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The following is a list of the mayors of Des Moines, Iowa.

List of mayors

Image	Mayor	Term start and end	Political party	Notes
	Thompson Bird	1851 – 1852
	Benjamin Luce	October 1853 – 1854
	Lampson P. Sherman	1854–1855
	Barlow Granger	November 1855 – 1856
	William DeFord	November 1856 – 1857
	Charles W. Nash	1857 – May 1, 1857
	William H. McHenry	May 1, 1857 – 1858	Democratic
	H. E. Lemoreaux	1858–1859
	R. L. Tidrick	1859–1860
	P. H. W. Latshaw	1860–1861	Republican
	Ira Cook	1861	Republican	Resigned from office
	W. S. Barnes	1861–1862	Republican
	Thomas Cavanagh	1862–1863	Democratic
	William H. Leas	1863–1865	Republican
	George W. Cleveland	1865–1868	Republican
	Sumner F. Spofford	1868–1869
	J. H. Hatch	1869–1871	Republican
	Martin Tuttle	1871–1872
	J. P. Foster	1872–1873	Republican
	Giles H. Turner	1873 – March 16, 1874	Republican
	A. Newton	March 16, 1874 – 1876	Republican
	Giles H. Turner	March 1876 – 1877	Republican	Resigned from office
	George Sneer	1877–1880
	William H. Merritt	1880–1882
	P. V. Carey	1882 – March 15, 1886	Republican
	James Harvey Phillips	March 15, 1886 – 1888
	William Lytle Carpenter	1888 – March 17, 1890	Democratic
	John H. Campbell	March 17, 1890 – April 18, 1892	Republican
	C. C. Lane	April 18, 1892 – April 16, 1894	Republican
	Isaac L. Hillis	April 16, 1894 – 1896	Republican
	John MacVicar	1896 – April 2, 1900
	Jeremiah J. Hartenbower	April 2, 1900 – 1902
	James M. Brenton	1902–1904
	George W. Mattern	1904 – April 6, 1908
	Adoniram Judson Mathis	April 6, 1908 – April 4, 1910
	James R. Hanna	April 4, 1910 – April 3, 1916
	John MacVicar	April 3, 1916 – 1918
	Thomas Fairweather	1918–1920
	H. H. Barton	1920–1922
	C. M. Garver	1922 – April 5, 1926
	Fred H. Hunter	April 5, 1926 – April 2, 1928
	John MacVicar†	April 2, 1928 – November 15, 1928		Died in office
	E. H. Mulock	November 24, 1928 – 1930
	Parker L. Crouch	1930–1932
	Dwight N. Lewis	1932–1936
	Joseph Holmes Allen	1936–1938
	Dwight N. Lewis†	1938 – May 1, 1938		Died in office
	Mark L. Conkling	1938–1942
	John MacVicar Jr.	1942–1948
	Heck Ross	1948–1950
	A. B. Chambers	1950–1952
	Allan W. Denny	1952–1954
	Joseph Van Dresser	1954–1956
	Ray Mills	1956–1958
	Charles F. Iles	1958–1960
	Reinhold O. Carlson	1960–1962
	Charles F. Iles	1962–1966
	George C. Whitmer	1966–1968
	Thomas N. Urban	1968–1972
	Richard E. Olson	1972–1980
	Pete Crivaro†	1980 – December 24, 1986		Died in office
	George Nahas	January 7, 1987 – April 15, 1987		Long term former councilmember appointed by the city council on January 7, 1987, to serve as mayor until the November election but citizens secured sufficient votes to force a special election. Nahas served four months as mayor. First Lebanese mayor.
	John "Pat" Dorrian	April 15, 1987 – 1995		Won a special election on April 14, 1987, and sworn on April 15, 1987. Reelected in the November 1987 general election.
	Arthur Davis†	1995–1997		Died in office
	Robert D. Ray	1997	Republican	Former governor Ray served as interim mayor after the death of Davis
	Preston Daniels	1997–2004	Democratic	First African American mayor
	Frank Cownie	2004–2024
	Connie Boesen	January 2, 2024 – Present

See also

• Des Moines City Council

Notes

Works cited

• The History of Polk County, Iowa. Union Historical Company. 1880. pp. 670–676. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
• Dixon, J. M (1876). Centennial history of Polk County, Iowa. Des Moines State Register, Print. p. 259.
• Revised Ordinances of the City of Des Moines. Register & Tribune Company. 1916. pp. 43–60.
• "Local goverment [sic]; Mayors of noteworthy cities of the United States". Notable names in American history; a tabulated register. James T. White & Co. 1973. p. 453. ISBN 0-88371-002-1.

References

1. "The Rev. Bird named D.M.'s first mayor". The Des Moines Register. 20 May 1993. pp. 2Q–5Q. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
2. Porter, Will (1898). Annals of Polk County, Iowa, and City of Des Moines. Geo. A. Miller printing Company. p. 650. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
3. Andrews, Lorenzo F. (1908). Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa: And Reminiscences of Early Days, Volume 1. Baker-Trisler Company. pp. 322–323.
4. Andrews 1908, p. 418.
5. Andrews 1908, p. 286.
6. "City Council.; Last Session of Old Council—First Regular Meeting of New Council". The Iowa State Register. 17 March 1874. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
7. Porter 1898, p. 715.
8. "Our New Servants.; Mayor Phillips Assumed Reins of Government Yesterday". The Des Moines Register. 16 March 1886. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
9. Portrait and biographical album of Polk County, Iowa. Chicago: Lake City Publishing. 1890. p. 264. OL 23326400M.
10. Porter 1898, p. 487.
11. "Des Moines' New City Government". Sioux City Journal. 18 March 1890. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
12. "Mayor Lane of Des Moines Appoints his Officers". Ceder Repids Gazette. 19 April 1892. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
13. "Des Moines' New Council Goes In". Sioux City Journal. 17 April 1894. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
14. "The city has new mayor". The Des Moines Register. 3 April 1900. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
15. "New Officials at Des Moines remove police; First act of new administration is to discharge Chief of Police, Captain and two Detectives". Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. 7 April 1908. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
16. "New Council Organizes; Mathis out". Des Moines Tribune. 4 April 1910. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
17. "New Council Sworn in". Sioux City Journal. 4 April 1916. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
18. "Hunter Regime in Power With Few Changes". The Des Moines Register. 6 April 1926. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
19. Churchill, G. W. (2 April 1928). "Test of Mayor's Pact With Mitchell May Come Thursday". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
20. Beam, Patrice K. "John MacVicar – The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa". uipress.lib.uiowa.edu. University of Iowa Press. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
21. "Mayor is Appointed". The Evening Star. Washington, D.C. Associated Press. 24 November 1928. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
22. "Senator Joseph Holmes Allen". Iowa Legislators Past and Present. Iowa Legislative Services Agency.
23. "Mayor Dwight N. Lewis dies; Heart Attack fatal at Home". The Des Moines Register. 1 May 1938. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
24. Yin, Victoria (12 July 2020). "Former Des Moines Mayor Thomas Urban dead at age 86". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
25. "Des Moines Mayor Dead at 73". Associated Press. 25 December 1986. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020.
26. "Newly Appointed Mayor George Nahas". Ottumwa Courier. January 7, 1987 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
27. ^ Osher, Chris (February 2, 1994). "Former City Council member Nahas dies". The Des Moines Register – via Newspapers.com.

• Lists of mayors of places in Iowa
• Mayors of Des Moines, Iowa