The Mayor of Indianapolis is the head of the executive branch of the consolidated city-county government of Indianapolis and Marion County. As the chief executive, the mayor has the duty to oversee city-county government's various departments, agencies, and municipal corporations. They also have the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the

Indianapolis City-County Council The City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County is the legislative body of the combined government of the city of Indianapolis and the county of Marion in the state of Indiana. The council was established as part of the consolidation o ...

, the legislative branch. The mayor serves a four-year term and has no limit to the number of terms they may serve. As of 2016, the mayor was paid an annual salary of $95,317.60. The Mayor's Office is on the twenty-fifth floor of the City-County Building.

Elections

The mayor of Indianapolis is elected every four years; elections take place one year before

United States presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not dir ...

s on election day in November. The mayor is usually sworn in at noon on January 1 following the election. The next election for the mayor will be in 2023. Indianapolis city elections are partisan, with party affiliations listed alongside candidates' names on the ballot.

Primary elections Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

are held on the first Tuesday of May in a mayoral election year. Candidates for mayor secure their party's nominations to campaign in the general election, held on Election Day the following November.

Lists

To date, 43 individuals have served as mayor. There have been 49 mayoralties due to six individuals who served nonconsecutive terms. John Caven, Caleb S. Denny, Charles A. Bookwalter, Samuel L. Shank,

Reginald H. Sullivan Reginald H. Sullivan (March 10, 1876 – January 30, 1980) was the 30th and 33rd mayor of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is among the longest-lived Americans to ever be a mayor of any city. He came from a political family with his fathe ...

, and Philip L. Bayt served two nonconsecutive terms each. The longest term was that of William "Bill" Hudnut, who served four consecutive terms for 16 years. The shortest term was that of Claude E. Negley, who served 13 days.

Pre-Unigov

Unigov

Unigov Unigov is the colloquial name adopted by the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, to describe its consolidated city–county government. By an act of the Indiana General Assembly, Indianapolis consolidated with the government of Marion County in 197 ...

, the

city-county consolidation In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county ( parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it has the governmental powers ...

of Indianapolis and Marion County governments, was enacted on January 1, 1970, exactly two years into Richard Lugar's first term as mayor. The new governance structure, codified in

Indiana Code The Indiana Code is the code of laws for the U.S. state of Indiana. The contents are the codification of all the laws currently in effect within Indiana. With roots going all the way back to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the laws of Indiana h ...

, mandates that the Mayor of Indianapolis is the chief executive of both the city and Marion County. Due to this structure, all Marion County residents are permitted to vote for the Mayor of Indianapolis, regardless if they live within the city or an excluded city or town. For example, residents of Beech Grove, which is an entirely independent municipality in Marion County, have the ability to vote for the Mayor of Indianapolis as well as their own mayor.

Living former mayors

, three former mayors are alive, the oldest being

Stephen Goldsmith Stephen "Steve" Goldsmith (born December 12, 1946) is an American politician and writer who was the 46th mayor of Indianapolis. He also served as the deputy mayor of New York City for operations from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Republican P ...

(1992–2000; born 1946). The most recent mayor to die is Richard Lugar (1968–1976; born 1932), on April 28, 2019.

Notes

External links

Official site
{{Mayors of Indianapolis Mayors Indianapolis 1847 establishments in Indiana