Mayor of Columbus, Ohio

There have been 48 individuals that have served as mayor of Columbus, Ohio, serving 53 distinct mayoralties or consecutive terms in office. The first mayor of Columbus was Jarvis W. Pike.Template:Sfn He was appointed by the Burough Council of Columbus in 1816.Template:Sfn The first mayor of Columbus to be elected by popular vote was John Brooks in 1834.Template:Sfn Five mayors have served non-consecutive terms. Philo H. Olmsted is counted as both the 8th and 12th mayor,Template:Sfn Alexander Patton as both the 17th and 19th mayor,Template:Sfn James G. Bull as both the 22nd and 24th mayor,Template:Sfn George J. Karb as both the 30th and 39th mayor,Template:Sfn and Jack Sensenbrenner as both the 46th and 48th mayor.Template:Sfn Of the individuals appointed or elected as mayor, five have resigned from office - James Robinson, John Brooks, Warren Jenkins, John G. Miller, and Jim Rhodes. No mayor has died or become permanently disabled while in office. The shortest-serving former mayor is James Robinson, who served only eight months before resigning from office on September 11, 1827. The longest-serving mayor is Michael B. Coleman, who served 16 years and is the only African American to serve as mayor. Andrew Ginther is the current mayor. He took office on January 1, 2016.<ref name="Photo">Template:Cite news</ref>

Mayors of Columbus

File:Jim Rhodes in Bettsville, Ohio October 15, 1981.jpg

Jim Rhodes, 44th mayor of Columbus, and only former mayor to serve as Governor of Ohio

File:Mbcolumbus.jpg

Michael B. Coleman, 52nd mayor of Columbus, and the first African American to serve as mayor of Ohio's capital

Political parties

No. <ref group="n" name="numbering" />	Mayor		Took office	Left office	Party	Term	Previous office
1	Template:Css Image Crop	Jarvis W. Pike (1795–1854) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts		1 (1816)	Member of Columbus Burough Council (1816–1827)
						2 (1817)
2	Template:Css Image Crop	John Kerr (1778–1823) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts		3 (1818)	Member of Columbus Burough Council (1816–1823)
			4 (1819)
3	Template:Css Image Crop	Eli C. King Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts		5 (1820)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1816–1820)
						6 (1821)
						7 (1822)
4	Template:Css Image Crop	John Laughrey (1784– ) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts		8 (1823)
5	Template:Css Image Crop	William T. Martin (1788–1866) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts		9 (1824)	Recorder of Columbus (1823, 1834–1838)
			10 (1825)
			11 (1826)
6	Template:Css Image Crop	James Robinson Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Nowrap <ref group="n" name="resigned"/>		12 (1827)	Member of Columbus Burough Council (1823–1827)
7	Template:Css Image Crop	William Long (1781–1851) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts			Recorder of Columbus (1824–1827)
			13 (1828)
			14 (1829)
			15 (1830)
			16 (1831)
			17 (1832)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;" | 8	Template:Css Image Crop	Philo H. Olmsted (1793–1870) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Olmsted>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Whig	18 (1833)	Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834)
9	Template:Css Image Crop	John Brooks (1785–1869) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap <ref group="n" name="resigned" />		19 (1834)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;" | 10	Template:Css Image Crop	John Bailhache (1787–1857) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Whig	Ross County Common Pleas Court Judge (1825)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| 11	Template:Css Image Crop	Warren Jenkins Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Nowrap <ref group="n" name="resigned" />	Whig	20 (1836)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1835–1837)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;" | 12	Template:Css Image Crop	Philo H. Olmsted (1793–1870) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Olmsted/>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Whig	21 (1838)	Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| 13	Template:Css Image Crop	John G. Miller (1795–1871) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Nowrap <ref group="n" name="resigned" />	Whig	22 (1840)
14	Template:Css Image Crop	Thomas Wood (1782–1861) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Nowrap	Template:Dts		Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1828–1843)
15	Template:Css Image Crop	Abram I. McDowell (1793–1844) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts <ref group="n" name="one year two term" />		23 (1842)	Clerk for the Court of Common Pleas (1815–1836)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| 16	Template:Css Image Crop	Smithson E. Wright (1807–1881) Template:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Whig	24 (1843)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;" | 17	Template:Css Image Crop	Alexander Patton (1791–1857) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Whig	25 (1845)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1843–1849)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;" | 18	Template:Css Image Crop	Augustus S. Decker (1813–1872) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Whig
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;" | 19	Template:Css Image Crop	Alexander Patton (1791–1858) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Whig	26 (1847)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1843–1849)
27 (1849)
rowspan="5" style="background: Template:Party color;" | 20	Template:Css Image Crop	Lorenzo English (1819–1888) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Whig	28 (1851)	No previous experience in public office
29 (1853)
30 (1855)
31 (1857)
32 (1859)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">21	Template:Css Image Crop	Wray Thomas (1810–) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	33 (1861)	Ohio Representative from Delaware and Franklin County (1831–1832, 1833–1834)
34 (1863)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">22	Template:Css Image Crop	James G. Bull (1838–1927) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Bull>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	35 (1865)	No previous experience in public office
36 (1867)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">23	Template:Css Image Crop	George W. Meeker (1833–1890) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	37 (1869)	Justice of the Peace for Montgomery Township (1863–1869)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">24	Template:Css Image Crop	James G. Bull (1838–1927) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Bull/>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	38 (1871)	Mayor of Columbus (1865–1868)
39 (1873)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">25	Template:Css Image Crop	John H. Heitmann (1841–1894) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	40 (1875)	Ohio Representative from Franklin County (1874–1876)
41 (1877)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">26	Template:Css Image Crop	Gilbert G. Collins (1830–1885) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Republican	42 (1879)	City Attorney of Columbus (1873–1875)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">27	Template:Css Image Crop	George S. Peters (1846–1928) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	43 (1881)	No previous experience in public office
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">28	Template:Css Image Crop	Charles C. Walcutt (1838–1898) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Republican	44 (1883)	Member of Columbus Board of Education (1873–1894)
45 (1885)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">29	Template:Css Image Crop	Philip H. Bruck (1845–1920) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	46 (1887)	No previous experience in public office
47 (1889)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">30	Template:Css Image Crop	George J. Karb (1858–1937) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Karb>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	48 (1891)	Columbus Police Commissioner (1889–1890)
49 (1893)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">31	Template:Css Image Crop	Cotton H. Allen (1834–1900) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Democratic	50 (1895)	No previous experience in public office
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">32	Template:Css Image Crop	Samuel L. Black (1859–1929) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Nowrap	Democratic	51 (1897)	No previous experience in public office
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">33	Template:Css Image Crop	Samuel J. Swartz (1859–1905) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Republican	52 (1899)	Police Court Judge of Columbus (1897–1898)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">34	Template:Css Image Crop	John N. Hinkle (1854–1905) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Nowrap	Democratic	53 (1901)	No previous experience in public office
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">35	Template:Css Image Crop	Robert H. Jeffrey (1873–1961) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap <ref group="n" name="retired" /><ref group="n" name="ohio" />	Republican	54 (1903)	No previous experience in public office
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">36	Template:Css Image Crop	De Witt C. Badger (1858–1926) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Dts	Democratic	55 (1905)	U.S. Representative from Ohio (1903–1905)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">37	Template:Css Image Crop	Charles A. Bond (1873–1943) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Republican	56 (1907)	No previous experience in public office
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">38	Template:Css Image Crop	George S. Marshall (1869–1956) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Nowrap <ref group="n" name="lost" />	Republican	57 (1909)	Asst City Attorney of Columbus (1899–1909)
rowspan="3" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">39	Template:Css Image Crop	George J. Karb (1858–1937) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Karb/>Template:Sfn	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap	Democratic	58 (1911)	Franklin County Sheriff (1903–1909)
59 (1913)
60 (1915)
rowspan="3" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">40	Template:Css Image Crop	James J. Thomas (1868–1947) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap	Republican	61 (1919)	Member of Columbus City Council (1898–1901)
62 (1923)
63 (1927)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">41	Template:Css Image Crop	Henry W. Worley (1877–1938) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Dts	Democratic	64 (1931)	Member of Columbus City Council (1922–1932)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">42	File:Myron B. Gessaman.jpg	Myron B. Gessaman (1894–1975) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Republican	65 (1935)	Member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1934–1935)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">43	Template:Css Image Crop	Floyd F. Green (1900–1952) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Republican	66 (1939)	Member of Columbus City Council (1927–1931)
rowspan="3" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">44	Template:Css Image Crop	Jim Rhodes (1909–2001) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts <ref group="n" name="resigned" />	Republican	67 (1943)	City Auditor of Columbus (1939–1943)
68 (1947)
69 (1951)
	rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">45	Template:Css Image Crop	Robert T. Oestreicher (1894–1955) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Republican	President of Columbus City Council
	rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Colour	Template:Css Image Crop	Jack Sensenbrenner (1902–1991) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Sensenbrenner>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap	Democratic	No previous experience in public office
70 (1955)
rowspan="1" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">47	Template:Css Image Crop	Ralston Westlake (1907–1978) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap	Republican	71 (1959)	Member of Columbus City Council (1956–1959)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Colour	Template:Css Image Crop	Jack Sensenbrenner (1902–1991) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Sensenbrenner/>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap	Democratic	72 (1963)	Mayor of Columbus (1954–1960)
73 (1967)
rowspan="3" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">49	Template:Css Image Crop	Tom Moody (1929–2008) Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap	Republican	74 (1971)	Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge (1968–1971)
75 (1975)
76 (1979)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">50	Template:Css Image Crop	Buck Rinehart (1946–2015) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap <ref group="n" name="retired" />	Republican	77 (1983)	Franklin County Treasurer of Ohio (1976–1984)
78 (1987)
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">51	Template:Css Image Crop	Greg Lashutka (born 1944) Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap <ref group="n" name="retired" />	Republican	79 (1991)	City Attorney of Columbus (1978–1985)
80 (1995)
rowspan="4" style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Colour	Template:Css Image Crop	Michael B. Coleman (born 1954) Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap	Democratic	81 (1999)	President of Columbus City Council (1997–1999)
82 (2003)
83 (2007)
84 (2011)
rowspan="3" style="background: Template:Party color;"| Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">53	Template:Css Image Crop	Andrew Ginther (born 1975) <ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Photo"/>	Template:Nowrap	Template:Nowrap	Democratic	85 (2015)	President of Columbus City Council (2011–2015)
86 (2019)
87 (2023)

See also

• Government of Columbus, Ohio
• Green Lawn Cemetery – Numerous former mayors of Ohio's capital city are interred at this notable cemetery. It is located in the southern section of Columbus, Ohio.
• Timeline of Columbus, Ohio

Bibliography

Books

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite Lentz
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

Newspapers

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news

Further reading

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite HGOC
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite AIA Columbus 2
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite bookTemplate:Self-published inline

External links

• Template:Official website
• A Look Back: Columbus Mayors – A slide show of 37 images of Columbus mayors. Includes a list of all mayors with their respective terms in office. Provided by The Columbus Dispatch, a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio.
• Mayors of Columbus, Ohio 1816-2013 at Political Graveyard
• A Quarter Century of Mayoral Memories A panel discussion with three mayors of Columbus, Buck Rinehart (1984–1992), Greg Lashutka (1992–2000), and Michael B. Coleman (2000-Present). The discussion was hosted by The Columbus Metropolitan Club. Published September 10, 2012 on YouTube; 53 minutes.