List of Mayors of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Mayors of Bethlehem

List of Mayors of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Section Title: Mayors of Bethlehem
Table Section Text: None

Mayor	Term Begins	Term Ends	Notes

Archibald Johnston	1918	1921	First Mayor of Bethlehem (4 years). A graduate of Lehigh University, Republican Mayor Johnston was active in all areas of Bethlehem life, including Vice President of Bethlehem Steel.

James M. Yeakel	1922	1930	(8 years). During the term of James Yeakel the Hill to Hill bridge opened in 1924 and the Daily Times merges with the Globe to form the Bethlehem Globe-Times.

Robert Pfeifle	1930	1950	(20 years in office): Robert Pfeifle began his term with a massive campaign to close speakeasies, brothels, and confiscate illegal liquor during Prohibition.

Earl E. Schaffer	1950	1962	(12 years in office): Earl E. Schaffer accomplishments included identifying the need for new City Hall complex, expandeding recreation facilities, identifying need for strong-mayor government, adopting earned income tax, completing a new sewage plant, building the Penn Forest Dam, completing the Penn Forest Reservoir, and creating Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority.

H. Gordon Payrow, Jr.	1962	1974	(12 years in office): Republican Gordon Payrow was the first mayor to serve under Bethlehem's strong mayor form of government. During his term in off construction of Route 378 began in 1966.

Gordon Mowrer	1974	1978	(4 years): Democrat Gordon Mowrer has been credited with restoring the historic character of Bethlehem and preserving the city's downtown. Under his term Victorian streetlights were introduced.

Paul Marcincin	1978	1987	(9 years in office): Democratic candidate Marcinin was elected mayor in November 1977 after being a member of city council for 12 years.

Gordon Mowrer	January 14, 1987	1987	Former Mayor Gordon Mowrer was appointed interim mayor by the council when it was determined that Mayor Marcincin's third election was illegal.

Kenneth Smith	1988	October 1997	(9 years in office): Republican candidate Ken Smith was elected in November 1987, first to serve the remainder of Marcincin's unexpired term, and then elected for two subsequent terms.

Paul Marcincin	October 1997	January 1998	Former Mayor Paul Marcincin was appointed interim mayor by the council from October 1997 to January 1998 as Mayor Smith had resigned early.

Don Cunningham	1998	March 2003	In November 1997, Democratic Councilman Don Cunningham defeated Republican Councilman Otto Ehrsam in the mayoral election. In March 2003, Cunningham resigned as Mayor of Bethlehem after serving only 14 months of his second term to become Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of General Services under Governor Ed Rendell.

James Delgrosso	March 12, 2003	January 5, 2004	James Delgrosso was appointed by the council to serve the remaining 300 days of Donald Cunningham's term (March 12, 2003 – January 5, 2004).

John B. Callahan	January 5, 2004	January 7, 2014	John Callahan won the Democratic primary and then the mayoral general election in November 2003 for the remaining portion of Cunningham's unexpired term (John Callahan had 1,973 votes to the Acting Mayor James A Delgrosso's 1,959 votes in the primary).

Robert Donchez	January 6, 2014	Present	Donchez won the Democratic primary that was held May 21, 2013. No Republican ran in the 2013 election.

Sentence(s)

John B. Callahan was the Mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

final_sentence: John B. Callahan was the Mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.