The Mayor of Charlottesville is the president of the City Council in Charlottesville, Virginia. Before 1888, Charlottesville was a town within Albemarle County, Virginia, and the electorate directly chose a mayor in regular elections. In 1888, Charlottesville incorporated as a city independent of the county but continued to select its mayors in the same fashion. Since 1922, however, the popular electorate has chosen a number of individuals to serve on city council - initially three, then five from 1928 to the present. From 1922 through 2006 those elections took place in May or June each even-numbered year. Beginning in 2007, council elections moved to November of odd-numbered years."Charlottesville decided in 2004 to move its city-council and school-board elections from May to November..." The elected councilors chose one of their own members to serve as leader of the council with the title of "mayor" but with no distinct legal or executive authority. The mayor presides over council meetings and occasionally plays a role as the ceremonial head of city government.
List of mayors Popularly elected mayors (1853–1922) (partial list)
MayorPolitical partyTerm startTerm end Christopher L. FowlerVirginia Department of Historical Resources, Historical Marker Q-22, Albemarle County, VA. Search "Q-22" at https://vcris.dhr.virginia.gov/HistoricMarkers/ April 1868 T. W. Savage April 1868 March 1870 N. H. Massie March 1870 April 1870 Christopher L. Fowler April 1870 1870 William L. CochranCochran was still mayor of the Town of Charlottesville in October 1873. See The Jeffersonian Republican, Charlottesville, VA, 15 October 1873. Available via the Library of Virginia at https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=JRP18731015.1.2&srpos=1&e=------187-en-20-JRP-1--txt-txIN-mayor------- (Accessed 25 March 2021). 1870 1875? Richard F. Harris 1875 1881 B. R. PaceThe Jeffersonian Republican, Charlottesville, VA, 1 June 1881. Available via the Library of Virginia at https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=JRP18810601.1.4&srpos=16&e=-------en-20-JRP-1--txt-txIN-mayor------- (Accessed 25 March 2021). July 1, 1881 July 1, 1883 Richard F. HarrisThe Jeffersonian Republican, Charlottesville, VA, 30 May 1883. Available via the Library of Virginia at https://virginiachronicle.com/cgi-bin/virginia?a=d&d=JRP18830530.1.3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- (Accessed 25 March 2021). July 1, 1883 1888 Samuel Baker Woods"Arrowhead," National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, filed 1991, pp. 12-13 of pdf file. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/002-0195-Arrowhead-1991-Final-Nomination.pdf 1888 1892 L. T. Hanckel 1892 1894 John Shelton Patton Democratic 1894 1896 J. Samuel McCue Democratic 1896 August 31, 1900 Charles W. Allen September 1, 1900 August 31, 1902 J. Samuel McCue Democratic September 1, 1902 August 31, 1904 George W. Olivierobituary in Confederate Veteran volume 32, June 1924, p. 234. https://archive.org/details/confederateveter3219conf/page/234/mode/2up September 1, 1904 August 31, 1908 Elbridge G. Haden September 1, 1908 August 31, 1912 Alpheus V. Conway September 1, 1912 August 31, 1916 Elbridge G. Haden September 1, 1916 August 31, 1920 Benjamin E. Wheeler September 1, 1920 August 31, 1922
City Council chosen mayors (1922–present) ImageMayorPolitical partyTenure startTenure endTermsNotes John R. Morris Democratic September 1, 1922 August 31, 1924 1 Jury Y. Brown Democratic September 1, 1924 August 31, 1930 3 Frederick L. Watson Democratic September 1, 1930 August 31, 1932 1 Frederick W. Twyman Democratic September 1, 1932 August 31, 1934 1 W. Dandridge Haden Democratic September 1, 1934 August 31, 1938 2 George T. Huff Democratic September 1, 1938 August 31, 1940 1 W. Dandridge Haden Democratic September 1, 1940 August 31, 1942 1 (3 total) J. Emmett Gleason Democratic September 1, 1942 August 31, 1944 1 Roscoe S. Adams Democratic September 1, 1944 August 31, 1948 1 Gus Tebell Democratic September 1, 1948 August 31, 1950 1 Strother F. Hamm Democratic September 1, 1950 August 31, 1952 1 William R. Hill Democratic September 1, 1952 August 31, 1954 1 Sol B. Weinberg Democratic September 1, 1954 August 31, 1956 1 Robert M. “Jack” Davis Democratic September 1, 1956 August 31, 1958 1 Thomas J. Michie Democratic September 1, 1958 August 31, 1960 1 Louie L. Scribner Democratic September 1, 1960 August 31, 1962 1 Bernard J. Haggerty Democratic September 1, 1962 August 31, 1964 1 Lindsey B. Mount Democratic September 1, 1964 August 31, 1966 1 Burkett A. Reynolds Democratic September 1, 1966 August 31, 1968 1 Gunther "Dutch" Vogt Republican September 1, 1968 August 31, 1970 1 Mitchell Van Yahres Democratic September 1, 1970City Council Minutes, 1 September 1970, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/157780/Page2.aspx July 3, 1972 1 Francis H. Fife Democratic July 3, 1972City Council Minutes, 3 July 1972, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/191343/Page1.aspx July 1, 1974 1 Charles H. Barbour Democratic July 1, 1974City Council Minutes, 1 July 1974, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/191439/Page1.aspx July 1, 1976 1 First African-American mayor Nancy K. O'Brien Democratic July 1, 1976City Council Minutes, 1 July 1976, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/157554/Page1.aspx July 1, 1978 1 Laurence A. Brunton Republican July 1, 1978City Council Minutes, 1 July 1978, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/157657/Page1.aspx July 1, 1980 1 Francis L. Buck Democratic July 1, 1980 July 1, 1988 4 Elizabeth "Bitsy" Waters Democratic July 1, 1988City Council Minutes, 1 July 1988, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/69564/Page1.aspx July 2, 1990 1 Alvin Edwards Democratic July 2, 1990City Council Minutes, 2 July 1990, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/46323/Page1.aspx July 1, 1992 1 Tom Vandever Democratic July 1, 1992City Council Minutes, 1 July 1992, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/45774/Page1.aspx July 4, 1994 1 David Toscano Democratic July 4, 1994City Council Minutes, 5 July 1994, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/45545/Page1.aspx July 1, 1996 1 Kay Slaughter Democratic July 1, 1996City Council Minutes, 1 July 1996, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/45381/Page1.aspx July 1, 1998 1 Virginia Daugherty Democratic July 1, 1998City Council Minutes, 1 July 1998, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/69832/Page1.aspx July 3, 2000 1 Blake Caravati Democratic July 3, 2000City Council Minutes, 3 July 2000, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/69921/Page1.aspx July 1, 2002 1 Maurice Cox Democratic July 1, 2002City Council Minutes, 1 July 2002, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/195881/Page1.aspx July 1, 2004 1 David Brown Democratic July 1, 2004City Council Minutes, 1 July 2004, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/199396/Page1.aspx January 7, 2008 2 Dave Norris Democratic January 7, 2008City Council Minutes, 7 January 2008, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/doc/347325/Page1.aspx January 3, 2012 2 Satyendra Huja Democratic January 3, 2012City Council Minutes, 3 January 2012, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/edoc/558267/20120103Jan3.pdf January 4, 2016 2 Michael Signer Democratic January 4, 2016City Council Minutes, 4 January 2016, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/edoc/732436/MINS_20160104Jan4.pdf January 2, 2018 1 Nikuyah Walker Independent January 2, 2018City Council Minutes, 2 January 2018, http://weblink.charlottesville.org/public/0/edoc/793628/20180102Jan02.pdf January 5, 2022 2 J. Lloyd Snook, III Democratic January 5, 2022City Council Meeting, 5 January 2022, https://charlottesvilleva.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=1296&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0 January 2, 2024 1 Juandiego Wade Democratic January 2, 2024 Incumbent 1
Notes
Further reading Lisa Provence, "Mayorsville: Here, everybody's a mayor", The Hook, August 10, 2006 Cvillepedia: Mayor of Charlottesville since 1922