List of longest-serving mayors in the United States

Some of the longest-serving mayors in the United States are listed according to their length of service in that currently or has served in that part of the state or legislative office. The office of mayor is the highest ranking local official and responsibilities may vary from ceremonial (see weak mayor) to full-time responsibility for city operations (see strong mayor).

Current serving mayors

A list of mayors still in office and ordered by their length of continuous service in that office. (If there is a break in their service, then this length is measured from their return to the office.)

The longest-serving current mayor of one the 50 largest cities in the United States is Tom Barrett, who has been mayor of Milwaukee since April 15, 2004.

Years	Name	Municipality	Notes
49 years, 225 days	Rob Blais	Lake George, New York	Began current term on April 5, 1971.
44–45 years	Margaret Doud	Mackinac Island, Michigan	Entered office in April 1975.
42-43 years	William D. Tate	Grapevine, Texas	Entered office in 1972[1]
43–44 years	Robert Heidenescher	Dupont, Ohio	Entered office in 1976.
43–44 years	Harold Rainwater	Wilmore, Kentucky	Entered office in 1976.
42–43 years	Robert Chatfield	Prospect, Connecticut	Entered office on November 7, 1977.
42–43 years	Jim L. Sells	Rogersville, Tennessee	Entered office in 1977.
40–41 years	Noel B. Cummings	Hodgkins, Illinois	Entered office in 1979.
40–41 years	Marvin Johnson	Independence, Minnesota	Entered office in 1979.
36-37 Years	Mary Hawkins Butler	Madison, Mississippi	Entered office in 1981.
38–39 years	Jeffery D. Schielke	Batavia, Illinois	Entered office in 1981.
39 years, 38 days	Mark Anthony McClure	Danville, West Virginia	Entered office on July 6, 1981.
37 years, 225 days	William "Bill" McIntosh	Moultrie, Georgia	Entered office in 1983.
36 years, 224 days	William W. Dickinson, Jr.	Wallingford, Connecticut	Entered office in 1984.
34–35 years	Louie Davis	Waldo, Florida	Entered office in 1985.

Former mayors

A list of mayors in order of their total length of service in that office. (If there is a break in their service, then this length is measured as the sum of their terms.)

Years	Name	Municipality	Notes
63 years, 73 days	Hilmar Moore	Richmond, Texas	Served from September 22, 1949 to December 4, 2012.
61 years, 111 days	John H. Land	Apopka, Florida	Served from January 1, 1971 to April 22, 2014. Also served from January 1, 1950 to January 1, 1968.
58 years, 233 days	Robert Linn	Beaver, Pennsylvania	Served from January 2, 1946 to August 22, 2004.
60 years	Charles E. Long	Booneville, Kentucky	Entered office in 1958. Served until his death in August, 2019
56 years	Paul Jurko	Yankee Lake, Ohio	Elected into office in November 1931 at the age of 21. Served until his death on March 1, 1988.
54 years	Robert L. Butler	Marion, Illinois	Entered office in May 1963. Served until his resignation on January 31, 2018.
52 years	Gerald Calabrese	Cliffside Park, New Jersey	1961-1963; 1965-2015[2][3]
52 years, 0 days	John M. Coyne	Brooklyn, Ohio	Served from 1948 until January 2000.[4][Notes 1]
56 years, 205 days	Bruce Arnold	Valparaiso, Florida	Entered office on January 21, 1964, Died in office February 23, 2017.
51 years	Donald Stephens	Rosemont, Illinois	First Mayor of Rosemont. Served from village's incorporation in 1956 to 2007.
50 years	Leonard T. Connors	Surf City, New Jersey	Entered office in 1966, served until January 5, 2016.
48 years, 352 days	Frank E. Rodgers	Harrison, New Jersey	Served from September 4, 1946 to August 22, 1995.
48 years, 19 days	Randall Wise	Niceville, Florida	Entered in office in August, 1972. Served until his death on January 20, 2020.
47 years, 11 months	Frank Kelly	Collingdale, Pennsylvania	Served from 1970 to his death on November 22, 2018.
47 years, 115 days	Nicholas B. Blase	Niles, Illinois	Served from May 2, 1961 to his resignation on August 25, 2008.[5]
50 years, 344 days	Leonard Scarcella	Stafford, Texas	Entered into office on September 4, 1969.
49 years, 225 days	H. Ford Gravitt	Cumming, Georgia	Entered office on January 1, 1971. Served four years on City Council (1967-1970)
49 years, 225 days	Robert Blais	Lake George, New York	Began current term on April 5, 1971.
44 years	Gerald H. Thompson	Fitzgerald, Georgia	Served from January 1, 1968 to January 1, 2012 (Served on City Council 1965-1967)
43–44 years	Richard A. Mola	Elmwood Park, New Jersey	Entered office in 1972, served until his death in 2016.[6]
43 years, 0 days	Paul W. Cassidy	Parma Heights, Ohio	Served in office between January 1958 through January 2001.[7]
44–45 years	Margaret Doud	Mackinac Island, Michigan	Entered office in April 1975.
41 years, 146 days	Erastus Corning II	Albany, New York	Served from January 2, 1942 to May 28, 1983.
40 years, 27 days	Joseph P. Riley, Jr.	Charleston, South Carolina	Served from December 15, 1975 to January 11, 2016.[8]
40 years	Louis Bay 2nd	Hawthorne, New Jersey	Entered into office in 1947, served until 1987.
43–44 years	Harold Rainwater	Wilmore, Kentucky	Entered into office in 1976.
42–43 years	Jim L. Sells	Rogersville, Tennessee	Entered office in 1977.
36-37 Years	Mary Hawkins Butler	Madison, Mississippi	Entered office in 1981.
38–39 years	Gary W. Starr	Middleburg Heights, Ohio	Entered office in 1981.
35 years, 54 days	Edward J. Zabrocki	Tinley Park, Illinois	Entered into office on May 1, 1981. Resigned office in June 2016.
36 years	Orville L. Hubbard	Dearborn, Michigan	Entered office in 1942. Served until 1978.
36 years, 224 days	William W. Dickinson, Jr.	Wallingford, Connecticut	Entered office in 1984.
34-35 years	Glendel Stephenson	Mebane, North Carolina	Served 1975-1983 and 1993-2019.[9][10]
30 years, 33 days	Frank Hague	Jersey City, New Jersey	Entered office in 1917. Served until 1947.
30 years	Emmett Dofner, Jr.	McClelland, Iowa	Entered office in 1987. Served until his death on May 2, 2017.[11]
29 years, 354 days	Daniel R. Brooks	North College Hill, Ohio	Served from January 1, 1984 to his resignation on December 21, 2013.
30-29 years	James A. Anzaldi	Clifton, New Jersey	Entered office in 1990
29 years, 201 days	Dr. LeRoy G. Suire	Erath, Louisiana	Entered office in 1961. Served until 1990.
29 years, 39 days	Willie Oswalt	Lake City, Georgia	Entered office in 1989. Served until 2018.
28 years, 150 days	Don Plusquellic	Akron, Ohio	Served from January 1, 1987 to his resignation on May 31, 2015.
27 years, 364 days	Stephen R. Reed	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	Entered office in 1982. Served until 2010.
27 years, 0 days	Don Robarts	Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio	Entered office in 1986. Served until 2013.
42 years, 0 days	Tom Reid	Pearland, Texas	Entered office in 1978 - 1990 and 1993 to Present. Will Retire in May 2020.

References

1. "Mayor - William D. Tate | Grapevine, TX - Official Website". www.grapevinetexas.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
2. "Man Believed to Be New Jersey's Longest-Serving Mayor Dies", Associated Press, April 13, 2015.
3. http://www.northjersey.com/news/hundreds-gather-at-funeral-for-gerry-calabrese-n-j-s-longest-serving-mayor-1.1311767
4. Iallonardo, Tony (November 15, 1999). "U.S. Has New "Longest-Serving Mayor". United States Conference of Mayors. Archived from the original on 2009-04-13. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
5. Schneider, Andrew (2012). Nick Blase: The Prince of Niles, Illinois. Charleston, SC: The History Press. ISBN 9781609495497.
6. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/northjersey/obituary.aspx?pid=182066731
7. http://www.cleveland.com/obituaries/index.ssf/2013/07/mayor_paul_w_cassidy_led_parma.html
8. Seabrook, Andrea (January 19, 2008), Charleston Mayor Reflects on 30 Years in Office, NPR, retrieved April 29, 2015
9. "Glendel Stephenson, Mayor - City of Mebane". cityofmebane.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
10. Williams, Jessica. "Stephenson to retire after 35 years as Mebane's mayor". The Times-News. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
11. "Emmett E. Dofner, Jr. Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information". www.cutleroneill.com. Retrieved 2019-08-24.

Notes

1. The date of inauguration for Mayor John Coyne is not clear. It is clear that his successor, Kenneth Patton, took office in January 2000. References appear to confuse the 1999 election defeat with the day he left office. Most references state that he served 52 years, some from 1947-1999, a few from 1948 to 1999, and others from 1948 to 2000.