remainder of the term at that general municipal election; if a vacancy occurs with fewer than 28 months remaining in the mayoral term or fewer than 130 days before the next general municipal election, then the acting mayor serves as mayor until the mayoral term expires.
The order-of succession involving the vice mayor was made concrete following disputes that arose in the aftermath of the
death in office
A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations.
The dea ...
of
Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
, and was subsequently implemented following the death in office of
Harold Washington
Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as may ...
, which saw Vice Mayor
David Orr
David Duvall Orr (born October 4, 1944) is an American Democratic politician who served as the Cook County Clerk from 1990 to 2018. Orr previously served as alderman for the 49th ward in Chicago City Council from 1979 to 1990. He briefly served ...
become acting mayor.
Prior to this, the city had vague succession laws which indicated that the president pro tempore of the City Council would succeed as mayor. This was not followed after the death of Daley, and the city council appointed
Michael Bilandic acting mayor instead of having pro tempore
Wilson Frost
Wilson Lee Frost (December 27, 1925 – May 5, 2018) was an American politician and former Chicago, Illinois alderman, Frost served as alderman of the city's 21st (1967–1971) and 34th wards (1971–1987), totaling twenty years in Chicago's City ...
become mayor,
due to City Corporation Counsel
William R. Quinlan
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...
ruling that, since the city did not have a statute specifically outlining succession, the City Council would need to elect the interim mayor.
[Harold, the People's Mayor: The Biography of Harold Washington by Dempsey Travis, Agate Publishing, Dec 12, 2017]
Six instances have seen the City Council appoint either an acting mayor, acting mayor pro tempore, or interim mayor.
In the absence of the mayor during meetings of the city council, the president pro tempore of the city council, who is a member of and elected by the city council, acts as presiding officer. Unlike the mayor, the president pro tempore can vote on all legislative matters. If neither the mayor nor pro tempore can preside, the vice mayor presides.
List of mayors
![Lori Lightfoot at MacLean Center (10a)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Lori_Lightfoot_at_MacLean_Center_%2810a%29.png)
Between 1833 and 1837, Chicago was incorporated as a town and headed by town presidents. Since 1837, it has been incorporated as a city and headed by mayors.
The mayoral term in Chicago was one year from 1837 through 1863, when it was changed to two years. In 1907, it was changed again, this time to four years. Until 1861, municipal elections were held in March. In that year, legislation moved them to April. In 1869, however, election day was changed to November, and terms expiring in April of that year were changed. In 1875, election day was moved back to April by the city's vote to operate under the
Cities and Villages Act of 1872.
† Died/murdered in office.
1 Since 1999, mayoral elections have officially been nonpartisan. A 1995 Illinois law stipulated that "candidates for mayor ... no longer would run under party labels in Chicago". However, Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot are known to be Democrats.
Living former mayors
As of 2018, three former mayors of Chicago are still living, the oldest of whom is
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...
. The most recent former mayor to die was
Jane Byrne
Jane Margaret Byrne (née Burke; May 24, 1933November 14, 2014) was an American politician who was the first woman to be elected mayor of a major city in the United States. She served as the 50th Mayor of Chicago from April 16, 1979, until April ...
(1979–1983), on November 14, 2014.
Vice mayor
In accordance with Illinois law, the city council elects a vice mayor who serves as interim mayor in the event of a vacancy in the office of the mayor or the inability of the mayor to serve due to illness or injury, until the city council elects one of its members
acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad r ...
mayor or until the mayoral term expires. The current vice mayor is
Tom Tunney
Thomas M. Tunney (born August 22, 1955) is an American politician and entrepreneur from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2003, he has served as an alderman on the Chicago City Council. He represents the prominent 44th Ward of the city, which includes ma ...
.
[
The position was created by state law after the power struggle following ]Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
's death in office
A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations.
The dea ...
.
The position is considered to be largely ceremonial.
If neither the mayor nor president pro tempore can preside over a City Council meeting, then the vice mayor presides.[
]
List of vice mayors
See also
* Law and government of Chicago
The government of the City of Chicago, Illinois, United States is divided into executive and legislative branches. The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive, elected by general election for a term of four years, with no term limits. The mayor ...
* Timeline of Chicago history
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Prior to 19th century
* 1673: French-Canadian explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet, on their way to Québec, pass through the area that w ...
References
Further reading
* Banfield, Edward C. ''Political Influence'' (1961), covers major public issues 1957 to 1958 in Chicago
* Becker, Richard Edward. "Edward Dunn, Reform Mayor Of Chicago: 1905-1907" (PhD dissertation, The University of Chicago; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1971.T-22350).
* Bennett, Larry. “The Mayor among His Peers: Interpreting Richard M. Daley.” in ''The City, Revisited: Urban Theory from Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York'', ed. by Dennis R. Judd and Dick Simpson, (2011), pp. 242–72
online
* Biles, Roger. ''Mayor Harold Washington: Champion of Race and Reform in Chicago'' (U of Illinois Press, 2018)
online
* Biles, Roger. ''Big City Boss in Depression and War: Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago'' (1984).
** Biles, William Roger. "Mayor Edward J. Kelly Of Chicago: Big City Boss in Depression and War" (Phd Dissertation, University Of Illinois at Chicago. Proquest Dissertations Publishing, 1981 .8120559).
* Bradley, Donald S., and Mayer N. Zald. "From commercial elite to political administrator: The recruitment of the mayors of Chicago." ''American Journal of Sociology'' 71.2 (1965): 153-167
online
* Bradley, Donald S. ''The historical trends of the political elites and metropolitan Central City: the Chicago mayors'' (1963)
* Bukowski, Douglas. '' Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image'' (1998)
* Bukowski, Douglas. "William Dever and Prohibition: The mayoral election of 1923 and 1927" ''Chicago History'' 7#2 (1978) pp. 109-118
* Byrne, Jane. ''My Chicago'' (Northwestern University Press, 2004), a primary source.
* Carl, Jim. " '‘Good Politics Is Good Government': The Troubling History of Mayoral Control of the Public Schools in Twentieth‐Century Chicago." ''American Journal of Education'' 115#2, 2009, pp. 305–36
online
* Cohen, Adam, and Elizabeth Taylor. ''American pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley, his battle for Chicago and the nation'' (2001)
online review
also se
excerpt
* Fehrenbacher, Don E. “Lincoln and the Mayor of Chicago.” ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'' 40#4 (1957), pp. 237–44
online
on Long John Wentworth
John Wentworth (March 5, 1815 – October 16, 1888), nicknamed Long John, was the editor of the ''Chicago Democrat,'' publisher of an extensive Wentworth family genealogy, a two-term mayor of Chicago, and a six-term member of the United States H ...
* Gottfried, Alex. ''Boss Cermak of Chicago: A Study of Political Leadership'' (U of Washington Press, 1962).
* Green, Paul M., and Holli, Melvin G. ''The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition'' (4th ed. 2013), scholarly biographie
excerpt
covers Medill, Harrison II, Dunne, Busse, Thompson, Dever, Cermak, Kelly, Kennelly, both Daleys, Bilandic, Byrne, Washington, and Emanuel.
* Harrison, Carter Henry. ''Stormy Years: The Autobiography of Carter H. Harrison, Five Times Mayor of Chicago'' (1935), a primary source.
* Johnson, Claudius O. ''Carter Henry Harrison I: Political Leader'' (1928
online
* Jones, Gene Delon. "The Origin of the Alliance Between the New Deal and the Chicago Machine." ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'' 67 (1974) pp 253-274.
* Kleppner, Paul. ''Chicago Divided: The Making of a Black Mayor'' (1985)
* Lydersen, Kari. ''Mayor 1%: Rahm Emanuel and the Rise of Chicago's 99%'' ( Haymarket Books, 2013).
* Koeneman, Keith. ''First Son: The Biography of Richard M. Daley'' (University of Chicago Press, 2013).
* McCarthy, Michael P. "Prelude to Armageddon: Charles E. Merriam and the Chicago Mayoral Election of 1911." ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'' 67#5 (1974), pp. 505–18
online
* Marshall, Jon, and Matthew Connor. "Divided Loyalties: The ''Chicago Defender'' and Harold Washington’s Campaign for Mayor of Chicago." ''American Journalism'' 36.4 (2019): 447-472.
* Morton, Richard Allen. ''Justice and Humanity: Edward F. Dunne, Illinois Progressive.'' (SIU Press, 1997).
** Morton, Richard Allen. "Justice and humanity: The politics of Edward F. Dunne' (PhD dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1988. 8823207). Mayor 1905 to 1907
* O'Malley, Peter Joseph. "Mayor Martin H. Kennelly of Chicago: A Political Biography" (PhD dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1980. 8023247).
* Preston, Michael B. “The Election of Harold Washington: Black Voting Patterns in the 1983 Chicago Mayoral Race.” ''PS'' 16#3 1983, pp. 486–88
online
* Rex, Frederick. ''The mayors of the city of Chicago from 1837 to 1933'' (1947).
* Schottenhamel, George. "How Big Bill Thompson Won Control of Chicago." ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'' 45.1 (1952): 30-49
online
* Schmidt, John R. ''The Mayor Who Cleaned up Chicago: A Political Biography of William E. Dever'' (1989)
* Shipps, Dorothy. “Updating Tradition: The Institutional Underpinnings of Modern Mayoral Control in Chicago’s Public Schools.” in ''When Mayors Take Charge: School Governance in the City,'' edited by Joseph P. Viteritti, (Brookings Institution Press, 2009), pp. 117–47
online
* Simpson, Dick. ''The Good Fight: Life Lessons from a Chicago Progressive'' (2017), a primary source
excerpt
* Simpson, Dick. ''Rogues, Rebels, and Rubber Stamps: The Politics of the Chicago City Council, 1863 to the Present''. (2018)
* Simpson, Dick, Melissa Mouritsen, and Betty O’Shaughnessy. "Chicago: The Election of Rahm Emanuel." in ''Local Politics and Mayoral Elections in 21st Century America'' (Routledge, 2014) pp. 99-115.
* Spirou, Costas. ''Building the City of Spectacle: Mayor Richard M. Daley and the Remaking of Chicago'' (Cornell UP, 2016
online
* Tompkins, C. David. "John Peter Altgeld as a Candidate for Mayor of Chicago in 1899." ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'' 56.4 (1963): 654-676
online
* Wendt, Lloyd and Herman Kogan. ''Big Bill of Chicago'' (1953) Popular biography of Big Bill Thompso
online
* Zald, Mayer N., and Thomas A. Anderson. "Secular Trends and Historical Contingencies in the Recruitment of Mayors: Nashville as Compared to New Haven and Chicago." ''Urban Affairs Quarterly'' 3#4 (1968): 53-68.
External links
"History of Chicago's mayoral office" from Ballotpedia
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayor Of Chicago
1837 establishments in Illinois
Government of Chicago
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
*