# Mayor of Galveston

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Government :
vte :
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. | 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 | 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 | — | |