DemDaily: Local Leadership
September 21, 2016
Decisions made at the local government level often have the most impact on our day-to-day lives but, in this cycle particularly, little attention has been paid to the leadership contests at the municipal level.
There are 19,522 municipal governments in the United States that run our towns and cities.
Most of the 758 major cities (populations of 50,000+) operate under the Mayor-City Council model, where officials are directly elected and the Mayor serves as leader of the executive branch, as well as budget and policy chief.
Length of terms, term limits and election dates vary according to individual city charters so elections are staggered throughout the country.
Municipal offices are a stronghold for Democrats, who accounted for 67% of the 100 largest cities' Mayors going into 2016. Of the approximately ¼ held by Republicans, 44% were up for office this year.
Although many cities have officially non-partisan races, we have assigned party designation to candidates based on their endorsements or public affiliations.
Of the six states holding mayor's races on November 8th, three (Arizona, Virginia, North Carolina) are presidential battleground states.
For your information, the final 12 major city mayoral contests - make your vote count at every level!
Top 100 Cities (rank by population)
|
State
|
City
|
Candidates
|
38 | Arizona | Mesa | John Giles (R/Nonpartisan), Incumbent running unopposed |
95 | Arizona | Scottsdale | Jim Lane (R/Nonpartisan), Incumbent Bob Littlefield |
34 | California | Fresno Incumbent Ashley Swearengin (R) not running |
Henry Perea (D/Nonpartisan), State Assembly Lee Brand (R/Nonpartisan), Former City Council |
52 | California | Bakersfield Incumbent Harvey Hall (R/Nonpartisan) not running |
Karen Goh, District Supervisor Kyle Carter |
57 | California | Santa Ana | Miguel Pulido (D/Nonpartisan), Incumbent Steve Rocco Ben Vazquez (D/Nonpartisan) |
64 | California | Stockton | Anthony Silva (R/Nonpartisan), Incumbent Michael Tubbs (D/Nonpartisan), Former City Council |
85 | California | Irvine Incumbent Steven Choi (R/Nonpartisan) not running |
Gang Chen (R/Nonpartisan) Mary Ann Gaido (D/Nonpartisan), City Council David Chey Katherine Daigle (R/Nonpartisan) Don Wagner (R/Nonpartisan), State Assembly |
97 | California | Fremont | Bill Harrison (D/Nonpartisan), Incumbent Lily Mei, City Council |
93 | Louisiana | Baton Rouge
Incumbent Kip Holden (D) not running
Primary Election November 8th General Election December 10th |
Bodi White (R), State Representative C. Denise Marcelle (D), State Representative Sharon Weston Broome (D), Former State Senator R.J. Bourgeois (R), Former City Council Rufus Craig (L) John Delgado (R), City Council Darryl Gissel (I) Braylon Hyde (R) Greg LaFleur (D) Byron Sharper (D) Cade Williams (I) |
26 | Maryland | Baltimore
Incumbent Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) not running |
Catherine Pugh (D), State Senate Majority Leader Alan Walden (R), Retired radio personality Joshua Harris (G)
Frank Logan (I)
Collins Otonna (I)
Nicholas Caminiti (I)
Chukwuemeka Egwu (I)
LaVern Murray (I)
Andre Powell (I)
Sarah Klauda (I)
|
86 | North Carolina | Winston-Salem | Allen Joines (D), Incumbent running unopposed |
39 | Virginia | Virginia Beach | William Sessoms (R/Nonpartisan) Incumbent George Furman III Richard Kowalewitch Don Weeks, former City Council |