The following is a list of people who have served as mayors of the city of Buffalo in the U.S. state of New York.
| Post | Mayor |
|---|---|
| Body | the City of Buffalo |
| Insignia | Seal of Buffalo, New York.svg |
| Insigniasize | 115px |
| Insigniacaption | Seal of the City of Buffalo |
| Incumbent | Sean Ryan |
| Incumbentsince | January 1, 2026 |
| Department | Government of Buffalo |
| Style | The Honorable (formal) Mr. Mayor (informal) |
| Seat | Buffalo City Hall |
| Constituting instrument | Buffalo City Charter |
| Termlength | Four years; renewable |
| Succession | Deputy Mayor of Buffalo |
| Formation | 1832 |
| Deputy | Deputy Mayor of Buffalo |
| Salary | $178,519 (2024) |
| Inaugural | Ebenezer Johnson |
| Website | www.city-buffalo.com/Home/Leadership/Mayor |
List of mayors
| No. | Name | Picture | Party | Term in office | Election | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ebenezer Johnson | Democratic-Republican | May 1832 – March 1833 | 1832 | Doctor during the War of 1812[1] | |
| 2 | Major Andre Andrews | Independent | March 1833 – 1834 | 1833 | Founding member of the first Bank of Buffalo[1] | |
| 3 | Ebenezer Johnson | Democratic-Republican | 1834 – 1835 | 1834 | ||
| 4 | Hiram Pratt | Whig | 1835 – 1836 | 1835 | ||
| 5 | Samuel Wilkeson | Independent | 1836 – March 14, 1837 | 1836 | ||
| 6 | Josiah Trowbridge | Whig | March 14, 1837 – December 21, 1837 | 1837 | ||
| 7 | Pierre A. Barker | Independent | December 21, 1837 – March 13, 1838 | – | ||
| 8 | Ebenezer Walden | Whig | March 13, 1838 – 1839 | 1838 | ||
| 9 | Hiram Pratt | Whig | 1839 – 1840 | 1839 | ||
| 10 | Sheldon Thompson | Whig | 1840 – March 2, 1841 | 1840 | ||
| 11 | Isaac R. Harrington | Whig | March 2, 1841 – March 8, 1842 | 1841 | ||
| 12 | George William Clinton | Independent | March 8, 1842 – 1843 | 1842 | Served as the 7th United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York | |
| 13 | Joseph G. Masten | Democratic | 1843 – 1844 | 1843 | ||
| 14 | William Ketchum | Whig | 1844 – 1845 | 1844 | ||
| 15 | Joseph G. Masten | Democratic | 1845 – 1846 | 1845 | ||
| 16 | Solomon G. Haven | Whig | 1846 – 1847 | 1846 | ||
| 17 | Elbridge G. Spaulding | Whig | 1847 – 1848 | 1847 | Served as New York State Treasurer from 1854–1855 and was twice elected to the U.S. House of Representatives | |
| 18 | Orlando Allen | Whig | 1848 – 1849 | – | ||
| 19 | Hiram Barton | Whig | 1849 – 1850 | 1849 | ||
| 20 | Henry K. Smith | Democratic | 1850 – March 4, 1851 | 1850 | ||
| 21 | James Wadsworth | Democratic | March 4, 1851 – March 9, 1852 | 1851 | ||
| 22 | Hiram Barton | Whig | March 9, 1852 – 1853 | 1852 | ||
| 23 | Eli Cook | Democratic | 1853 – 1855 |
| ||
| 24 | Frederick P. Stevens | Democratic | 1856 – 1857 | 1855 | ||
| 25 | Timothy T. Lockwood | Democratic | 1858 – January 2, 1860 | 1857 | ||
| 26 | Franklin A. Alberger | Republican | January 2, 1860 – January 6, 1862 | 1859 | ||
| 27 | William G. Fargo | Democratic | January 6, 1862 – 1866 |
| Co-founded the modern day financial firms of American Express and Wells Fargo[2] | |
| 28 | Chandler J. Wells | Republican | 1866 – 1867 | 1865 | ||
| 29 | William F. Rogers | Democratic | 1868 – 1869 | 1867 | ||
| 30 | Alexander Brush | Republican | 1870 – 1873 |
| ||
| 31 | Lewis P. Dayton | Democratic | 1874 – 1875 | 1873 | ||
| 32 | Philip Becker | Republican | 1876 – January 7, 1878 | 1875 | ||
| 33 | Solomon Scheu | Democratic | January 7, 1878 – January 1880 | 1877 | ||
| 34 | Alexander Brush | Republican | January 1880 – January 2, 1882 | 1879 | ||
| 35 | Grover Cleveland | Democratic | January 2, 1882 – November 20, 1882 | 1881 | Later, elected 22nd & 24th President of the United States. The only American President to be mayor of a major city. | |
| 36 | Marcus M. Drake | Republican | November 20, 1882 – December 29, 1882 | – | ||
| 37 | Harmon S. Cutting | Democratic | December 29, 1882 – January 16, 1883 | – | ||
| 38 | John B. Manning | Democratic | January 16, 1883 – January 6, 1884 | 1883 (special) | ||
| 39 | Jonathan Scoville | Democratic | January 6, 1884 – 1885 | 1883 | ||
| 40 | Philip Becker | Republican | 1886 – 1890 |
| ||
| 41 | Charles F. Bishop | Democratic | 1890 – 1894 |
| ||
| 42 | Edgar B. Jewett | Republican | 1895 – 1897 | 1894 | ||
| 43 | Conrad Diehl | Democratic | 1898 – 1901 | 1897 | ||
| 44 | Erastus C. Knight | Republican | 1902 – 1905 | 1900 | ||
| 45 | James N. Adam | Democratic | 1906 – 1909 | 1905 | ||
| 46 | Louis P. Fuhrmann | Democratic | 1910 – 1917 |
| ||
| 47 | George S. Buck | Republican | 1918 – 1921 | 1917 | ||
| 48 | Frank X. Schwab | Republican | 1922 – 1929 |
| ||
| 49 | Charles E. Roesch | Republican | 1930 – 1933 | 1929 | ||
| 50 | George J. Zimmermann | Democratic | 1934 – 1937 | 1933 | ||
| 51 | Thomas L. Holling | Democratic | 1938 – 1941 | 1937 | ||
| 52 | Joseph J. Kelly | Democratic | 1942 – 1945 | 1941 | ||
| 53 | Bernard J. Dowd | Republican | 1946 – 1949 | 1945 | ||
| 54 | Joseph Mruk | Republican | January 1, 1950 – December 31, 1953 | 1949 | ||
| 55 | Steven Pankow | Democratic | January 1, 1954 – December 31, 1957 | 1953 | ||
| 56 | Frank A. Sedita | Democratic | January 1, 1958 – December 31, 1961 | 1957 | ||
| 57 | Chester A. Kowal | Republican | January 1, 1962 – December 31, 1965 | 1961 | ||
| 58 | Frank A. Sedita | Democratic | January 1, 1966 – March 5, 1973 |
| ||
| 59 | Stanley M. Makowski | Democratic | March 5, 1973 – December 31, 1977 | – | ||
| 60 | James D. Griffin | Democratic | January 1, 1978 – December 31, 1993 |
| ||
| 61 | Anthony Masiello | Democratic | January 1, 1994 – December 31, 2005 |
| ||
| 62 | Byron Brown | Democratic | January 1, 2006 – October 15, 2024 |
| ||
| 63 | Christopher Scanlon | Democratic | October 15, 2024 – December 31, 2025 | |||
| 64 | Sean Ryan | Democratic | January 1, 2026 – | 2025 |
Number of mayors by party affiliation
| Party | Mayors |
|---|---|
| Democratic | 31 |
| Democratic-Republican | 2 |
| Republican | 15 |
| Whig | 12 |
| No Party | 4 |
History
In 1853, the charter of the city was amended to include the town of Black Rock and the city proper was divided into thirteen wards. In addition, the term of city offices, including mayor changed from a one-year term to a two-year term and was elected directly by the people.[3]
Mayoral elections
(winners are in bold)
| Date | Candidates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 8, 1881 | Grover Cleveland | Milton Beebe | |||
| 15,120 | 11,528 | ||||
| January 9, 1883 | John B. Manning | Robert R. Hefford | |||
| 11,036 | 7,321 | ||||
| November 6, 1973 | Stanley M. Makowski | Stewart M. Levy | John A. Westra | Patrick W. Giagnacova | Ira Liebowitz |
| 77,569 | 24,423 | 2,640 | 1,147 | 597 | |
| November 2, 1993 | Anthony Masiello | Richard A. Grimm | Eugene Fahey | ||
| 36,092 | 9,277 | 7,566 | |||
| November 8, 2005 | Byron Brown | Kevin Helfer | Judith Einach | Charles Flynn | |
| 46,613 | 19,853 | 3,525 | 3,082 | ||
| November 3, 2009 | Byron Brown | Michael P. Kearns | |||
| 17,728 | 158 | ||||
| November 5, 2013 | Byron Brown | Sergio Rodriguez | |||
| 26,120 | 10,733 | ||||
| November 7, 2017 | Byron Brown | Mark J F Schroeder | Anita Howard | Terrence Robinson | Taniqua Simmons |
| 29,688 | 11,446 | 1,357 | 1,276 | 102 | |
| November 2, 2021 | Byron Brown | India Walton | Ben Carlisle | Jaz Miles | William O'Dell |
| 38,338 | 25,773 | 219 | 23 | 8 |
See also
References
- ^ "Dr. Ebenezer Johnson". Through The Mayor's Eyes, The Only Complete History of the Mayor's of Buffalo, New York, Compiled by Michael Rizzo. The Buffalonian is produced by The Peoples History Union. 2009-05-27. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
- ^ Grossman, Peter Z. (1987). American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 1-58798-283-8.
- ^ Fargo, Francis F. (1876). Memorial of the City and County Hall Opening Ceremonies. Buffalo, N.Y.: Courier Company, printers. p. 142. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
Elbridge G. Spaulding mayor of buffalo term.