# How many US mayors can you name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557 "2007-10-22T13:56:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/1 "2007-10-22T13:56:28Z")
Me – two, Philly’s (of course), and NYC. Have no idea on Chicago, DC, LA, etc. This seems odd to me – back in the '70s, I could have named several more – were mayors more important then? Or just in office longer (Daley)? Any more, it seems like there has to be a scandal (Marion Berry) or some other major news event to bring a mayor, even the mayor of a major city, to national attention. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/2 "2007-10-22T14:06:19Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Me – two, Philly’s (of course), and NYC. Have no idea on Chicago, DC, LA, etc. This seems odd to me – back in the '70s, I could have named several more – were mayors more important then? Or just in office longer (Daley)? Any more, it seems like there has to be a scandal (Marion Berry) or some other major news event to bring a mayor, even the mayor of a major city, to national attention. [/QUOTE] What are you talking about? You named Chicago’s. Just don’t sweat the first or middle names and you should be good for a coupla more generations! For me its just Chicago and NY. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/3 "2007-10-22T14:07:06Z")
Four - Menino (Boston), Bloomberg (New York), Freeman (my tiny home town back in Lousiana), Chicago (Daley). ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/4 "2007-10-22T14:18:25Z")
My standard response to people who talk about how uneducated Americans are, because they don’t know who the names of the prime ministers of Luxembourg and Andorra, is “Name the mayors of some major American cities, aside from New York.” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/5 "2007-10-22T14:24:04Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] My standard response to people who talk about how uneducated Americans are, because they don’t know who the names of the prime ministers of Luxembourg and Andorra, is “Name the mayors of some major American cities, aside from New York.” [/QUOTE] … so … ? (Can’t help but notice you’re ducking the question here. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/6 "2007-10-22T14:46:14Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] Four - Menino (Boston),… [/QUOTE] For full credit on this one, you need his first name and nickname.Thomas “Mumbles” Menino ---
**Author:** ![Kerrigan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/49beb7/32.png) [@Kerrigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kerrigan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/7 "2007-10-22T15:02:41Z")
Oh… oh, wow. I’m ashamed. I can only name Daley, and that’s only because I went on vacation in Chicago earlier this year. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/8 "2007-10-22T15:10:29Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] For full credit on this one, you need his first name and nickname.Thomas “Mumbles” Menino [/QUOTE] That is why he has been so successful as the Boston major. No one has ever understood a word he has said so people give him the benefit of the doubt. Trying to figure out what he is talking about often causes people to come up with good ideas on their own which they can attribute to him. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/9 "2007-10-22T15:20:58Z")
Just the mayor of where I used to live, Mayor Mazzarella. Yes, because it reminded me of cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/10 "2007-10-22T15:47:37Z")
Only three: the mayor of the city I live in (Shepley), the major of Chicago (Daley, the younger) and NYC, (Bloomberg). The last is only because I am originally from the NY metropolitan area, though not the city proper. I have forgotten the name of the mayor of the NY town I actually lived in. And you know what? Even though I am one of those people who love knowledge for knowledge’s sake, I really don’t think that knowing mayor’s names, outside that of your own mayor, and perhaps that of a major, influential city nearby, is all that important. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/11 "2007-10-22T16:51:56Z")
Mayor McCheese Mayor Quimby Oh, and is Clint Eastwood still the mayor of something? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/12 "2007-10-22T18:27:44Z")
NYC, Chicago, Boston. If I think for a minute, I can tell you LA. That guy with the Spanish name, right? I only know Chicago because I just went there. People kept saying “Daley” and I was like, “I thought he was the mayor a long time ago??” Then I found out, different Daley. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/13 "2007-10-22T18:33:03Z")
Tom Leppert-Dallas. Bloomberg, Daley, and “that Mexican guy” who is the mayor of LA. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/14 "2007-10-22T21:42:47Z")
[QUOTE=missbunny] If I think for a minute, I can tell you LA. That guy with the Spanish name, right? [/QUOTE] Yep, Antonio Villaraigosa. The first Los Angeles mayor I remember is Sam Yorty, because he was mentioned on _Dragnet_ and other cop shows. Tom Bradley (the city’s first black mayor) and Richard Reardon also come to mind. I agree with **twickster** – I became aware of politics around 1967, and mayors seemed to be more prominent then. Maybe the impact of civil rights was one reason – I was living at the time in a suburb of Cleveland, and the “big city” of the county was electing “great-grandson of slave” Carl Stokes over “grandson of a president” Seth Taft. Even Richard Hatcher’s ascendancy to the mayor’s chair in the Indiana city of Gary was big news because he was (and still is) African-American (or, as he was styled at the time, a “Negro”). Philadelphia has Mayor John Street (I mostly know that because I’ve been in the city recently). My current hometown is currently deciding whether to retain Tony Roswarski, while Jan Mills is seeking another term in neighboring West Lafayette. Down in Indianapolis, Bart Peterson holds sway. Back in Cleveland, Frank Jackson is the man (his name appeared in some of the coverage of a recent school shooting there). Have we already forgotten Ray Nagin of New Orleans only two years after Hurricane Katrina dominated the news for weeks? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/15 "2007-10-23T00:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Have we already forgotten Ray Nagin of New Orleans only two years after Hurricane Katrina dominated the news for weeks? [/QUOTE] Good point on that one. That brings me to 5. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/16 "2007-10-23T01:09:56Z")
Two, NY and Chicago, but then I rarely read local news for any US city. I can name the mayor of Tokyo, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/17 "2007-10-23T03:04:56Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Have we already forgotten Ray Nagin of New Orleans only two years after Hurricane Katrina dominated the news for weeks? [/QUOTE] Yes we have, actually – the best I could do was “damn, I should know that guy’s name.” ---
**Author:** ![Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Key_Lime_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/18 "2007-10-23T03:11:55Z")
Without reading the thread… Daley (Chicago) Villaraigosa (LA) Hickenlooper (Denver) Nagin (NO) ? Bloomberg (NY) Gavin Newsom (SF) Anthony Williams ? (DC) ? I don’t think Jerry Brown is the mayor of Oakland anymore… nor Nyquist of Milwaukee Minneapolis’ mayor was on TV a lot after the bridge collapse, but his name didn’t stick with me. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/19 "2007-10-23T03:27:46Z")
For me, it’s only three: New York (Bloomberg), Chicago (Daley), and Detroit (Kwame Kilpatrick) ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557/20 "2007-10-23T03:36:27Z")
Let’s see: Newark, NJ (Booker) New York, NY (Bloomberg) East Brunswick, NJ (Neary) Pittsburgh, PA (Ravenstahl) Chicago, IL (Daley) New Orleans, LA (Nagin) That would be all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-mayors-can-you-name/423557.md?page=2)