Mayor of St. Louis


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-six individuals have held the office of mayor of St. Louis, four of whom — William Carr Lane, John Fletcher Darby, John Wimer, and John How — served non-consecutive terms. The most terms served by a mayor was by Lane, who served eight full terms plus the unexpired term of Darby. The current mayor is Lyda Krewson who took office April 18, 2017. Francis Slay is the longest-serving mayor of St. Louis. The second-longest-serving mayor was Henry Kiel, who took office April 15, 1913 and left office April 21, 1925, a total of 12 years and nine days over three terms in office. Two others — Raymond Tucker, and Vincent C. Schoemehl — also served three terms as mayor, but served seven fewer days. The shortest serving mayor was Arthur Barret, who died 11 days after taking office.

Duties and powers

St. Louis was incorporated as a city on December 9, 1822, shortly following the state of Missouri's admission to the Union four months prior. 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.

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. Primary elections are held in March prior to the general municipal election. The mayor is usually sworn during the first session of the Board of Aldermen two weeks after the election. The next election for mayor will be in 2021.
Under the original city charter, the mayor was elected to a one-year term. The mayor served a two-year term after the adoption of a new city charter in 1859. 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. The mayor is not term limited.

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 and gallery

#MayorTook officeLeft office PartyTerms
1William Carr LaneIndependent6
2Daniel PageIndependent4½
3John W. JohnsonWhig1½
4John Fletcher DarbyWhig2½
—Wilson PrimmWhig—
1William Carr LaneWhig2½
4John Fletcher DarbyWhig1
5John D. DaggettWhig1
6George MaguireDemocratic1
7John WimerDemocratic/Workingmen's1
8Bernard PratteWhig2
9Peter G. CamdenKnow Nothing1
10Bryan MullanphyDemocratic1
11John KrumDemocratic1
12James G. BarryDemocratic1
13Luther Martin KennettWhig3
14John HowDemocratic2
15Washington KingKnow Nothing1
14John HowDemocratic1
7John WimerEmancipation1
16Oliver FilleyRepublican2
17Daniel G. TaylorRepublican1
18Chauncey FilleyRepublican½
—Ferdinand W. Cronenbold—
19James ThomasRepublican2½
20Nathan ColeRepublican1
21Joseph BrownWar Democrat2
22Arthur BarretDemocratic⅓
—Herman Rechtien—
23James H. BrittonDemocratic⅓
24Henry OverstolzIndependent1⅓
25William L. EwingRepublican1
26David R. FrancisDemocratic1
—George W. AllenDemocratic—
27Edward A. NoonanDemocratic1
28Cyrus WalbridgeRepublican1
29Henry ZiegenheinRepublican1
30Rolla WellsDemocratic2
31Frederick KreismannRepublican1
32Henry KielRepublican3
33Victor J. MillerRepublican2
34Bernard F. DickmannDemocratic2
35William D. BeckerRepublican½
36Aloys P. KaufmannRepublican1½
37Joseph DarstDemocratic1
38Raymond TuckerDemocratic3
39Alfonso J. CervantesDemocratic2
40John PoelkerDemocratic1
41James F. ConwayDemocratic1
42Vincent C. SchoemehlDemocratic3
43Freeman Bosley Jr.Democratic1
44Clarence HarmonDemocratic1
45Francis SlayDemocratic4
46Lyda KrewsonIncumbentDemocratic1

which is the highest occupiable in the building

Other high offices held

This is a table of governorships, congressional and other federal offices, and ranking diplomatic positions in foreign countries held by St. Louis mayors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Missouri.
MayorMayoral termOther offices heldSources
William Carr Lane1823-1829
1837-1840		Missouri State Representative
Governor of New Mexico Territory
John Fletcher Darby1835-1837
1840-1841		Missouri State Senator
U.S. Representative
Luther Martin Kennett1850-1853U.S. Representative
Nathan Cole1869-1871U.S. Representative
Joseph Brown1871-1875Missouri State Senator
James H. Britton1875-1876Missouri State Representative
David R. Francis1885-1889Governor of Missouri*
U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Ambassador to Russia
Henry Ziegenhein1897-1901Missouri State Representative ;
James F. Conway1977-1981Missouri State Representative
Missouri State Senator†

Living former mayors

, five former mayors were alive, the oldest being James F. Conway . The most recent death of a former mayor was that of John H. Poelker, on February 9, 1990.
NameMayoral termDate of birth
James F. Conway1977-1981June 27, 1932
Vincent C. Schoemehl1981-1993October 30, 1946
Freeman Bosley, Jr.1993-1997July 20, 1954
Clarence Harmon1997-20011940
Francis Slay2001-2017March 18, 1955