The Mayor of St. Louis is the chief executive officer of St. Louis's city government. The mayor has a duty to enforce city ordinances and the power to either approve or veto city ordinances passed by the Board of Aldermen..
Forty-eight people have held the office, four of whom—William Carr Lane, John Fletcher Darby, John Wimer, and John How—served non-consecutive terms. Lane, the city's first mayor, served the most terms: eight one-year terms plus the unexpired term of Darby. Francis Slay is the longest-serving mayor, having served four 4-year terms. The second-longest-serving mayor was Henry Kiel, who served 12 years and nine days over three terms in office. Two others — Raymond Tucker and Vincent C. Schoemehl — also served three terms, but seven fewer days. The shortest-serving mayor was Arthur Barret, who died 11 days after taking office. The first female mayor was Lyda Krewson, who served from 2017 to 2021.
Duties and powers
St. Louis was incorporated as a city on December 9, 1822, four months after Missouri was admitted as a state to the Union. In accordance with its new charter, the city changed its governance to a mayor-council format and elected its first mayor, William Carr Lane, on April 7, 1823.
Cabinet
Elections The mayor is elected for four years during the general municipal election, which is held every two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April. The candidates are selected through a combined approval voting primary, with the top two advancing to the general. The mayor is usually sworn during the first session of the Board of Aldermen two weeks after the election.
Under the original city charter, the mayor was elected to a one-year term. Terms became two years under the 1859 city charter. The mayor's office was extended to its present four-year term after passage of the Charter and Scheme in 1876 which separated the City of St. Louis from St. Louis County.
Succession If the office of mayor becomes vacant through death, resignation, recall, or removal by the board of aldermen, the president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor until a special mayoral election can be held; if the office is only temporarily vacant due to disability of the mayor, the president only acts out the duties of mayor. Should both offices be vacant, the vice-president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor.
Five people have acted as mayor: Wilson Primm following the resignation of John Darby; Ferdinand W. Cronenbold following the resignation of Chauncey Filley; Herman Rechtien following the death of Arthur Barret; George W. Allen following the resignation of David Francis; and Aloys P. Kaufmann following the death of William Becker.
List of mayors Mayor Took office Left office Time in office Election Party 1 William Carr Lane 1823 Whig 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 2 Daniel Page 1829 Whig 1830 1831 1832 – Samuel Merry Ruled ineligible;did not serve 1833 Unknown 3 John W. Johnston 1833 Whig 1834 4 John Fletcher Darby 1835 Whig 1836 1837 – Wilson Primm – Whig William Carr Lane 1837 Whig 1838 1839 John Fletcher Darby 1840 Whig 5 John D. Daggett 1841 Whig 6 George Maguire 1842 Democratic 7 John Wimer 1843 Democratic 8 Bernard Pratte 1844 Whig 1845 9 Peter G. Camden 1846 American 10 Bryan Mullanphy 1847 Democratic 11 John M. Krum 1848 Democratic 12 James G. Barry 1849 Democratic 13 Luther Martin Kennett 1850 Whig 1851 1852 14 John How 1853 Democratic 1854 15 Washington King 1855 American John How 1856 Democratic John Wimer 1857 Democratic 16 Oliver Filley 1858 Republican 1859 17 Daniel G. Taylor 1861 Republican 18 Chauncey Ives Filley 1863 Republican – Ferdinand W. Cronenbold – Unknown 19 James S. Thomas 1864 special Republican 1865 1867 20 Nathan Cole 1869 Republican 21 Joseph Brown 1871 War Democrat 1873 22 Arthur Barret 1875 Democratic – Herman Rechtien – Unknown 23 James H. Britton 1875 Democratic 24 Henry Overstolz 1875 Independent 1877 25 William L. Ewing 1881 Republican 26 David R. Francis 1885 Democratic – George W. Allen – Democratic 27 Edward A. Noonan 1889 Democratic 28 Cyrus Walbridge 1893 Republican 29 Henry Ziegenhein 1897 Republican 30 Rolla Wells 1901 Democratic 1905 31 Frederick Kreismann 1909 Republican 32 Henry Kiel 1913 Republican 1917 1921 33 Victor J. Miller 1925 Republican 1929 34 Bernard F. Dickmann 1933 Democratic 1937 35 William D. Becker 1941 Republican – Aloys P. Kaufmann TBA TBA – Republican 36 TBA TBA 1944 special 37 Joseph Darst 1949 Democratic 38 Raymond Tucker 1953 Democratic 1957 1961 39 Alfonso J. Cervantes 1965 Democratic 1969 40 John Poelker 1973 Democratic 41 James F. Conway 1977 Democratic 42 Vincent C. Schoemehl 1981 Democratic 1985 1989 43 Freeman Bosley Jr. 1993 Democratic 44 Clarence Harmon 1997 Democratic 45 Francis Slay 2001 Democratic 2005 2009 2013 46 Lyda Krewson 2017 Democratic 47 Tishaura Jones 2021 Democratic 48 Cara Spencer Incumbent 2025 Democratic
Notes
References General
Charters
Specific
External links