Knowledge Base Wiki

Mayor of the City of San José
Seal of San José
Flag of San Jose
Incumbent Matt Mahan since January 1, 2023
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Josiah Belden
Formation	1850
Website	Office of the Mayor

The Mayor of San Jose, officially the Mayor of the City of San José, is executive of the Government of the City of San Jose, California in the United States.

The mayor presides over the San Jose City Council, which is composed of 11 voting members, including the mayor. While the mayor is the head of the city council, they have no veto powers over legislation passed by the Council, as the city uses a council-manager form of government. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms.

65 people have served as mayor in San Jose since 1850, when California became a state following the American Conquest of California. Before the conquest, Californios served as Mayor of San Jose during the Spanish and Mexican eras since 1777. The current mayor is Democrat Matt Mahan, who took office in January 2023.

Before 1967, mayors of San Jose were nominated and elected by the San Jose City Council.^[1]

1. Josiah Belden 1850–1851
2. Thomas White 1851–1854
3. O. H. Allen 1854–1855
4. Sherman Otis Houghton 1855–1856
5. Lawrence Archer 1856
6. John M. Murphy 1856
7. George Givens 1856–1857
8. Ranson G. Moody 1857–1858
9. Peter O. Minor 1858–1859
10. Thomas Fallon 1859–1860
11. Richard B. Buckner 1860–1861
12. Joseph W. Johnson 1861–1863
13. John Alonzo Quinby 1863–1868
14. Mark Leavenworth 1868–1870
15. Adolph Pfister 1870–1873
16. Bernard D. Murphy 1873–1877
17. George B. McKee 1877–1878
18. Lawrence Archer 1878–1880
19. Bernard D. Murphy 1880–1882
20. Charles J. Martin 1882–1884
21. Campbell Thompson Settle 1884–1886
22. Charles W. Breyfogle 1886–1887
23. Samuel Watson Boring 1887–1890
24. Samuel N. Rucker 1890–1894
25. Paul P. Austin 1894–1896
26. Valentine Koch 1896–1898
27. Charles J. Martin 1898–1902
28. George D. Worswick 1902–1906
29. Henry D. Mathews 1906–1908
30. Charles W. Davison 1908–1910
31. Thomas Monahan 1910–1914
32. Fred R. Husted 1914–1916
33. Elmer E. Chase 1916–1918 ¹
34. Charles M. O'Brian 1918–1920
35. Albert C. Jayet 1920–1922
36. M. E. Arnerich 1922–1924
37. Joseph T. Brooks 1924–1926
38. Dan W. Gray 1926–1928
39. Fred Doerr 1928–1930
40. W. L. Biebrach 1930–1932
41. A. M. Meyer 1932–1934
42. Charles Bishop 1934–1936
43. Richard French 1936–1938
44. Clyde L. Fischer 1938–1940
45. Harry Young 1940–1944
46. Earl Campbell 1944–1945
47. Ernie Renzel 1945–1946
48. Albert J. Ruffo 1946–1948
49. Fred Watson 1948–1950
50. Clark L. Bradley 1950–1952
51. Parker Hathaway 1952–1954
52. George Starbird 1954–1956
53. Robert Doerr 1956–1958
54. Louis Solari 1958–1960
55. Paul Moore 1960–1962
56. Robert Welch 1962–1964
57. Joseph L. Pace 1964–1967

Since 1967, San Jose has elected its mayors by popular vote.^[2] Due to state laws regarding primary elections, political parties cannot nominate candidates for mayor, although candidates often choose to identify with a party. All registered candidates, regardless of party affiliation, compete in an election held in June of even-numbered years which are non-leap years. If no person gets over 50% of the popular vote, the top two candidates automatically move to a runoff election. Mayors are limited to two terms.

All elected mayors of San Jose have been members of the Democratic Party. The first elected mayor was Ron James and the first female mayor was Janet Gray Hayes.

• Timeline of San Jose, California

• Arbuckle, Clyde; Clyde Arbuckle's History of San Jose; 1985
• Pioneers who made a difference
• San Jose case study, part one, the urban growth boundary

¹Elmer E. Chase was the first mayor who was not the city's chief executive; the city moved to a council-manager government corresponding to his election. Chase and all following mayors are simply the president of the city council.