Mayor of San Jose

The Mayor of San Jose, officially the Mayor of the City of San José, is executive of the Government of the City of San Jose, California in the United States.

The mayor presides over the San Jose City Council, which is composed of 11 voting members, including the mayor. While the mayor is the head of the city council, they have no veto powers over legislation passed by the Council, as the city uses a council-manager form of government. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms.

65 people have served as mayor in San Jose since 1850, when California became a state following the American Conquest of California. Before the conquest, Californios served as Mayor of San Jose during the Spanish and Mexican eras since 1777. The current mayor is Democrat Matt Mahan, who took office in January 2023.

Mayors since 1850
Before 1967, mayors of San Jose were nominated and elected by the San Jose City Council.


 * 1) Josiah Belden 1850–1851
 * 2) Thomas White 1851–1854
 * 3) O. H. Allen 1854–1855
 * 4) Sherman Otis Houghton 1855–1856
 * 5) Lawrence Archer 1856
 * 6) John M. Murphy 1856
 * 7) George Givens 1856–1857
 * 8) Ranson G. Moody 1857–1858
 * 9) Peter O. Minor 1858–1859
 * 10) Thomas Fallon 1859–1860
 * 11) Richard B. Buckner 1860–1861
 * 12) Joseph W. Johnson 1861–1863
 * 13) John Alonzo Quinby 1863–1868
 * 14) Mark Leavenworth 1868–1870
 * 15) Adolph Pfister 1870–1873
 * 16) Bernard D. Murphy 1873–1877
 * 17) George B. McKee 1877–1878
 * 18) Lawrence Archer 1878–1880
 * 19) Bernard D. Murphy 1880–1882
 * 20) Charles J. Martin 1882–1884
 * 21) Campbell Thompson Settle 1884–1886
 * 22) Charles W. Breyfogle 1886–1887
 * 23) Samuel Watson Boring 1887–1890
 * 24) Samuel N. Rucker 1890–1894
 * 25) Paul P. Austin 1894–1896
 * 26) Valentine Koch 1896–1898
 * 27) Charles J. Martin 1898–1902
 * 28) George D. Worswick 1902–1906
 * 29) Henry D. Mathews 1906–1908
 * 30) Charles W. Davison 1908–1910
 * 31) Thomas Monahan 1910–1914
 * 32) Fred R. Husted 1914–1916
 * 33) Elmer E. Chase 1916–1918 1
 * 34) Charles M. O'Brian 1918–1920
 * 35) Albert C. Jayet 1920–1922
 * 36) M. E. Arnerich 1922–1924
 * 37) Joseph T. Brooks 1924–1926
 * 38) Dan W. Gray 1926–1928
 * 39) Fred Doerr 1928–1930
 * 40) W. L. Biebrach 1930–1932
 * 41) A. M. Meyer 1932–1934
 * 42) Charles Bishop 1934–1936
 * 43) Richard French 1936–1938
 * 44) Clyde L. Fischer 1938–1940
 * 45) Harry Young 1940–1944
 * 46) Earl Campbell 1944–1945
 * 47) Ernie Renzel 1945–1946
 * 48) Albert J. Ruffo 1946–1948
 * 49) Fred Watson 1948–1950
 * 50) Clark L. Bradley 1950–1952
 * 51) Parker Hathaway 1952–1954
 * 52) George Starbird 1954–1956
 * 53) Robert Doerr 1956–1958
 * 54) Louis Solari 1958–1960
 * 55) Paul Moore 1960–1962
 * 56) Robert Welch 1962–1964
 * 57) Joseph L. Pace 1964–1967

Popularly elected mayors (1967-present)
Since 1967, San Jose has elected its mayors by popular vote. Due to state laws regarding primary elections, political parties cannot nominate candidates for mayor, although candidates often choose to identify with a party. All registered candidates, regardless of party affiliation, compete in an election held in June of even-numbered years which are non-leap years. If no person gets over 50% of the popular vote, the top two candidates automatically move to a runoff election. Mayors are limited to two terms.

All elected mayors of San Jose have been members of the Democratic Party. The first elected mayor was Ron James and the first female mayor was Janet Gray Hayes.