There have been 48 individuals that have served as mayor of Columbus, Ohio, serving 53 distinct mayoralties or consecutive terms in office. The first mayor of Columbus was Jarvis W. Pike. He was appointed by the Burough Council of Columbus in 1816. The first mayor of Columbus to be elected by popular vote was John Brooks in 1834. Five mayors have served non-consecutive terms. Philo H. Olmsted is counted as both the 8th and 12th mayor, Alexander Patton as both the 17th and 19th mayor, James G. Bull as both the 22nd and 24th mayor, George J. Karb as both the 30th and 39th mayor, and Jack Sensenbrenner as both the 46th and 48th mayor. Of the individuals appointed or elected as mayor, five have resigned from office - James Robinson, John Brooks, Warren Jenkins, John G. Miller, and Jim Rhodes. No mayor has died or become permanently disabled while in office. The shortest-serving former mayor is James Robinson, who served only eight months before resigning from office on September 11, 1827. The longest-serving mayor is Michael B. Coleman, who served 16 years and is the only African American to serve as mayor. Andrew Ginther is the current mayor. He took office on January 1, 2016.

Mayors of Columbus

Political parties

No. Mayor Took office Left office Party Term Previous office 1 Jarvis W. Pike(1795–1854) 1(1816) Member of Columbus Burough Council (1816–1827) 2(1817) 2 John Kerr(1778–1823) 3(1818) Member of Columbus Burough Council (1816–1823) 4(1819) 3 Eli C. King 5(1820) Justice of the Peace forMontgomery Township(1816–1820) 6(1821) 7(1822) 4 John Laughrey(1784– ) 8(1823) 5 William T. Martin(1788–1866) 9(1824) Recorder of Columbus(1823, 1834–1838) 10(1825) 11(1826) 6 James Robinson 12(1827) Member of Columbus Burough Council (1823–1827) 7 William Long(1781–1851) Recorder of Columbus (1824–1827) 13(1828) 14(1829) 15(1830) 16(1831) 17(1832) 8 Philo H. Olmsted(1793–1870) Whig 18(1833) Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834) 9 John Brooks(1785–1869) 19(1834) 10 John Bailhache(1787–1857) Whig Ross County Common Pleas Court Judge (1825) 11 Warren Jenkins Whig 20(1836) Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township(1835–1837) 12 Philo H. Olmsted(1793–1870) Whig 21(1838) Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834) 13 John G. Miller(1795–1871) Whig 22(1840) 14 Thomas Wood(1782–1861) Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township(1828–1843) 15 Abram I. McDowell(1793–1844) 23(1842) Clerk for the Court of Common Pleas (1815–1836) 16 Smithson E. Wright(1807–1881) Whig 24(1843) 17 Alexander Patton(1791–1857) Whig 25(1845) Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township(1843–1849) 18 Augustus S. Decker(1813–1872) Whig 19 Alexander Patton(1791–1858) Whig 26(1847) Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township(1843–1849) 27(1849) 20 Lorenzo English(1819–1888) Whig 28(1851) No previous experience in public office 29(1853) 30(1855) 31(1857) 32(1859) Wray Thomas(1810–) Democratic 33(1861) Ohio Representative from Delaware and Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834) 34(1863) James G. Bull(1838–1927) Democratic 35(1865) No previous experience in public office 36(1867) George W. Meeker(1833–1890) Democratic 37(1869) Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1863–1869) James G. Bull(1838–1927) Democratic 38(1871) Mayor of Columbus(1865–1868) 39(1873) John H. Heitmann(1841–1894) Democratic 40(1875) Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1874–1876) 41(1877) Gilbert G. Collins(1830–1885) Republican 42(1879) City Attorney of Columbus (1873–1875) George S. Peters(1846–1928) Democratic 43(1881) No previous experience in public office Charles C. Walcutt(1838–1898) Republican 44(1883) Member of Columbus Board of Education(1873–1894) 45(1885) Philip H. Bruck(1845–1920) Democratic 46(1887) No previous experience in public office 47(1889) George J. Karb(1858–1937) Democratic 48(1891) Columbus Police Commissioner (1889–1890) 49(1893) Cotton H. Allen(1834–1900) Democratic 50(1895) No previous experience in public office Samuel L. Black(1859–1929) Democratic 51(1897) No previous experience in public office Samuel J. Swartz(1859–1905) Republican 52(1899) Police Court Judge of Columbus(1897–1898) John N. Hinkle(1854–1905) Democratic 53(1901) No previous experience in public office Robert H. Jeffrey(1873–1961) Republican 54(1903) No previous experience in public office De Witt C. Badger(1858–1926) Democratic 55(1905) U.S. Representative from Ohio (1903–1905) Charles A. Bond(1873–1943) Republican 56(1907) No previous experience in public office George S. Marshall(1869–1956) Republican 57(1909) Asst City Attorney of Columbus (1899–1909) George J. Karb(1858–1937) Democratic 58(1911) Franklin County Sheriff (1903–1909) 59(1913) 60(1915) James J. Thomas(1868–1947) Republican 61(1919) Member of Columbus City Council (1898–1901) 62(1923) 63(1927) Henry W. Worley(1877–1938) Democratic 64(1931) Member of Columbus City Council(1922–1932) Myron B. Gessaman(1894–1975) Republican 65(1935) Member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1934–1935) Floyd F. Green(1900–1952) Republican 66(1939) Member of Columbus City Council (1927–1931) Jim Rhodes(1909–2001) Republican 67(1943) City Auditor of Columbus (1939–1943) 68(1947) 69(1951) Robert T. Oestreicher(1894–1955) Republican President of Columbus City Council Jack Sensenbrenner(1902–1991) Democratic No previous experience in public office 70(1955) Ralston Westlake(1907–1978) Republican 71(1959) Member of Columbus City Council (1956–1959) Jack Sensenbrenner(1902–1991) Democratic 72(1963) Mayor of Columbus(1954–1960) 73(1967) Tom Moody(1929–2008) Republican 74(1971) Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge (1968–1971) 75(1975) 76(1979) Buck Rinehart(1946–2015) Republican 77(1983) Franklin County Treasurer of Ohio(1976–1984) 78(1987) Greg Lashutka(born 1944) Republican 79(1991) City Attorney of Columbus (1978–1985) 80(1995) Michael B. Coleman(born 1954) Democratic 81(1999) President of Columbus City Council (1997–1999) 82(2003) 83(2007) 84(2011) Andrew Ginther(born 1975) Democratic 85(2015) President of Columbus City Council (2011–2015) 86(2019) 87(2023)

See also

Government of Columbus, Ohio Green Lawn Cemetery – Numerous former mayors of Ohio's capital city are interred at this notable cemetery. It is located in the southern section of Columbus, Ohio. Timeline of Columbus, Ohio

Notes

References

Bibliography

Books

Newspapers

Further reading

External links

A Look Back: Columbus Mayors – A slide show of 37 images of Columbus mayors. Includes a list of all mayors with their respective terms in office. Provided by The Columbus Dispatch, a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Mayors of Columbus, Ohio 1816-2013 at Political Graveyard A Quarter Century of Mayoral Memories A panel discussion with three mayors of Columbus, Buck Rinehart (1984–1992), Greg Lashutka (1992–2000), and Michael B. Coleman (2000-Present). The discussion was hosted by The Columbus Metropolitan Club. Published September 10, 2012 on YouTube; 53 minutes.