The mayor of Galveston is the official head of the city of Galveston in the U.S. state of Texas. The incumbent mayor is Craig Brown, who was elected in 2020, re-elected in 2022, and was re-elected to another three-year term on May 4, 2024. He took office in July 2020, succeeding the previous mayor, Jim Yarbrough.
History
Local politics in Galveston have a tradition of being nonpartisan. There are no party labels on local ballots.
Commission government
When Galveston originated the commission form of government, starting the year 1901, the mayor officially held the title of "Mayor-President" and was president of the board of commissioners. Galveston's first mayor under the commission system was William T. Austin, who served for four years.
Council-manager government
The city of Galveston has had a council-manager system of government since its adoption of the form in 1961.
List of mayors and mayor-presidents of the board of commissioners
Below is a list of Galveston's mayors and presidents of the Board of Commissioners.
| No. | Image | Mayor | Term start | Term end | Party | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Melville Allen | March 1839 | June 1840 | Democratic | First Mayor of Galveston | |
| 2 | John H. Walton | June 1840 | May 1841 | — | ||
| 3 | John Melville Allen | 1841 | 1842 | Democratic | ||
| 4 | James M. Branham | 1842 | 1843 | — | Announced a curfew for all blacks, free and slave, in the city of Galveston that prohibited being in public after 8pm without a permit and forbade being in public after 10pm in all cases. | |
| 5 | John Melville Allen | 1843 | 1846 | Democratic | ||
| 6 | John Seabrook Sydnor | 1846 | 1847 | — | Plantation owner that operated "the largest slave market west of New Orleans in the heart of Galveston". | |
| 7 | Joseph Bates | 1848 | 1848 | Whig | Fought in the Second Seminole War, was a representative of the Alabama legislature. | |
| 8 | Hamilton Stuart | 1849 | 1852 | Democratic | Founder of the Galveston Civilian, once argued "that the products of slave labor sustain the commerce of the world, civilization and Christianity." | |
| 9 | Michael Seeligson | 1853 | June 1853 | — | Resigned in June. | |
| 10 | Willard B. Richardson | 1853 | 1854 | — | Mayor pro tempore, editor, partner and proprietor of the Galveston News. | |
| 11 | James Cronican | 1854 | 1855 | — | Had previously represented the district of Galveston in the First Texas Legislature from February 1846 to December 1847. | |
| 12 | James Edward Haviland | 1855 | 1856 | — | ||
| 13 | .jpg)
|
John Henry Brown | 1856 | 1857 | Democratic | Later became the mayor of Dallas. |
| 14 | Thomas Miller Joseph | 1858 | 1862 | Democratic | Leslie A. Thompson was claimed to be the mayor in 1858 in some later sources. However, he is only mentioned as a city alderman in 1856 and 1857. | |
| Vacant | 1863 | 1863 | ||||
| 15 | Charles Henry Leonard | 1864 | 1867 | Democratic | Former soldier of the Texian Army, fought to suppress the Córdova Rebellion and Native American revolts in 1838 under General Rusk. | |
| 16 | J. C. Haviland | 1867 | June 17, 1867 | — | Major General Charles Griffin, commander of the Fifth Military District, ordered Haviland to disband the city's entire police force. Haviland was removed from office by Griffin as he was considered "an impediment to reconstruction" on June 17, 1867. | |
| 17 | Isaac G. Williams | 1867 | 1869 | — | Appointed to fill the vacancy after Haviland was removed from office. | |
| 18 | James A. McKee | 1869 | March 6, 1871 | Republican | ||
| 19 | Albert Somerville | June 5, 1871 | 1873 | — | ||
| 20 | Charles W. Hurley | 1873 | 1875 | — | ||
| 21 | Robert L. Fulton | 1875 | 1877 | Democratic | ||
| 22 | D. C. Stone | 1877 | 1879 | — | ||
| 23 | Charles Henry Leonard | 1879 | 1881 | Democratic | ||
| 24 | L. C. Fisher | 1881 | 1883 | — | ||
| 25 | Robert L. Fulton | 1883 | 1893 | Democratic | ||
| 26 | Ashley Wilson Fly | 1893 | 1899 | — | ||
| 27 | Walter Charles Jones | 1899 | 1900 | — | Mayor during the Great Storm of 1900. | |
| 28 | William T. Austin | 1901 | 1905 | — | First mayor under the commission plan. Died in office. | |
| 29 | Henry A. Landes | 1905 | 1909 | — | Elected as mayor-president after Austin's death. | |
| 30 | Lewis Dallam Fisher | 1909 | 1917 | — | Under his administration the seawall was first built. | |
| 31 | Isaac Herbert Kempner | 1917 | 1919 | — | Early advocate of the commission form of government. | |
| 32 | Harry O. Sappington | 1919 | 1921 | — | ||
| 33 | Charles H. Keenan | 1921 | 1923 | — | ||
| 34 | Baylis Earle Harriss | 1923 | 1925 | — | ||
| 35 | John Elias Pearce | 1925 | 1935 | — | ||
| 36 | Adrian F. Levy | 1935 | 1939 | — | ||
| 37 | Brantly Callaway Harris | 1939 | 1942 | — | ||
| 38 | Henry W. Flagg | 1942 | 1943 | — | ||
| 39 | George W. Frazer | 1943 | 1947 | — | ||
| 40 | Herbert Yemon Cartwright Jr. | 1947 | 1955 | — | ||
| 41 | George Roy Clough | 1955 | 1959 | — | ||
| 42 | Herbert Yemon Cartwright Jr. | 1959 | 1960 | — | ||
| 43 | Edward Schreiber | 1961 | 1962 | — | ||
| 44 | Theodore B. Stubbs | 1962 | 1963 | — | ||
| 45 | Edward Schreiber | 1964 | 1970 | — | ||
| 46 | Marcus Lamar Ross | 1971 | 1973 | — | ||
| 47 | Ralph Albert Apfell | 1973 | 1977 | — | ||
| 48 | Elias "Gus" Manuel | 1978 | February 2, 1984 | — | Died in office. | |
| 49 | Janice Reddig Coggeshall | 1984 | 1989 | — | ||
| 50 | Barbara Krantz Crews | 1990 | 1996 | — | ||
| 51 | Henry Freudenburg III | 1996 | 1998 | — | ||
| 52 | Roger Reuben "Bo" Quiroga | 1998 | 2004 | — | ||
| 53 | 
|
Lyda Ann Thomas | 2004 | 2010 | — | |
| 54 | Joe Jaworski | 2010 | 2012 | Democratic | ||
| 55 | Lewis S. Rosen | June 22, 2012 | 2014 | — | ||
| 56 | James D. "Jim" Yarbrough | 2014 | July 15, 2020 | Democratic | ||
| 57 | Craig K. Brown | July 2020 | Present | — |
References
- "Galveston Mayor - Craig Brown". City of Galveston, Texas. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- "Galveston Mayor Craig Brown announces third bid". The Daily News. June 14, 2023.
- Grunau, Sarah (May 6, 2024). "Galveston County elections: city council candidate considering calling recount after loss by one vote". Houston Public Media.
- "Galveston interim Mayor Brown seeks to stave off challenges from ex-mayor, three other candidates". Houston Chronicle. October 21, 2020.
- "In unusual move, county GOP backs Quiroga for mayor". The Daily News. November 25, 2020.
- Rice, Bradley R. (April 1975). "The Galveston Plan of City Government by Commission: The Birth of a Progressive Idea". The Southwestern Historical Quarterly. 78 (4): 365–408. JSTOR 30238355.
- Rice, Bradley R. "Commission Form of City Government". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.
- ^ Hornady, J. R. (1911). "Amazing Growth of a New Idea; How Four Cities Found Freedom and Prosperity in the Commission Plan Initiated by Galveston, Texas". Uncle Remus's Home Magazine. Atlanta, Georgia: Georgia State University. p. 10.
- "City History". City of Galveston. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- Wheeler, Kenneth W. (1968). To Wear a City's Crown; the Beginnings of Urban Growth in Texas, 1836-1865. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 74 – via The Wayback Machine.
The incumbent mayor, John B. Allen, a professional revolutionist who had been with Lord Byron when he died in Greece and who had been a military hero at the Battle of San Jacinto, was a dedicated democrat.
- Torget, Andrew J. ""Mayor's Office," Civilian and Galveston Gazette, April 16, 1842". Texas Slavery Project. University of Virginia. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
- ^ Wheeler, Kenneth W. (1968). To Wear a City's Crown; the Beginnings of Urban Growth in Texas, 1836-1865. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 108 – via The Wayback Machine.
- Ragan, Cooper K. (November 1, 1994). "Joseph Bates". Texas State Historical Association.
- Anonymous (June 9, 2020) Galveston Civilian Texas State Historical Association
- Darst, Maury (1995) Galveston News Texas State Historical Association
- City of Galveston Planning Commission. "19P-016 Staff Report". City of Galveston.
- "James Cronican". Texas Legislators: Past & Present. Texas Legislative Reference Library.
- ^ Fayman, W. A.; Reilly, T. W. (1875). Fayman & Reilly's Galveston City Directory for 1875-76. Galveston: Strickland & Clark, Stationers, Printers and Lithographers – via University of North Texas Libraries.
- Richardson, W. D. (1859). Galveston Directory for 1859--60: with a Brief History of the Island, Prior to the Foundation of the City. The Successive Mayoralties of the City to the Present Time–Provisions of the Present Charter and Ordinances Now in Force. Also Some Account of the Various Public Institutions, Improvements, Commerce, &c., of the City. Galveston: The "News" Book and Job Office – via University of North Texas Libraries.
- "PGM Charles H. Leonard". Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Texas. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- Galveston Police Department. "2012 Annual Report - History of the Department". City of Galveston. p. 9.
- Various (January 7, 2021) . Coulter, John (ed.). The Complete Story of the Galveston Horror. United Publishers of America – via Project Gutenberg.
- Fisher, Lewis (December 15, 1912). "Galveston's Splendid System". San José, California: San Jose Mercury and Herald. p. 17 – via University of California, Riverside Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research.
- Hyman, Harold M. (1988). "I.H. Kempner and the Galveston Commission Government" (PDF). The Houston Review. 10 (2): 68 – via Houston History Magazine - University of Houston.