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!