Stephen May (July 30, 1931 – March 31, 2016) was an American lawyer who served as mayor of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

between 1970 and 1973 and as an assistant secretary for

congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

relations at the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

in the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...

. He is to date the last Republican mayor of Rochester.

Biography

Born in Rochester, New York, on July 30, 1931, May attended

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, obtaining a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

from the latter. He served with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. From 1969 to 1981 he was with the law firm of Branch, Turner and Wise in Rochester, New York. May has served the ''Empire State Report'' magazine as chairman of the board. As of 2007, May maintained dual residences in Washington, D.C. and mid-coast Maine and occupied his time as a writer and art critic. May died on March 31, 2016, at

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

in Washington, due to complications from an operation undergone the previous month.

Political service

May was a member of the Rochester City Council between 1966 and 1973 and appointed 62nd Mayor of Rochester by his City Council peers in 1970 until he stepped down after the 1973 election returned a Democratic majority to office. Subsequently, between 1975 and 1979 he served as commissioner and chairman of the New York State Board of Elections. In 1978, he also served as a member of the Republican State Platform Committee. May's other political services have included standing as vice president of the New York State Conference of Mayors, as chairman of the Committee on Housing, and as a member of the White House Conference on Aging. In 1974, May ran unsuccessfully for NYS Comptroller as a Republican. His statewide youth coordinator

Bruce Blakeman Bruce Arthur Blakeman (born October 2, 1955) is an American attorney and politician currently serving as the 10th County Executive of Nassau County, New York. He was elected in the 2021 election, defeating Democratic incumbent Laura Curran. He ...

would also run unsuccessfully for State Comptroller as a Republican 24 years later in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Stephen 1931 births 2016 deaths Wesleyan University alumni Mayors of Rochester, New York Georgetown University Law Center alumni New York (state) lawyers New York (state) Republicans Politicians from Washington, D.C. United States Assistant Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development Lawyers from Rochester, New York 20th-century American lawyers