African American mayors in California

The following is a list of current and former African American mayors in the State of California. Since Edward P. Duplex was elected in 1888 as mayor of Wheatland, California, numerous African Americans have been elected or appointed to the post of mayor in California.

Antioch Population (2020): 115,921 ImageMayor YearsNotes Wade Harper 2012–2016 First African-American mayor of Antioch Lamar Thorpe 2020–Present

Berkeley Population (2020): 124,321 ImageMayor YearsNotes Warren Widener 1971–1979 First African-American mayor of Berkeley Gus Newport 1979–1986

Carson Population (2020): 95,558 ImageMayor YearsNotes Gilbert D. Smith 1970–19711974–1975 First African-American mayor of Carson Clarence A. Bridgers 1975–19761980–1981 Thomas G. Mills 1982–1986 Daryl W. Sweeney 2001–2003 Lula Davis-Holmes 2020–Present

Cerritos Population (2020): 49,578 ImageMayorYearsNotes Alex H. Beanum 1981–1982 Dairy Valley/Cerritos City Councilmember Portraits 1956 to Present

Compton Population (2020): 95,740 ImageMayorYearsNotes Douglas Dollarhide 1969–1973 First African-American American mayor of Compton Doris A. Davis 1973–1977 Lionel Cade 1977–1981 Walter R. Tucker Jr. 1981–1993 Walter R. Tucker III 1993–1995 Omar Bradley 1993–2001 Eric J. Perrodin 2001–2013 Aja Brown 2013–2021 Emma Sharif 2021–Present

Cotati Population (2020): 7,584 ImageMayorYearsNotes Robert Coleman-Senghor 2010–2011 First African-American mayor of Cotati

East Palo Alto Population (2020): 30,034 ImageMayorYearsNotes Barbara Mouton 1983–1986 First African American mayor of East Palo Alto James E. Blakey Jr. May 1, 1987 – 1988 John Bostic 1988–1989 William Vines 1989–1990 Warnell Coats 1991 Pat Johnson 1992 Sharifa Wilson 1992–1995 1999–2000 Rose Jacobs Gibson 1995–1997 R.B. Jones 1997–1998 Myrtle Walker 2001 Patricia Foster 2003 2008 Donna Rutherford 2004 2016 David E. Woods 2005 2007 2010 Lisa Yarbrough-Gauthier 2015 2019 2023 Larry Moody 2017 Regina Wallace-Jones 2020

El Centro Population (2020): 44,322 ImageMayorYearsNotes DuBois McGee 1966–1972 First African-American mayor of El Centro

Emeryville Population (2020): 12,905 ImageMayorYearsNotes Courtney Welch 2023–2024 First African-American mayor of Emeryville

Fontana Population (2020): 212,704 ImageMayorYearsNotes Acquanetta Warren 2010–Present First female and African-American mayor of Fontana

Hawthorne Population (2020): 88,083 ImageMayorYearsNotes Chris Brown 2013–2015 First African-American mayor of Hawthorne

Hercules Population (2020): ImageMayorYearsNotes Dion Bailey 2013–2015 First African-American mayor of Hercules

Inglewood Population (2020): 107,762 ImageMayorYearsNotes Edward Vincent Jr. 1983–1997 First African-American Mayor of Inglewood Roosevelt F. Dorn 1997–2010 Danny Tabor 2010–2011 James T. Butts Jr. 2011–Present

Lake Elsinore Population (2020): 70,265 ImageMayorYearsNotes Thomas R. Yarborough 1966–1968 First African-American mayor

Lakewood Population (2020): 82,496 ImageMayorYearsNotes Cassandra Chase 2025–Present First African-American mayor of Lakewood

Lemon Grove Population (2020): 27,627 ImageMayorYearsNotes Racquel Vasquez 2016–2020 First African-American female mayor in San Diego County

Long Beach Population (2020): 466,742 ImageMayorYearsNotes Rex Richardson 2022–Present First African-American mayor of Long Beach, California

Lynwood Population (2020): 67,265 ImageMayorYearsNotes Robert Henning 1985–19861991–1992 First African-American mayor of Lynwood Evelyn Wells 1986 1989–1990 Paul Richards 1986–2003 Louis Byrd 1999–2000 2006–2007

Los Angeles Population (2020): 3,898,747 ImageMayorYearsNotes Tom Bradley 1973–1993 First African-American mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass 2022–Present First female African-American mayor of Los Angeles 2nd African-American mayor

Menlo Park Population (2020): 33,780 ImageMayorYearsNotes Billy Ray White 1980–1981 1982–1983 1985–1986 First African-American mayor of Menlo Park Cecilia Taylor 2019–2020 Drew Combs 2020–2021

Milpitas Population (2020): 80,273 ImageMayorYearsNotes Ben F. Gross 1966–1968 First African-American mayor of Milpitas

Oakland Population (2020): 440,646 ImageMayorYearsNotes Lionel Wilson 1979–1993 First African-American mayor of Oakland Elihu Harris 1993–1999 Ron Dellums 2007–2011 Previously served on the city council of nearby Berkeley Kevin Jenkins January 6, 2025 – May 20, 2025 Acting mayor Barbara Lee May 20, 2025 – Present

Oceanside Population (2020): 174,068 ImageMayorYearsNotes Terry Johnson 2000–2004 First African-American mayor of Oceanside

Palm Springs Population (2020): 44,575 ImageMayorYearsNotes Ron Oden 2003–2007 First African-American mayor of Palm Springs

Pasadena Population (2020): 138,699 ImageMayorYearsNotes Loretta Thompson-Glickman 1982–1984 First African-American mayor of Pasadena Chris Holden 1997–1999

Rialto Population (2020): 104,026 ImageMayorYearsNotes Deborah Robertson 2012–2024 First African-American mayor of Rialto, California

Richmond Population (2020): 116,448 ImageMayorYearsNotes George D. Carroll 1964–1965 First African-American mayor of Richmond George Livingston 1969–19701985–1993 First elected African-American mayor of Richmond Nat Bates 1971–1972 1976–1977 Booker T. Anderson 1973–1974 Lonnie Washington 1978–1979 George Livingston 1985–1989*1989–1993 First elected African-American mayor of Richmond *appointed in 1985 to finish Thomas Corcoran's term. Won election in 1989 becoming Richmond's first elected African-American mayor Irma Anderson 2001–2006 First elected African-American female mayor of Richmond

Sacramento Population (2020): 524,943 ImageMayorYearsNotes Kevin Johnson 2008–2016 First African-American mayor of Sacramento Kevin McCarty 2025–present First Biracial mayor of Sacramento

Santa Monica Population (2020): 93,076 ImageMayorYearsNotes Nat Trives 1975–1977 First African-American mayor of Santa Monica

Santa Rosa Population (2020): 178,127 ImageMayorYearsNotes Natalie Rogers 2022 First African-American mayor of Santa Rosa

San Francisco Population (2020): 873,965 ImageMayorYearsNotes Willie Brown 1996–2004 First African-American mayor of San Francisco London Breed 2017–2018 First African-American woman mayor of San Francisco

San Ramon Population (2020): 84,605 ImageMayorYearsNotes H. Abram Wilson 2002–2008 First African-American mayor of San Ramon

Seaside Population (2020): 32,366 ImageMayorYearsNotes Oscar Lawson 1976–1978First African-American mayor of Seaside Stephen E. Ross 1978–1980 Lancelot McClair 1982–1994 Don R. Jordan 1994–1998 Jerry C. Smith 1998–2004 Ian Oglesby 2018–Present

Stockton Population (2020): 320,804 ImageMayorYearsNotes Michael Tubbs 2017–2021 First African-American mayor of Stockton Kevin Lincoln 2021–2025

Thousand Oaks Population (2020): 126,966 ImageMayorYearsNotes Lawrence E. Horner 1976–1977 1981–19821984–18851988–1989

Tracy Population (2020): 93,000 ImageMayorYearsNotes Nancy Young 2020–2024

Wheatland Population (2020): 3,712 ImageMayorYearsNotes Edward P. Duplex 1888 First African American mayor in the state of California

References