# List of mayors of Newark, New Jersey

The mayor of Newark is the head of the executive branch of government of Newark, New Jersey, United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint deputy mayors, department heads, and aides; and approve or veto ordinances passed by the Municipal Council.
Newark, New Jersey, was founded in 1666 and became a township on October 31, 1693, and granted a Royal charter on April 27, 1713. It was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, and reincorporated as city in 1836. The city is governed within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Mayor-Council Plan C form of local government, which became effective as of July 1, 1954, after the voters of the city passed a referendum held on November 3, 1953.
The mayor of Newark is elected for a four-year term. Municipal elections (for mayor and municipal council) are nonpartisan and are held on the 2nd Tuesday in May. Mayor Ras Baraka was first elected in the Newark mayoral election on May 13, 2014.

## Mayors

| # | Mayor | Term start | Term end | Party | Notes |
| 1 | William Halsey | 1836 | April 13, 1837 | Whig | William Halsey was the first mayor of Newark. |
| 2 | Theodore Frelinghuysen | April 13, 1837 | 1838 | Whig | |
| 3 | James Miller | 1838 | 1840 | Whig | |
| 4 | Oliver Spencer Halstead | 1840 | 1841 | Whig | |
| 5 | William Wright | 1841 | 1843 | Whig | |
| 6 | Stephen Dod | 1844 | April 3, 1845 | Whig | |
| 7 | Isaac Baldwin | April 3, 1845 | April 21, 1846 | Whig | Baldwin did not attend the first meeting; he was unwell. |
| 8 | Beach Vanderpool | April 21, 1846 | 1848 | Whig | |
| 9 | James Miller | 1848 | January 7, 1851 | Whig | |
| 10 | James M. Quinby | January 7, 1851 | January 3, 1854 | Whig | |
| 11 | Horace J. Poinier | January 3, 1854 | 1857 | Whig | |
| 12 | Moses Bigelow | 1857 | 1864 | Democratic | |
| 13 | Theodore Runyon | 1864 | 1866 | Democratic | |
| 14 | Thomas Baldwin Peddie | 1866 | Jan 4, 1870 | Republican | |
| 15 | Frederick William Ricord | Jan 4, 1870 | Jan 6, 1874 | Republican | |
| 16 | Nehemiah Perry | Jan 6, 1874 | Jan 4, 1876 | Democratic | |
| 17 | Henry J. Yates | Jan 4, 1876 | January 6, 1880 | Republican | |
| 18 | William H. F. Fiedler | January 6, 1880 | January 3, 1882 | Democratic | |
| 19 | Henry Lang | January 3, 1882 | January 8, 1884 | Republican | |
| 20 | Joseph E. Haynes | January 8, 1884 | May 7, 1894 | Democratic | |
| 21 | Julius A. Lebkuecher | May 7, 1894 | May 1, 1896 | Republican | |
| 22 | James M. Seymour | May 1, 1896 | January 1, 1903 | Democratic | Sworn in May 4 |
| 23 | Henry Meade Doremus | January 1, 1903 | January 1, 1907 | Republican | |
| 24 | Jacob Haussling | January 1, 1907 | January 1, 1915 | Democratic | |
| 25 | Thomas Lynch Raymond | January 1, 1915 | Nov 20, 1917 | Republican | |
| 26 | Charles P. Gillen | Nov 20, 1917 | May 17, 1921 | Democratic | |
| 27 | Alexander Archibald | May 17, 1921 | Feb 11, 1922 | Democratic | Term ends with death |
| 28 | Frederick C. Breidenbach | Feb 11, 1922 | May 19, 1925 | Republican | Elected by board on the death of Archibald |
| 29 | Thomas Lynch Raymond | May 19, 1925 | Oct 6, 1928 | Republican | Term ends with death |
| 30 | Jerome T. Congleton | Oct 22, 1928 | May 16, 1933 | Republican | Appointed on the death of Raymond |
| 31 | Meyer C. Ellenstein | May 16, 1933 | May 19, 1941 | Republican | |
| 32 | Vincent J. Murphy | May 19, 1941 | May 17, 1949 | Democratic | |
| 33 | Ralph A. Villani | May 17, 1949 | May 15, 1953 | Republican | |
| 34 | Leo P. Carlin | May 15, 1953 | July 1, 1962 | Democratic | |
| 35 | Hugh Joseph Addonizio | July 1, 1962 | July 1, 1970 | Democratic | |
| 36 | Kenneth Allen Gibson | July 1, 1970 | July 1, 1986 | Democratic | Kenneth Allen Gibson was the first African-American Mayor of Newark. He was the first African American elected mayor of any major Northeastern United States city. |
| 37 | Sharpe James | July 1, 1986 | July 1, 2006 | Democratic | Served for 20 years. |
| 38 | Cory Booker | July 1, 2006 | October 31, 2013 | Democratic | Ran against Sharpe James in 2002 and lost; won in 2006 (incumbent James did not seek reelection). |
| 39 | Luis A. Quintana | November 4, 2013 | July 1, 2014 | Democratic | Became acting mayor after Cory Booker's resignation to become a Class 2 member of the United States Senate. |
| 40 | Ras Baraka | July 1, 2014 | Incumbent | Democratic | Ras Baraka is the current mayor of Newark. He has been serving for 10 years, 5 months and 2 days. |