The mayor of Baltimore is the head of the executive branch of the government of the City of Baltimore, Maryland. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills, ordinances, or resolutions passed by the unicameralBaltimore City Council. In addition, the Mayor oversees all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and shares with the Governor of Maryland, responsibilities for the public school system within the city limits. As of December 8, 2020, the Office of the mayor of the City of Baltimore has changed hands 62 times with 53 different individuals in assuming office in the 223 years of city government, 1797–2020. The Office of the Mayor is located in the historic Baltimore City Hall located at 100 Holliday Street in downtown Baltimore.
History
James Calhoun was first elected in 1794 under the old Baltimore Town government with a group of town commissioners, and continued as the first mayor under the new City Charter in 1796–97, when the city was incorporated as the "City of Baltimore" under the authority of the Maryland General Assembly, which had originally authorized the port in 1706 and the creation of a town in 1729 and its laying out in early 1730. Calhoun continued to serve for another seven years until 1804.
Baltimore had been the county seat of surrounding Baltimore County, which had been "erected" (authorized) in 1659 as the fifth county designated in the Province of Maryland and first county in northern Maryland, since finagling a scheme to move the courthouse from old Joppa in 1767. The city was separated from the adjacent County by the provisions of the new second Maryland Constitution of 1851 and became an independent city with the same status as the other 22 (later 23) counties of Maryland. Then the seat for Baltimore County was moved after a referendum to Towsontown (later Towson), a few miles north of Baltimore, with the building there in 1854 of its first courthouse structure.
The mayor was originally elected to a term of two years under the original City Charter of 1796–1797. In 1920, the charter was amended so the mayor serves a term of four years.[1] There are no limits on the number of terms a mayor may serve.
For years, the mayor was elected in the year immediately preceding the presidential election. However, in 2012, the 2015 election was postponed to 2016 in order to better align with national elections. As a result, incumbent Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had her term extended an additional year. An earlier attempt to move the mayoral election to the same year as presidential elections was made in 1999, but went awry when the General Assembly refused to move the primary election. As a result, then-incumbent Martin O'Malley was nominated for a second term in 2003, then had to wait over a year to run in and win the general election.[2]
Baltimore has experienced major turnover in the mayor's office in recent years, in large part due to corruption scandals. In September 2015, incumbent mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced she would not seek re-election, setting up a hotly-contested primary election in the heavily Democratic city in 2016.[3]Maryland State SenatorCatherine Pugh defeated former mayor Shelia Dixon, who resigned from office in 2010 after pleading guilty to misappropriating holiday gift cards intended to serve poor Baltimore residents. Pugh easily defeated Republican Alan Walden and Green Party candidate Joshua Harris to become the 50th Mayor of Baltimore, and was sworn in on December 6, 2016. Pugh resigned on May 2, 2019, amid a scandal in which Pugh was accused of, and eventually pled guilty to charges of fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion regarding a scheme to sell copies of a self-published children's book series, known as Healthy Holly, to the University of Maryland Medical System without competition.[4] Upon Pugh's resignation, then-City Council President Jack Young took over as Mayor. In the 2020 Democratic primary, Young went up against Dixon, his successor as City Council President Brandon Scott, former T. Rowe Price executive and Obama administration Treasury Department official Mary Miller, former federal prosecutor and deputy Attorney General of Maryland Thiruvendran Vignarajah. Scott narrowly edged out Dixon, with Young finishing a distant fifth. Brandon Scott was elected with more than 70% of the vote in the November general election, and was sworn in as the city's 52nd Mayor on December 8, 2020.
Some well-known political and historical figures to have held the office of Mayor of Baltimore include:
Thomas Swann, member of the American Party, better known as the "Know-Nothings," served as Mayor from 1856 until 1860, was elected as the 33rd Governor of Maryland in 1866, and subsequently served in the House of Representatives for ten years until 1879.
William Pinkney Whyte, served as mayor from 1881 until 1883, served three non-consecutive terms as United States Senator, was elected the 35th Governor of Maryland in 1872, and as Attorney General of Maryland in 1887.
William Donald Schaefer, served four terms as Mayor, the most of anyone to hold the office, from 1971 until 1987, when he became the 58th Governor of Maryland. Schaefer would also serve as Comptroller of Maryland later in life from 1999 until 2007.
Kurt Schmoke, served three terms as Mayor from 1987 until 1999, was the first African-American to be elected Mayor of Baltimore.
Martin O'Malley, served two terms as Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 until 2007, when he became the 61st Governor of Maryland, was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2016, dropped out of contest in the winter of 2016 after failing to secure a strong finish in the Iowa caucuses.
Served as Mayor Ex Officio from October 1861 to January 1862, when Chapman was elected until the new First Branch organized and elected a President in January 1862. He was not recognized as an acting mayor until 1989.[5][6]
President of the First Branch of the City Council and served as Mayor Ex Officio from January to November 1862. Elected to three terms. His final term was reduced from two years to one year per the new Maryland Constitution.
City Council President. First African-American mayor of Baltimore. Succeeded to the mayoralty following Schaefer's resignation. Lost reelection to a full term.
City Council President. First female Mayor of Baltimore and first female elected Mayor of Baltimore. Succeeded to the mayoralty following O'Malley's resignation. Elected to a full term in 2007. Resigned from office in January 2010.
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