The mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska is the head of the government of Lincoln, a city located in the State of Nebraska in the United States. The mayor is vested with the executive and administrative power of the city of Lincoln and is the ceremonial head of its government.

The Lincoln mayor is elected every four years on the first Tuesday in May of every other odd-numbered year. The mayor, along with newly elected city council members, takes office on the second Monday after the first Tuesday in May (election day). Due to an amendment of the Lincoln City Charter passed by the voters in November 2018, the Lincoln mayor is limited to serve a maximum of three consecutive terms in office. To date, Chris Beutler is Lincoln's longest serving mayor, having held the office for 12 years. As happened last in 1998, if a vacancy occurs in the mayoral office, the vacancy is filled by majority vote of the Lincoln City Council.

Among the powers and responsibilities of the mayor as specified by the Lincoln City Charter are these: to supervise all city departments and agencies, to enforce the city charter and ordinances, to submit an annual city budget to the city council and approve large purchases, to promote the commercial and industrial growth of the city, and to appoint the heads of all city departments with the approval of the city council and appoint other city officers, employees, and members of boards and commissions.

History

Lincoln, Nebraska, was officially incorporated as a town on April 7, 1869, by the commissioners of Lancaster County. Interim trustees were chosen for its board of trustees, which functioned as its city council. Permanent trustees were then officially elected by the citizens of Lincoln on May 3, 1869. A chairman was chosen by the trustees, and although there was no official title of "mayor" of Lincoln at this time, the chairman of the board of trustees was effectively the mayor of Lincoln. Lincoln's first chairman of the board of trustees was Humphrey D. Gilbert, elected in 1869, and Lincoln's second chairman of the board of trustees was Charles H. Gere, elected in 1870.

Lincoln was later incorporated as a city of the second class by the Legislature of Nebraska on March 18, 1871, which allowed its citizens to directly elect a mayor. The first mayor elected by the citizens of Lincoln was William F. Chapin, a lawyer and former Speaker of the Nebraska House of Representatives, who was elected on April 4, 1871. Lincoln continued to elect mayors in April of every year to one-year terms until 1883, when the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill stipulating that the mayors of all second-class cities would be elected to two-year terms on the first Tuesday in April. Thus, from 1883 to 1911, the mayor was elected directly by the citizens of Lincoln for a term of two years. In 1912, the Nebraska Legislature amended the state's laws to give cities the option to adopt a "commission" form of government, which Lincoln adopted for its government in a special election in 1912. This meant that the Lincoln mayor was now to be chosen by the city council from among the council membership instead of elected directly by the voters. This system of Lincoln city government persisted through the election of 1935.

In 1935, the voters of Lincoln adopted an amendment to its city charter increasing the number of city council members from five to seven and creating a system where the mayor was once again directly elected by the voters. However, though no longer chosen by fellow council members, the mayor remained a member of the Lincoln city council. The mayor was still elected to a two-year term while all other council members' terms were increased to four years under the new plan. The first mayor to take office under this new system was Oren S. Copeland in 1937. In the election of 1962, the voters of Lincoln adopted an amendment to the city charter that made the mayor's office separate from the city council and extended the mayor's term to four years. This made the mayor's job a "full-time position" since the mayor was no longer a member of the council. Dean H. Petersen was the first mayor elected in 1963 under this system, which remains the current system of Lincoln's city government.

In 1975, after serving for 16 years on the Lincoln City Council, Helen Boosalis made history by becoming the first woman to serve as mayor of the city of Lincoln. In 1998, Mike Johanns became the first Lincoln mayor to be elected Governor of Nebraska while still in office, though he is not the only Lincoln mayor to be elected governor, as Charles W. Bryan and Victor Anderson also served as governor.

List

This is a list of mayors of Lincoln, Nebraska.

#ImageNamePartyTerm beganTerm endedNotes - April 10, 18691870Served as first chairman of the Lincoln Board of Trustees, making him effectively the mayor of Lincoln - Rep1870April 4, 1871Served as second chairman of the Lincoln Board of Trustees, making him effectively the mayor of Lincoln1 RepFirst mayor elected directly by the citizens of Lincoln after incorporation as a city; previously served as the speaker of the Nebraska House of Representatives2 Rep3 Dem4Temp5 RepPreviously served as a U.S. representative from Wisconsin; later served as a Nebraska Supreme Court justice 6 DemPreviously served as the 3rd mayor7 Rep8 Rep9 Rep10 Rep11 RepLater served as lieutenant governor of Nebraska12 Rep13 Ind14 Rep15 Ind16 Rep17 Rep18 Rep19 Dem20 Rep21 RepLast mayor elected directly by the voters to the mayor's office until Mayor Copeland in 193722 RepFirst mayor since Charles H. Gere in 1870 to be elected mayor not by the voters but by a majority vote of the Lincoln City Council from its own membership23 DemLater became governor of Nebraska24 DemKnown for being a cofounder of Miller & Paine, a department store in downtown Lincoln25 RepPreviously served as the 22nd mayor26 Rep27 RepPreviously served as the 20th mayor28 RepPreviously served as the 22nd and 25th mayor29 Rep30 DemLast mayor to be elected by the Lincoln City Council under the old system where mayors were chosen from among the membership of the council by their fellow council members; previously served as the 23rd mayor and as the governor of Nebraska31 RepFirst mayor to be directly elected to the mayor's office by the voters of the city since Mayor Alvin Armstrong in 1911; resigned in order to run as a Republican candidate in the 1940 US House of Representatives election in Nebraska's 1st congressional district; served as a member of the US House of Representatives32 RepSelected by the Lincoln City Council to finish Mayor Copeland's unexpired term; served as the chairman of the board of Miller & Paine, replacing John E. Miller, a former Lincoln mayor, in that position33 Rep34 Rep35 DemResigned in order to run as a Democratic candidate in the 1950 US House of Representatives election in Nebraska's 1st congressional district against Republican incumbent Carl Curtis36 RepServed as "acting mayor" after the resignation of Mayor Miles by virtue of his position as vice president of the Lincoln City Council while the council searched for Miles' replacement, which took over a month due to disagreements among council members as to who should be named mayor37 RepSelected by the Lincoln City Council to finish Mayor Miles' unexpired term; later became governor of Nebraska38 RepResigned to accept a job with the National Bank of Commerce39 RepSelected by the Lincoln City Council to finish Mayor Jeary's unexpired term40 DemResigned after being appointed as a Lancaster County District Court judge by Nebraska Governor Frank B. Morrison41 RepSelected by the Lincoln City Council to finish Mayor Boyles' unexpired term42 RepPetersen was Lincoln's first "full-time" mayor elected for a term of four years after the Lincoln City Charter was amended in 1962 to extend the mayor's term from two to four years and make the position full time. Previously, the mayor was considered a member of the city council; Petersen was the first mayor to have a separate office from that of a council member.43 Dem44 DemFirst woman to serve as mayor of Lincoln; ran unsuccessfully for governor of Nebraska in 198645 RepPreviously served as speaker of the Nebraska Legislature and as lieutenant governor of Nebraska before becoming Lincoln mayor46 Dem47 RepResigned to become governor of Nebraska48 RepSelected by the Lincoln City Council to finish Mayor Johanns' unexpired term49 Dem50 Dem51 DemTerm-limited after three consecutive terms as mayor due to an amendment of the Lincoln City Charter passed in November 201852 DemPresent

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