Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut

The following table lists the individuals who served as mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, their political party affiliations, and their dates in office, as well as other information.[1]

Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut
Incumbent Luke Bronin since January 1, 2016
Type	Mayor
Formation	June 18, 1774
First holder	Thomas Seymour

History

The city of Hartford switched from a mayor–council government to a council–manager government in 1947.[2] The mayor was chosen from among the city council until 1969, when the mayor began to be directly elected in partisan elections.[2][3]

In the 1990s and early 2000s, there were three unsuccessful efforts to amend to city charter to switch from a "weak mayor" system to a "strong mayor" system.[2] Advocates for reform argued a switch to a strong-mayor system would "ameliorate the sense of citizen frustration with the Hartford government and the many problems facing the city," such as a significant drop in the city's population (11.1% from 1990–1994, the largest drop for a large U.S. city), crime, a broken school system (which had been taken over by the state), an overstaffed and costly fire department, and a scandal-ridden police department, as well as lackluster economic development.[2][3] Under the system then in place, the mayor had no vote in the city council, and had only the power to veto council legislation.[2] The city council was also solely responsible for hiring or firing the city manager, with the mayor having no formal role.[2] The mayor also lacked effective executive power; it was the city manager who appointed and supervised department heads.[2] The mayor could only hire and fire his own secretary.[3] Moreover, the mayor's salary was very low, $30,000, which discouraged qualified candidates from running.[3] Because of this system, the mayor's influence was based solely on his "ability to cobble together a council coalition," and the mayor's functions were mostly those of "a policy advocate rather than a player in policy implementation."[2]

in 2000, proposed charter revisions written by a Charter Revision Commission would have eliminated the city manager, made the mayor the chief executive of the city, increase the mayor's salary from $30,000 to $105,000, increased the size of the city council (from nine to fifteen), and switched to elections of council members by ward rather than at-large.[3] The proposed charter revisions were put to a vote in a city special election; the majority of voters supported the revisions, but the revision fell short of the required 15% of all registered voters, and so the proposal failed.[3]

In January 2002, shortly after taking office, mayor Eddie A. Perez—an advocate for a strong-mayor government—formed a new fifteen-member Charter Review Commission to review the charter and recommend changes.[2] The commission recommended several changes, many of which had been recommended by the previous commission. The revision proposed shifted to a strong-mayor system in which the mayor would serve as chief executive officer and chief operating officer of the city, appoint a majority of the board of education, appoint all department heads, remove department heads (with the approval of six council members), and prepare and present the annual city budget to the council. On November 5, 2002, the revisions went to a city vote, and all were approved, with about 77% of voters approving the changes, effective with the 2003 election.[2][3]

List of mayors

The following table lists the individuals who served as mayor of Hartford, Connecticut.[1]

#	Name	Party	Served	Notes
1	Thomas Seymour	Federalist	June 18, 1774 – May 28, 1812	Resigned
2	Chauncey Goodrich	Federalist	June 8, 1812 – September 9, 1815	Died in office; Served simultaneously as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
3	Jonathan Brace	Federalist	September 9, 1815 – November 22, 1824
4	Nathaniel Terry	Whig	November 22, 1824 – March 28, 1831
5	Thomas Scott Williams	Whig	March 28, 1831 – April 27, 1835
6	Henry Leavitt Ellsworth	Democratic	April 27, 1835 – June 15, 1835	Resigned
7	Jared Griswold	Whig	June 15, 1835 – November 22, 1835	Died in office
8	Jeremy Hoadley	Whig	November 23, 1835 – April 18, 1836
9	Henry Hudson	Whig	April 18, 1836 – April 20, 1840
10	Thomas Kimberly Brace	Whig	April 20, 1840 – April 17, 1843	Resigned
11	Amos M. Collins	Democratic	April 17, 1843 – April 19, 1847
12	Philip Ripley	Democratic	April 19, 1847 – April 21, 1851
13	Ebenezer Flower	Democratic	April 21, 1851 – April 18, 1853
14	William Jas. Hamersley	Democratic	April 18, 1853 – April 17, 1854
15	Henry C. Deming	Democratic	April 17, 1854 – April 12, 1858
16	Timothy M. Allyn	Republican	April 12, 1858 – April 8, 1860
17	Henry C. Deming	Democratic	April 9, 1860 – February 27, 1862	Resigned
18	Charles S. Benton	Democratic	February 10, 1852 – April 14, 1862	Elected by Common Council
19	William Jas. Hamersley	Democratic	April 14, 1862 – April 11, 1864
20	Allyn S. Stillman	Republican	April 11, 1864 – April 9, 1866
21	Charles R. Chapman	Democratic	April 9, 1866 – April 1, 1872
22	Henry C. Robinson	Republican	April 1, 1872 – April 6, 1874
23	Joseph H. Sprague	Democratic	April 6, 1874 – April 1, 1878
24	George G. Sumner	Democratic	April 1, 1878 – April 5, 1880
25	Morgan Bulkeley	Republican	April 5, 1880– April 2, 1888
26	John G. Root	Republican	April 2, 1888 – April 7, 1890
27	Henry C. Dwight	Republican	April 7, 1890 – April 4, 1892
28	William Waldo Hyde	Democratic	April 4, 1892 – April 2, 1894
29	Leveret Brainard	Republican	April 2, 1894 – April 6, 1896
30	Miles B. Preston	Democratic	April 6, 1896 – April 2, 1900
31	Alexander Harbison	Republican	April 2, 1900 – April 7, 1902
32	Ignatius A. Sullivan	Democratic	April 7, 1902 – April 4, 1904
33	William F. Henney	Republican	April 4, 1904 – April 7, 1908
34	Edward W. Hooker	Republican	April 7, 1908 – April 5, 1910
35	Edward L. Smith	Democratic	April 5, 1910 – April 2, 1912
36	Louis R. Cheney	Republican	April 2, 1912 – April 7, 1914
37	Joseph H. Lawler	Democratic	April 7, 1914 – April 4, 1916
38	Frank A. Hagarty	Republican	April 7, 1916 – April 7, 1918
39	Richard J. Kinsella	Democratic	April 2, 1918 – April 4, 1920
40	Newton C. Brainard	Republican	April 6, 1920 – May 2, 1922
41	Richard J. Kinsella	Democratic	April 4, 1922 – April 6, 1924
42	Norman C. Stevens	Republican	April 1, 1924 – May 1, 1928
43	Walter E. Batterson	Republican	April 3, 1928 – December 1, 1931
44	William J. Rankin	Democratic	November 3, 1931 – December 4, 1933
45	Joseph W. Beach	Republican	November 7, 1933 – December 3, 1935
46	John A. Pilgard	Democratic	November 5, 1935 – November 14, 1935	Died before taking oath of office
47	Thomas J. Spellacy	Democratic	December 3, 1935 – June 18, 1943	Elected to first term by Common Council; resigned in fourth term.
48	Dennis P. O'Connor	Democratic	June 24, 1943 – December 7, 1943	Elected by Common Council
49	William H. Mortensen	Republican	December 7, 1943 – December 4, 1945
50	Cornelius A. Moylan	Republican	December 4, 1945 – December 24, 1946	Died in office
51	Edward N. Allen	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 6, 1948	Elected by Common Council
52	Cyril Coleman	Democratic	January 6, 1948 – December 4, 1951
53	Joseph V. Cronin	Democratic	December 4, 1951 – December 1, 1953
54	Dominick J. DeLucco	Democratic	1953–1955
55	Joseph V. Cronin	Democratic	1955–1957
56	James H. Kinsella	Democratic	1957–1960
57	Dominick J. DeLucco	Democratic	November 14, 1960 – December 5, 1961	Deputy mayor, succeeded to office
58	William E. Glynn	Democratic	December 5, 1961 – December 7, 1965
59	George B. Kinsella	Democratic	December 7, 1965 – December 5, 1967
60	Antonina Uccello	Republican	December 5, 1967 – April 12, 1971	Resigned to take U.S. Department of Transportation post; City's first female mayor; first female mayor of a state capital[4]
61	George A. Athanson	Democratic	April 12, 1971 – December 1, 1981	Deputy mayor, succeeded to office
62	Thirman L. Milner	Democratic	December 1, 1981 – December 1, 1987	City's first black mayor, and first black elected mayor in New England[5]
63	Carrie Saxon Perry	Democratic	December 1, 1987 – December 7, 1993	City's first black female mayor, and first black female elected mayor of a major Northeastern city[6]
64	Michael P. Peters	Democratic	December 7, 1993 – December 4, 2001
65	Eddie A. Perez	Democratic	December 4, 2001 – June 26, 2010	Resigned after being convicted on federal corruption charges[7] City's first Hispanic mayor[8]
66	Pedro Segarra	Democratic	June 26, 2010 – December 31, 2015	City Council president, succeeded Perez; city's first openly gay mayor[9]
67	Luke Bronin	Democratic	January 1, 2016–present

References

1. Kevin Flood, Mayors of Hartford, HartfordHistory.net (retrieved April 26, 2015).
2. H. George Frederickson, Gary Alan Johnson & Curtis H. Wood, The Adapted City: Institutional Dynamics and Structural Change (M.E. Sharpe: 2004), pp. 145–47.
3. Wendy L. Hassett, "Hartford: Politics Trumps Professionalism" in More Than Mayor or Manager: Campaigns to Change Form of Government in America's Large Cities (James H. Svara & Douglas J. Watson eds., Georgetown University Press: 2010), pp. 70–75.
4. Editorial, Trail-Blazing Former Hartford Mayor Ann Uccello Turns 90, Hartford Courant (May 18, 2012).
5. Thirman Milner (born October 29, 1933), Hartford Courant.
6. The 1993 Elections: Connecticut; Mayor Perry Is Denied a Fourth Term by Voters in Hartford, New York Times (November 4, 2001).
7. Michael Winter, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez resigns after corruption conviction, USA Today (June 18, 2010).
8. Jenna Carlesso, Former Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez Sentenced To Three Years in Prison, Hartford Courant (September 15, 2010).
9. Jenna Carlesso, Hartford Mayor Segarra Honored By Out Magazine, Hartford Courant (November 17, 2010).