# Longest serving US mayor **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 2, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597 "2013-04-02T03:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/1 "2013-04-02T03:56:22Z")
Mayor Menino of Boston announced he’s not seeking reelection (I believe in 2014), once he leaves who will be the longest serving mayor in the US (limit to top 100 cities) ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/2 "2013-04-02T04:15:23Z")
I don’t know. Maybe Francis Slay. He’s been mayor of St. Louis since April 2001 (three four-year terms). He just won the Democratic primary and so will almost certainly get a fourth term, to become the longest serving STL mayor. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/3 "2013-04-02T04:21:10Z")
Is Menino the longest current mayor? (just noticed how my OP takes that as a given) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/4 "2013-04-02T04:43:52Z")
Michael Coleman has been Mayor of Columbus, Ohio since January 1, 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/5 "2013-04-02T05:05:09Z")
Elaine Scruggs has been mayor of Glendale, Arizona (#87) since 1993. ETA: Actually, she resigned in January, so not her. Paul Soglin in Madison, Wisconsin (#82) has been the mayor for 16 years in several periods going back to the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/6 "2013-04-02T05:29:04Z")
I think it’s Paul D. Fraim of Norfolk, Virginia. He was [elected in July 1994](http://www.norfolk.gov/index.aspx?NID=208). Menino looks like the longest-serving mayor in the top 100 cities currently, although depending on exactly when Elaine Scruggs took office he might have only taken that position in January. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/7 "2013-04-02T05:51:32Z")
Menino is not the longest serving mayor. It’s Leonard Scarcella of Stafford, Texas, whose been in office since 1969. Menino is, however, the longest currently serving Mayor of a city in the top 100 in terms of population. Here’s a list of long-serving mayors: Cities not in the top 100 Leonard Scarcella - Stafford, Texas - September 4, 1969 John H. Land - Apopka, Florida - January 1, 1971 (on his current term but he was originally took office as Mayor on January 1, 1950) Joseph P. Riley, Jr. - Charleston, South Carolina - December 15, 1975 Cities in the top 100 Thomas Menino - Boston, Massachusetts - July 12, 1993 Paul Fraim - Norfolk, Virginia - July 1, 1994 Miguel Pulido - Santa Ana, California - November 8, 1994 Michael Coleman - Columbus, Ohio - January 1, 2000 Harvey Hall - Bakersfield, California - January 2, 2001 Bill Bell - Durham, North Carolina - November 2001\*\* Allen Joines - Winston-Salem, North Carolina - November 2001\*\* Francis Slay - St. Louis, Missouri - April 17, 2001 Michael Bloomberg - New York, New York - January 1, 2002 R. T. Rybak - Minneapolis, Minnesota - January 1, 2002\* Bob Cashell - Reno, Nevada - November 5, 2002 Buddy Dyer - Orlando, Florida - February, 2003\*\* Robert Cluck - Arlington, Texas - May 2003\*\* Mick Cornett - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - March 2, 2004 Tom Barrett - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - April 15, 2004 Jerramiah Healy - Jersey City, New Jersey - November 12, 2004 (his term will end on June 30, 2013) Melvin “Kip” Holden - Baton Rouge, Louisiana - January 3, 2005 John Cook - El Paso, Texas - June 13, 2005 Mark Mallory - Cincinnati, Ohio - December 1, 2005 Byron Brown - Buffalo, New York - December 31, 2005 Frank Jackson - Cleveland, Ohio - January 2, 2006 Chris Coleman - St Paul, Minnesota - January 3, 2006 Pat Morris - San Bernardino, California - March 7, 2006 Cory Booker - Newark, New Jersey - July 1, 2006 Raul Salinas - Laredo, Texas - July 17, 2006 Bob Foster - Long Beach, California - July 18, 2006 Luke Ravenstahl - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - September 1, 2006 Cheryl Cox - Chula Vista, California - December 6, 2006 (her term will end on December 6, 2014) Special honorary mention goes to Hilmar Moore, Mayor of Richmond, Texas who took office on September 22, 1949 and who died, still in office, on December 4, 2012. And poor Elaine Scruggs, who toiled along as Mayor of Glendale, Arizona since 1993 and would have succeeded Menino as the longest-serving mayor of a top 100 city - except she resigned and was replaced in January of this year. So close. \*I’m assuming Bloomberg and Rybak both took office at noon local time, which would make Bloomberg senior by one hour. \*\*Date of election. I couldn’t find the date they took office. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/8 "2013-04-02T06:21:43Z")
**Nemo** -My OP specifically stated top 100. TBH, thought Charleston was in top 100. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/9 "2013-04-02T07:02:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Tom Barrett - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - April 15, 2004 Someone should start a “who’s been longest serving US mayor waaaaaaaay too fucking long” thread. This dick would win. Do some research on his retarded multimillion dollar downtown trolly he’s pushing if you don’t believe me! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/10 "2013-04-02T07:53:58Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > **Nemo** -My OP specifically stated top 100. TBH, thought Charleston was in top 100. I know. That’s why I included a separate list for mayors of the top 100 cities. But I included other mayors as a bonus. I would have guessed Charleston was in the top 100 but it’s not. Apparently it’s not even in the top 200. With a population of 122,689, Charleston’s in 208th place. City populations can be tricky. The Charleston metropolitan area is pretty big with a population of 664,607. But it’s split up into several cities including Charleston, North Charleston, Summerville, Goose Creek, and Mount Pleasant. As for Stafford, Texas and Apopka, Florida, they’re not small towns. They’re both substantial cities. Stafford is a suburb of Houston and Apopka is a suburb of Orlando. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/11 "2013-04-02T19:06:26Z")
I know you said US, but [Hurricane Hazel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_McCallion) deserves some mention. At 92 years old she has been mayor of Mississauga (Toronto suburb) for 34 years. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/12 "2013-04-02T19:34:29Z")
Mayor McCheese served as mayor of McDonaldland from 1971 until 2003. Then he and all the other residents except for Ronald mysteriously disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![d1rty\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@d1rty\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d1rty_d)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/13 "2013-04-08T15:50:08Z")
Mayor Sacco, North Bergen, NJ. Mayor since 91. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/14 "2013-04-12T00:13:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Mayor McCheese served as mayor of McDonaldland from 1971 until 2003. Then he and all the other residents except for Ronald mysteriously disappeared. Does O.J. have an alibi? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/15 "2013-04-12T00:57:07Z")
Not USA, but interesting nonetheless. [Hazel McCallion](http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/cityhall/mayor), mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, population 713,443 (6th largest city in Canada) for 34 years from 1978 to the present, plus a further three years from 1970 through 1973 as mayor of Streetsville that later was made into Mississauga, for a total of 37 years. Before that, she had experience as planning board member and as a reeve, and before that she had 19 years of experience in industry. She also played professional hockey. In short, she is a 92 year old [Superwoman](http://youtu.be/fY79KbCptTo). On edit: sorry Ike, I missed your post on Hurricane Hazel. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/16 "2013-04-12T16:39:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As for Stafford, Texas and Apopka, Florida, they’re not small towns. They’re both substantial cities. Stafford is a suburb of Houston and Apopka is a suburb of Orlando. It’s part of a conurbation with Orlando, but it’s not really a suburb. Anyway, there are only 25,000~ residents. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/17 "2013-04-12T18:15:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Anyway, there are only 25,000~ residents. My point was that it’s a real city and not just some little village with a few dozen people where everyone votes for Uncle Bob because he likes calling himself the Mayor. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/18 "2013-04-12T22:20:04Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Someone should start a “who’s been longest serving US mayor waaaaaaaay too fucking long” thread. This dick would win. > > Do some research on his retarded multimillion dollar downtown trolly he’s pushing if you don’t believe me! Such a winning argument! It’s a “retarded” [del]trolly trolley[/del] streetcar because… you and Scott Walker say it is. :dubious: As one website archly put it: “Progressive-minded cool kids clashed with budget-conscious old farts” over the streetcar proposal. People differing over a policy issue; sounds like politics to me. Which means that, whatever your non-clinical diagnosis :rolleyes: of the plan, if enough people in the City of Milwaukee (not talk-radio callers from suburban Milwaukee County who haven’t been into the city in years) like it – or at least don’t dislike it enough – Barrett gets to keep his job. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-serving-us-mayor/654597/19 "2013-04-12T23:21:33Z")
> [@Fucking press (re: WTC and Pentagon attacks)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-press-re-wtc-and-pentagon-attacks/81014/56): > > because… you and Scott Walker say it is. :dubious: Damn straight! Downtown Milwaukee is an incredibly small area for a big city, and it already has bus service. Spending oodles for a trolly for that area is ridiculous.