Ballotpedia covered municipal elections in 24 counties and 70 cities, including 40 mayoral elections, in 2021. We provide comprehensive coverage of elections on the ballot in America's 100 largest cities by population each year. We also cover elections for mayors, city council members, and district attorneys in each state capital.

On this page, you will find information on:

Note: The statistics on this page do not include data from local elections in the U.S. territories.

2021 municipal battleground elections

See also: Battlegrounds

Ballotpedia designated certain 2021 elections as battlegrounds—races expected to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive or compelling.

Mayoral battlegrounds

See also: United States mayoral elections, 2021

Ballotpedia covered 40 mayoral elections in 2021. This included 28 mayoral elections in the 100 largest U.S. cities and 12 state capitals that did not fall into the top 100 cities.

Click below to expand summaries of key 2021 mayoral battleground elections.

Anchorage, Alaska

See also: Mayoral election in Anchorage, Alaska (2021)

David Bronson defeated Forrest Dunbar with 50.66% of the vote to Dunbar's 49.34% in a nonpartisan runoff election for mayor of Anchorage, Alaska on May 11, 2021.^[1] Overseas ballots continued to be counted until May 25, when the Anchorage Assembly certified the results, but Dunbar conceded the election to Bronson on May 21, saying "“it is clear that Dave Bronson will be Anchorage’s next mayor”^[2] .
Dunbar and Bronson advanced to the runoff election after the April 6 general election, as neither candidate won more than 45% of the vote. Bronson received 33% of the vote to Dunbar's 31%. No other candidate received more than 15% of the vote.^[3]
Incumbent Ethan Berkowitz (D) resigned from office on October 23, 2020, due to what he said was "unacceptable personal conduct that has compromised my ability to perform my duties with the focus and trust that is required."^[4] Austin Quinn-Davidson was selected by the Anchorage Assembly to serve as acting mayor.^[5]
Dunbar previously ran as a Democrat in 2014 to represent the At-Large Congressional District of Alaska in the U.S. House. Former state senator Johnny Ellis (D), Planned Parenthood, and former mayoral candidates Bill Falsey and George Martinez endorsed Dunbar for mayor.^[6] U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R), Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy (R), and former mayoral candidate Mike Robbins endorsed Bronson.^[7] See more endorsements here.
Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was a central issue in the race. Dunbar said he supported maintaining safety measures enacted by the Anchorage Assembly, such as a mask mandate and business restrictions, while Bronson said that he supported reconsidering or removing restrictions. Homelessness and crime were also key topics, with candidates divided over shelter funding and locations and prevention methods. Click here to see each candidate's positions on these issues and others.
The city government of Anchorage combines a council-manager system with a strong mayor system. The city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the chief executive of the city.
The mayor appoints a city manager to oversee the city's day-to-day operations and execute city policies.^[8] The mayor is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.^[9]

Arlington, Texas

See also: Mayoral election in Arlington, Texas (2021)

Jim Ross defeated Michael Glaspie in the nonpartisan mayoral runoff election in Arlington, Texas, on June 5, 2021. Ross received 54.4% of the vote to Glaspie's 45.6%. Glaspie and Ross advanced to the runoff election after receiving the most votes of the seven-candidate field in the May 1 general election, where Ross received 47.9% of the vote to Glaspie's 21.3%.^[10]^[11]
This was the first mayoral election in Arlington without an incumbent seeking re-election since 2003.^[12] Incumbent Jeff Williams (R) was term-limited.^[13] Mayoral elections in Arlington are nonpartisan, meaning candidates appeared on the ballot without party affiliations. The Arlington Spectator, a local blog, posted a spreadsheet showing that Glaspie had voted in two of the previous six Republican primaries and that Ross had voted in two of the previous six Democratic primaries.^[14]^[15]
Glaspie was a member of the Arlington School Board from 1991 to 2008, including time spent as the board's president. He was also a member of the Arlington City Council, representing at-large District 8 from 2012 to 2019. When he left office due to term limits, Glaspie had been serving as Arlington's mayor pro tempore.^[16] Glaspie received endorsements from former Mayor Elzie Odom, who led the city from 1997 to 2003. He received additional endorsements from The Dallas Morning News and all five general election mayoral candidates who did not advance to the runoff.^[17]^[18]^[19] Collectively, these five candidates received 30.7% of the vote during the May 1 general election.
At the time of the election, Ross owned a law firm and Mercury Chophouse, a local restaurant. He previously worked as a police officer with the Arlington Police Department and served on the board of directors for the Arlington Police Foundation.^[20] Ross received endorsements from incumbent Mayor Jeff Williams (R) and former Mayor Richard Greene, who led the city from 1987 to 1997.^[13] Ross received additional endorsements from four of the city's police unions.^[21]^[22]
Both Glaspie and Ross emphasized their military backgrounds. Glaspie served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Ross was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps from 1979 to 1983.^[16]^[20]
At the time of the election, the mayorship in Arlington had been held by Republicans since at least 2003 with the election of Robert Cluck (R), who served until Williams' election in 2015.
Arlington is located in Tarrant County, Texas, which voted for Joe Biden (D) in the 2020 presidential election. This was the first time the county had supported the Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 when Tarrant County voted for Lyndon B. Johnson (D). In 2020, Biden received 49.3 percent of the vote to Donald Trump's (R) 49.1 percent in the county, a D+0.2 margin. Trump won Tarrant County in 2016, receiving 51.7 percent of the vote to Hillary Clinton's (D) 43.1 percent, an R+8.6 margin. In 2012 and 2008, Mitt Romney (R) and John McCain (R) won the county by margins of R+15.7 and R+11.7 percentage points, respectively.^[23]

Atlanta, Georgia

See also: Mayoral election in Atlanta, Georgia (2021)

Andre Dickens defeated Felicia Moore in the general runoff election for mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, on November 30, 2021. Incumbent Keisha Lance Bottoms announced on May 6 that she would not seek re-election, making her the first Atlanta mayor since World War II to choose not to run for a second term.^[24]
Dickens and Moore advanced to the runoff after placing second and first, respectively, in the November 2 general election. Moore received 41% of the vote followed by Dickens with 23%. A candidate could have won the general election outright if he or she had received at least 50% of the vote. This was the seventh mayoral runoff in the city since 1973 and the second since that time where the second-place finisher in the general election went on to win the runoff.
Both Dickens and Moore were members of the Atlanta City Council. Dickens, first elected to the city council in 2013 and winning re-election in 2017, raised $1.2 million from campaign donors according to pre-general election campaign finance reports. Moore, first elected to the city council in 1997 and elected its president in 2017, raised $1.3 million from campaign donors according to pre-general election campaign finance reports. Both candidates were Democrats.^[25]^[26]
Crime was a key issue in the race, with both candidates emphasizing their stances amid an uptick in murders in the city.^[27]^[28]^[29] According to data released by the Atlanta Police Department, homicides in the city increased from 99 in 2019 to 157 in 2020, a 62% increase and the highest number in the city in more than twenty years.^[30]
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jeremy Redmon wrote, "The two candidates sound remarkably similar when they talk about public safety ... Both are pitching comprehensive approaches that involve hiring more police officers, boosting their training, and tackling problems many of their supporters say are intertwined with crime: poverty, homelessness and mental illness."^[31] Dickens named his plan SAFE Streets Atlanta and Moore said her plan focused on five areas—the 5 C's—"Community, Cops, Courts, Code Enforcement, and Children."^[32]^[33]
Redmon said the candidates differed on issues regarding the chief of police, Rodney Bryant, and a 2020 vote on police funding. Dickens said he would begin a 100-day contract with Bryant, who was named the permanent chief of police in May 2021, in order to track his performance. Moore said she would name an interim chief to replace Bryant while she searched nationally for a permanent chief.^[31] On the topic of funding, in 2020, the Atlanta City Council decided against a proposal to withhold $73 million in police funding until the city government developed a plan to change policing culture.^[31] Dickens supported the proposal and Moore said she opposed it.^[31]

Boston, Massachusetts

See also: Mayoral election in Boston, Massachusetts (2021)

Michelle Wu defeated Annissa Essaibi George in the nonpartisan mayoral election in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 2, 2021. Both candidates were at-large city councilors, and both received endorsements from Democratic officials and groups that tend to back Democrats.
Media outlets described Wu as the more progressive candidate and Essaibi George as the more moderate one.^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37] Essaibi George said that she did "not neatly fit in a box."^[38] Wu said, "In city government, it’s about getting things done, not being judged on a scorecard of whether you said yes or no on certain things."^[39]
Wu called the race a "choice about whether City Hall tackles our biggest challenges with bold solutions or we nibble around the edges of the status quo."^[40] She highlighted her prioritization of climate issues and her support for rent control to provide short-term relief for renters.
Following the primary, Essaibi George said, "I want progress to be made — real progress — not just abstract ideas that we talk about. ... Instead of just advocating and participating in academic exercises and having lovely conversations as mayor, I will do these things." She emphasized her background as a teacher and her opposition to decreasing the police department budget.
For more on candidates' differences on housing and policing policy, see below.
Former incumbent Marty Walsh left office in March 2021 to become secretary of labor in President Joe Biden's (D) Cabinet. Kim Janey (District 7)—the city council president at the time—succeeded Walsh. Janey ran in the primary, placing fourth. Janey endorsed Wu in the general election.^[41]
The Boston Globe's Laura Crimaldi wrote, "Although census figures show about 65 percent of city residents identify as people of color, the upcoming election will be the first in Boston history that won’t result in a white man becoming mayor."^[42] Essaibi George is the daughter of Polish and Tunisian immigrants. Wu's parents immigrated from Taiwan.^[43]
Wu completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Click here to read Wu's responses and to learn more about both candidates' backgrounds and key messages. And click here for a compilation of interviews and questionnaires from local media outlets.
The mayoral office is nonpartisan. Walsh served in the state House of Representatives as a Democrat. As of 2021, a Republican hadn't held the mayor's office in Boston since 1930.^[44]

Buffalo, New York

See also: Mayoral election in Buffalo, New York (2021)

Byron Brown (D) defeated India Walton (D) in the general election for mayor of Buffalo, New York, on November 2, 2021. Brown, who ran as a write-in candidate in the general election, received 59.6% of the vote to Walton's 40%.
Walton defeated Brown in the June 22 Democratic primary 51% to 46%.^[45]^[46]^[47] Following his primary defeat, Brown announced he would run in the general election as a write-in candidate.^[48]
Brown was first elected mayor of Buffalo in 2005 and won re-election three times before the 2021 election. Before losing the 2021 primary, he had won the four preceding Democratic mayoral primaries by an average margin of 26.5 percentage points.^[49]
Prior to the election, The New York Times' Jesse McKinley said the mayoral race "reflects the defining tension within the national Democratic Party, pitting its new generation of left-wing politicians against its more moderate establishment," referring to Walton and Brown, respectively.^[50]
Walton, a nurse and community activist, said Brown had not delivered results as mayor and his record "showed that he doesn't have much care ... for the people of Buffalo, unless they're wealthy developers or heads of large corporations."^[51] She received endorsements from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the local and national branches of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the Working Families Party of New York.^[52]^[53]^[54] She also received a general election endorsement from the Erie County Democratic Party, which endorsed Brown in the primary but switched its support to Walton following her primary election victory.^[55]
Brown, who became the city's longest-serving mayor in January 2021, said Walton was "an unqualified, inexperienced, radical socialist," and described the general election as "a choice between proven results and false, empty promises."^[56]^[57] He received general election endorsements from U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Common Councilmembers Joseph Golombek (D), Christopher Scanlon (D), and Ulysees Wingo (D), and former Mayor Anthony Masiello (D).^[58]^[59]^[60] He also received endorsements from The Buffalo News and the local, county, and state police benevolent associations.^[61]^[62]^[63]
Both Walton and Brown also received support from satellite organizations. The Working Families Party’s national PAC supported Walton with satellite spending, while the New York State Association of Realtors and the New York Republican Party supported Brown.^[64]^[65]^[66]
Sean "Jaz" Miles (R), Benjamin Carlisle (I), William O’Dell (I), and Taniqua Simmons (I) also ran in the general election as write-in candidates.

Cincinnati, Ohio

See also: Mayoral election in Cincinnati, Ohio (2021)

Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval defeated Cincinnati Councilman and former mayor David Mann in the general election for mayor of Cincinnati on November 2, 2021.^[67] Pureval received 65.8 percent of the vote and Mann received 34.2 percent of the vote. Pureval was elected to serve a four-year term. The two advanced from a six-person primary on May 4 in which Pureval received 39.1 percent and Mann received 29.1 percent.
This election took place following the arrest of three of the nine city council members on felony corruption charges in 2020. The charges stemmed from allegations the members had taken bribes from developers for city business. One of those arrested, P.G. Sittenfeld, was considered the frontrunner in the mayoral election according to NBC News.^[68]^[69] A fourth council member, Wendell Young, was charged with a third-degree felony count of tampering with records in April 2021.^[70]
In a September 21 debate, both candidates referenced the corruption charges in stating their case to be mayor. Mann said that his experience in city hall would allow him to mentor the next city council, which he said would likely be younger and more inexperienced due to the city's term limits and the resignations following the corruption charges. Pureval said that he was a total newcomer to city hall who would continue to clean up corruption and said his firing of 15 people in the clerk of courts office was an instance where he had already done that.^[71]
Although the elections for and position of the mayor were officially nonpartisan, the candidates running were affiliated with political parties. Both Mann and Pureval were Democrats.^[72] Prior to this election, the last Republican to serve as mayor was Willis Gradison, who left office in 1971.
Mayor John Cranley was not able to file for re-election in 2021 due to term limits.^[73] The other four candidates in the primary election were state Sen. Cecil Thomas, Gavi Begtrup, Herman Najoli, and Raffel Prophett. The filing deadline for this election was February 18, 2021.

Cleveland, Ohio

See also: Mayoral election in Cleveland, Ohio (2021)

Justin Bibb defeated Kevin Kelley in the general election for mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, on November 2, 2021. The two candidates advanced to the general election after placing first and second, respectively, in the September 14 top-two primary election. While the race was officially nonpartisan, Bibb and Kelley were both Democrats. Cleveland.com's Seth Richardson described the general election as a contest "between the more experienced – and entrenched – Kelley, 53, and the upstart, 34-year-old newcomer in Bibb."^[74]
At the time of the election, Bibb was a chief strategy officer with Urbanova, a technology company focused on cities. His professional background included working as an executive in urban consulting.^[75] He received endorsements from Our Revolution Ohio and two former mayors: Jane Campbell (D) and Michael White (D), who served from 2002 to 2006 and 1990 to 2002, respectively.^[76]^[77]^[78] Describing his campaign, Bibb said, "now is the time for bold, new, dynamic, visionary leadership and not the failed politics and policies of the past."^[74]^[79]
Kelley had served on the Cleveland City Council since 2005 and became president of the council in 2013. His professional background included work as a social worker and an attorney.^[80]^[81] Kelley received endorsements from incumbent Mayor Frank Jackson (D) and several unions, including the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council.^[82]^[83] Kelley emphasized his city council experience, saying, "Every candidate will talk about change. The question is: who knows to and who has a record of making change," adding, "I believe that I have had a record of making change."^[84]
This was the first mayoral election without an incumbent on the ballot in Cleveland since 2001. Incumbent Mayor Frank Jackson (D), the longest-serving mayor in Cleveland's history, did not seek re-election. Jackson was first elected in 2005 after defeating incumbent Jane Campbell (D). He was re-elected in 2009, 2013, and 2017.

Detroit, Michigan

See also: Mayoral election in Detroit, Michigan (2021)

Incumbent Mike Duggan and Anthony Adams ran in the general election for mayor of Detroit, Michigan, on November 2, 2021. Major issues in the race were economic development, affordable housing, and police-community relations.^[85]^[86]
Before becoming mayor, Duggan was president and CEO of Detroit Medical Center from 2004 to 2012.^[87] He was assistant corporation counsel for Wayne County from 1985 to 1986, deputy Wayne County executive from 1987 to 2000, and Wayne County prosecutor from 2001 to 2003. Duggan was first elected mayor in 2013 when he defeated opponent Benny Napoleon (D) with 55% of the vote to Napoleon’s 45%. In 2017, he was re-elected by a margin of nearly 44 points, defeating Coleman Young II (D) with 71.6% of the vote to Young’s 27.8%. Duggan said that, if re-elected in 2021, he would "work every day to continue to make sure every neighborhood has a future and every Detroiter has a true opportunity to achieve your dreams."^[88] He also said he would work with the city council and manufacturers to bring more high-paying jobs into the city.^[89]
Adams was an attorney as of the primary and served as deputy mayor of Detroit under former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D).^[90] He was also an executive assistant to Mayor Coleman Young, was a board member and general counsel for Detroit Public Schools, and was interim director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. Adams said his "extensive leadership experience, unwavering commitment, and enlightened skill-set uniquely position him to move the city of Detroit forward" and that he was "committed to serving the ordinary people of Detroit and not Special Interest Groups.”^[91] Adams also said he would support a universal basic income plan and an income-based water billing system and emphasized early intervention as a means to reduce crime.
The city of Detroit uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.

Fort Worth, Texas

See also: Mayoral election in Fort Worth, Texas (2021)

Mattie Parker defeated Deborah Peoples in the nonpartisan runoff election for mayor of Fort Worth, Texas on June 5, 2021.^[92] Incumbent Mayor Betsy Price announced on January 5, 2021, that she would not run for re-election.^[93]
Peoples received 33.6% of the vote in the general election, and Parker received 30.8%. Parker worked in education and formerly worked as the chief of staff for the Fort Worth Mayor and City Council.^[94] She was endorsed by incumbent Mayor Betsy Price (R). Peoples formerly worked as a business executive and was chairwoman of the Tarrant County Democratic Party.^[95] She was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey (D). Writing for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Luke Ranker said: "As partisanship increasingly wriggles into nonpartisan local elections, voters will again choose between a moderate Republican and a Democratic stalwart."^[96]
Price was first elected in 2011, and then re-elected in 2015 and 2019. In 2019, Price won with 56% of the vote, and Peoples was the runner-up with 42%.^[97] Prior to her 2011 win, Fort Worth had not elected an openly Republican mayor in twenty years. In the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, Joe Biden (D) and Hillary Clinton (D) won the city with 52% and 56% of the vote, respectively.^[98]
A central issue in the race was how the city should respond to its recent population growth, according to The Texan.^[99] Between 2010 and 2018, Fort Worth's population grew by 17%, compared to 14% in the whole of Texas and 6% in the United States.^[100]^[101] Parker said she would focus on increasing job opportunities and career training, lowering taxes, and encouraging community safety by supporting police and fire services.^[102] Peoples said her priorities included increasing economically accessible housing, investing in infrastructure and transportation, and increasing job opportunities in areas she said had been underserved.^[103]^[104]

Hialeah, Florida

See also: Mayoral election in Hialeah, Florida (2021)

Esteban Bovo Jr. defeated Isis Garcia-Martinez, Fernando Godo, Julio Martinez, and Juan Santana in a nonpartisan primary election for mayor of Hialeah, Florida, on November 2, 2021. Bovo received 59 percent of the vote, meaning he won the primary outright. If no candidate had received a majority of the votes, the top-two candidates would have competed in a general election on November 16, 2021.
Media attention focused on Bovo and Garcia-Martinez, who also led in fundraising.^[105]^[106]^[107] After winning a seat on the Hialeah City Council in 1998, Bovo was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2008 in District 110 and served on the Miami-Dade county commission from 2011 to 2020. Bovo ran for mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, in 2020, coming in first in the primary but losing the general election. Garcia-Martinez served on the Hialeah City Council from 1991 to 1997 and again from 2007 to 2019.^[108]
Infrastructure, traffic, pandemic response measures, and housing and utility costs were major issues in the race.^[109] The Miami Herald's Aaron Leibowitz wrote, "The front-runners, Bovo and Isis Garcia-Martinez, have to distinguish themselves: They’re both conservatives, both of Cuban descent, and both staples on the Hialeah political scene...On key issues, Bovo and Garcia-Martinez have similar platforms: keep taxes low, promote new development, support small businesses, address high water rates, and work to keep and attract young people to the majority-Cuban, working class city."^[110]
Bovo and Garcia-Martinez disagreed on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bovo agreed with DeSantis on a rule issued by Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo that prevented school districts from enforcing mask mandates and making quarantine decisions, saying “I’m not in favor of mandates on anything." Garcia-Martinez did not explicitly support mask mandates, but said DeSantis should do more to encourage mask wearing. "I’ve always been a Republican, but I totally disagree with this governor,” she said. “We don’t want to just mandate something, but the reality is, you don’t want to lose families to this virus."^[111] Click here to read more about the candidates' platforms.
Bovo and Garcia-Martinez criticized each other's records in campaign materials. A mailer from Garcia-Martinez's campaign said Hialeah “deserves better than a career politician like Bovo,” while Bovo's campaign distributed mailers saying the city “can’t trust Isis to run Hialeah’s finances” because of her votes on taxes during her time as a city council member.^[112]
Although the elections for and position of the mayor are officially nonpartisan, the candidates running are affiliated with political parties. Both Bovo and Garcia-Martinez are affiliated with the Republican Party.^[113]^[114]
The mayor serves as the city's chief executive officer and is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national and international levels. The incumbent Mayor Carlos Hernandez was term-limited.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

See also: Mayoral election in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2021)

Incumbent Jacob Frey (D) won the general election for mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 2, 2021. Frey, AJ Awed (D), Katherine Knuth (D), Sheila Nezhad (D), and thirteen other candidates ran. The filing deadline for this election was August 10, 2021.
Minneapolis used ranked choice voting to elect city officials. Voters could rank up to three candidates on their ballots. Click here to learn more about how ranked choice voting worked in this election.
Elections in Minneapolis are officially nonpartisan, but the Minneapolis City Charter allows mayoral and city council candidates to choose a party label to appear below their name on the official ballot. Ballotpedia includes candidates' party or principle to best reflect what voters will see on their ballot.^[115] Eight candidates identified as Democrats, while two identified as Republicans. The remaining seven candidates identified with a mixture of minor parties or identified as independents.
Awed, Frey, Knuth, and Nezhad led in noteworthy endorsements and fundraising.
In the StarTribune, reporter Kelly Smith described the mayoral and city council elections as microcosms of a more general rift in the Democratic Party, writing "[t]he split between moderate and progressive Democratic candidates ahead of the Nov. 2 election reflects a broader gap across Minnesota and nationwide as the Democratic establishment faces intense competition from a newly energized and insurgent progressive wing of the party."^[116] The divide between the moderate and progressive mayoral candidates was seen most clearly in the debate over criminal justice reform, housing policy, and three proposed amendments to the city's charter, which voters decided on November 2.
The proposed amendments included one that would change the structure of the city government from a weak mayor-council system to a strong mayor-council system (Question 1), one that would replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Health (Question 2), and one that would authorize the city to enact rent control policies (Question 3).^[117]^[118]^[119]
Click here to see the candidates' positions on the amendments.
Frey, who was elected mayor in 2017, opposed the amendment that would replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Health.^[120] Awed, the executive director of the Cedar-Riverside Community Council neighborhood association, was critical of the amendment to replace the Minneapolis Police Department.^[121] Knuth, a former state representative who runs a consulting agency focused on climate change and civic institutions, said she supported the amendment that would replace the Minneapolis Police Department.^[122] Nezhad, a community organizer who founded Nezhad Consulting, said she supported supports the amendment to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety.^[123]
Troy Benjegerdes (D), Clint Conner (D), Christopher W. David (D), Mark Globus (D), Bob Carney (R), and Laverne Turner (R) ran in the election. Third party, independent, and write-in candidates included Jerrell Perry, Marcus Harcus, Paul E. Johnson, Mike Winter, Nate Atkins (L), Doug Nelson, and Kevin Ward.
Minneapolis last elected a Republican mayor in 1957.^[124] The last Republican mayor to hold office was Richard Erdall (R), who became acting mayor for one day on December 31, 1973.^[125] In 2020, Joe Biden (D) won Hennepin County by a 43.21% margin.^[126]

New York, New York
See also: Mayoral election in New York, New York (June 22, 2021, Democratic primary)

Eric Adams (D) defeated 12 other candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City on June 22, 2021.^[127] Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) did not run for re-election due to term limits.
The primary election featured the first use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) for a mayoral primary in the city's history. Click here to read more about how ranked-choice voting works.
The following six Democratic candidates received the most media attention and noteworthy endorsements:^[128]^[129]^[130]
- Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president
- Kathryn Garcia, former New York City sanitation commissioner
- Raymond McGuire, former Wall Street executive
- Scott Stringer, New York City comptroller
- Maya Wiley, former mayoral counsel
- Andrew Yang, entrepreneur
Click here to read more about each candidate's professional background and key messages.
Major endorsements for Adams included Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr.. The New York Times, New York Daily News, and the New York League of Conservation Voters endorsed Garcia. McGuire was backed by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D).^[131]^[132]
The top issues in this race were crime, policing, affordable housing, jobs, and healthcare.^[133] Click here to compare each candidate's policy proposals on these issues.
De Blasio was first elected in 2013 and won re-election in 2017 with 66% of the vote. Including de Blasio, four of the previous six mayors were Democrats.

Omaha, Nebraska

See also: Mayoral election in Omaha, Nebraska (2021)

Incumbent Jean Stothert (R) won re-election to a third term after defeating RJ Neary (D) in the nonpartisan mayoral general election in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 11, 2021. Stothert received 64% of the vote to Neary's 35%, with write-in votes accounting for the remaining 1%.^[134] Ballotpedia determined candidates' party affiliations through the Nebraska Voter Information Lookup.
Stothert received 57% of the vote in the April 6 primary followed by Neary with 16%. In total, all five Democratic candidates in the primary, Neary included, received 43% of the vote. In response to the results, the Omaha World-Herald's Reece Ristau and Paul Goodsell wrote, "[Neary will] have to put together a broad coalition of voters, including some who sat out the primary, to overcome a massive advantage held by Stothert."^[135]
Stothert was first elected mayor in 2013 with 57% of the vote. She was re-elected in 2017 with 53% of the vote. Before running for mayor, Stothert was a member of the Omaha City Council from 2009 to 2013 and the Millard Board of Education from 1998 to 2009.
Neary was the chairman of Investors Realty, a commercial real estate company. He was chairman of the Omaha Planning Board and involved with organizations such as the Urban Land Institute and Omaha Habitat for Humanity.^[136]
Stothert and Neary offerred differing ideas regarding Omaha's future. Stothert emphasized her experience as mayor and priorities of public safety and infrastructure improvements, adding, "I want to continue all the great partnerships with so many people and business owners and organizations that make this city so successful."^[137] Neary emphasized his professional experience with long-term real estate and development planning. Neary called "Omaha a great city but one that struggles with racial inequities," adding that he "envisions a more equal Omaha, with more and better affordable housing, and a more sustainable transportation system."^[138]
At the time of the election, Stothert had served as Omaha's mayor for eight years, making her the city's longest-serving Republican mayor since 1906 when Frank E. Moores (R) died in office after serving for nine years. Before Stothert's election in 2013, Democrats had controlled Omaha's mayorship from 2001 to 2013.
Omaha is located primarily in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. During the 2020 election, the 2nd Congressional District voted for Joe Biden (D) after voting for Republicans Mitt Romney (R) and Donald Trump (R) in 2012 and 2016, respectively. From 2012 to 2020, the presidential election margin in the district shifted 13.7 percentage points from Republicans to Democrats. Romney won by 7.1 points, which decreased to a 2.2-point victory for Trump. Biden won by 6.6 percentage points in 2020.^[139]

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

See also: Mayoral election in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (May 18, 2021 Democratic primary)

Edward Gainey (D) defeated incumbent Bill Peduto (D), Tony Moreno (Pennsylvania) (D), and Michael Thompson (D) in the May 18, 2021, Democratic primary. No Republicans filed to run in the May 18 Republican primary. Moreno received 1,379 write-in votes in the Republican primary and accepted the Republican nomination.^[140]^[141]
Peduto was first elected mayor in 2013. He was re-elected in 2017 after winning 68.9% of the vote in the Democratic primary. He ran unopposed in the general election. Before becoming mayor, Peduto served on the Pittsburgh City Council, representing District 8, from 2002-2013. Peduto's campaign focused on his tenure as mayor, including policies enacted in response to the coronavirus pandemic.^[142] On March 8, the Allegheny County Labor Council, which represents 135 local unions, endorsed Peduto.^[143] 32BJ SEIU Pennsylvania, which represents custodians and security workers, endorsed Peduto on March 4, 2021.^[144]
Gainey was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 24 in 2012. He was re-elected in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. His mayoral campaign focused on law enforcement, the economy, and affordable housing. He received the endorsement of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, earning 326 votes to Moreno's 224. Peduto did not seek the Committee's endorsement.^[145] SEIU Healthcare, which represents healthcare workers, endorsed Gainey on February 20, 2021.^[146] It previously backed Peduto in 2013.^[147]
Moreno, a military veteran and retired Pittsburgh police officer, pointed to his experience in law enforcement, saying he "knows what it takes to build the public’s trust in its law enforcement."^[148] He ran on his Plan for Pittsburgh, which covered public works, public safety, and city-first reforms.^[148] The Boilermakers Local 154 union endorsed Moreno.^[149]
Thompson, a math tutor and driver for Lyft and Uber, said that his campaign won't take funding from corporations and developers. He said that makes him "the only candidate that can overcome the hurdles that are put in the way of creating more affordable housing." He also said he had lived in public housing for 13 years.^[150]
Criminal justice reform was a central theme in the race. Peduto pointed to policies he implemented as mayor, including mandatory de-escalation practices and implicit bias training. He also said he created an Office of Community Health and Safety to reduce interactions between the police and people in need of social or mental health services, saying, "[t]he point is to make sure police officers aren’t the ones responding to these calls, but rather social workers, and professionals who have an expertise in this area."^[151] Gainey called for reforming the mandatory arbitration process used in police disciplinary cases to make it easier to discipline or fire officers when necessary.^[152] He's criticized Peduto for failing to follow through on earlier campaign promises to defund the police, saying "it just hasn't happened. There’s no strategy at all. And so no one's gonna believe in something they can't see. They're not gonna believe in it."^[153] Moreno said he would use crisis intervention training he created to "develop and implement community policing programs." He called for putting more police officers on the street to coordinate traffic.^[154] Thompson proposed reducing police funding by 50% and using that money to provide housing.^[155]
The last Republican mayor of Pittsburgh was John S. Herron, who assumed office in 1933 and served for one year.^[156] Pittsburgh is located in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District. During the 2020 election, the 18th Congressional District voted for Joe Biden (D) over Donald Trump (R). Biden won the district by 31 percentage points.^[157]

San Antonio, Texas

See also: Mayoral election in San Antonio, Texas (2021)

Mayor Ron Nirenberg won re-election in a 14-candidate nonpartisan election in San Antonio, Texas, on May 1, 2021. Nirenberg received 61.9% of the vote. 2019 challenger Greg Brockhouse received 31.5% of the vote. No other candidate received more than 2% of the vote.
Media coverage focused on Nirenberg, Brockhouse (who previously ran against Nirenberg in 2019 and lost by 2.2 percentage points in the runoff election), and Denise Gutierrez-Homer. ^[158]^[159] Nirenberg led in fundraising, acquiring $317,620 in contributions from January 1 to March 22, 2021, compared to Brockhouse's $100,755 for the same period. Gutierrez-Homer, the only other candidate to report contributions for this period, raised $7,061.
Brockhouse and Gutierrez-Homer both disagreed with Nirenberg's response to the pandemic. “I would have never shut us down,” Brockhouse said, “I would have not promoted mandatory masks. I would have worked within the science and the parameters of helping us keep moving throughout our community.” Gutierrez-Homer said the city was “closed for too long,” and that Nirenberg was "getting too much direction" from Bexar County Judge Nelson W. Wolff (D) (who serves as the county's chief executive officer).^[160] Nirenberg said that it was essential to keep safety measures in place, and described Governor Greg Abbott's (R) lifting of business restrictions and mask mandates as like “cut[ting] off your parachute just as you’ve slowed your descent.”^[161]
Proposition B, a ballot measure repealing local authority for collective bargaining with the San Antonio Police Officers Association to negotiate wages, healthcare, leave, and other policies was also an issue in the race. Nirenberg said he would leave the issue up to voters, and it was his "job as mayor to make sure there are good-faith negotiations happening in the next collective bargaining agreement of which we are now engaged." Brockhouse and Gutierrez-Homer both oppose Proposition B. Brockhouse said the proposition was a form of defunding the police, and if enacted, “Police officers will leave, and it will make us less safe.” Gutierrez-Homer also opposed the measure, saying that collective bargaining “is vital for any recruitment and retention of top notch employees."^[162]
The mayor is a member of the city council. He or she presides over council meetings and official city ceremonies. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national and international levels.^[163] The filing deadline for this election was February 12, 2021.

Seattle, Washington

See also: Mayoral election in Seattle, Washington (2021)

Bruce Harrell defeated Lorena González in the nonpartisan general election for mayor of Seattle, Washington, on November 2, 2021. Mayor Jenny Durkan did not seek re-election.^[164]
Harrell was city council president from 2016 to 2017 and from 2018 to 2019. González was the city council president as of the election. Associated Press's Chris Grygiel wrote that the primary "set up a choice between candidates representing the political divide between activist-left residents and more moderate progressives in one of the nation’s most liberal cities," with González representing the former camp and Harrell, the latter.^[165]
Harrell said after the primary, "Our campaign’s message of unity, accountability, and action clearly resonated with voters. I’m looking forward to taking this energy into the general election and into office as Mayor as we unite Seattle to make real progress."^[166]
González said, "Of votes counted to date, two-thirds of voters voted against the corporate-backed, status-quo candidate. That reflects the frustration I’ve heard from voters all over the city — they want bold, decisive, progressive action from their leaders."^[166]
Homelessness and housing policy were major issues in the race. González and Harrell differed on zoning rules and their approach to encampments. Click here for more on their positions. Click here for candidates' responses to questions from The Seattle Times on policy questions including defunding the police department by 50%, property and sales tax increases, and rent control.
Two council members who did not endorse in the 2021 primary—Alex Pedersen and Debora Juarez—endorsed Harrell on August 16. Juarez and Pedersen were the two candidates of seven who won city council elections in 2019 with endorsements from the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce's PAC, Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy, which spent $2 million toward the elections.
Four of nine Seattle City Council members endorsed González in the primary. Three of them were up for election in 2019. Two were endorsed that year by the political action committee (PAC) Civic Alliance for a Progressive Economy. Committees affiliated with labor group UNITE HERE! supported Andrew Lewis, who endorsed González. Combined, these PACs spent more than $1 million in 2019.
Click here for background information on the 2019 elections.
As of November 1, the PACs that were active in the 2019 elections were not engaged in the 2021 mayoral election. The two groups that had spent the most in the 2021 election were Bruce Harrell for Seattle's Future, which had spent $493,000 supporting Harrell and $655,000 opposing González, and Essential Workers for Lorena, which spent $443,000 supporting González and $467,000 opposing Harrell.
Seattle uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.^[167]

St. Louis, Missouri

See also: Mayoral election in St. Louis, Missouri (March 2, 2021, top-two primary)

St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer advanced from the primary for mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, on March 2, 2021, and ran against each other in the general election on April 6. Jones received 25,374 votes while Spencer received 20,649 votes. Aldermen President Lewis Reed and 2017 mayoral candidate Andrew Jones, the other two candidates in the primary, received 17,162 and 6,422 votes, respectively. To read more about each of the four candidates, click here.
This was the first election cycle in the city using a new primary election method following the approval of Proposition D on November 3, 2020. Candidates ran in the primary election without partisan labels. Voters could choose any number of candidates to vote for and the two candidates that received the most votes advanced to the general election. This method of voting is called approval voting.^[168]
Each candidate made crime a key priority in this campaign. Andrew Jones said St. Louis' violent crime problem made it harder for the city to attract new businesses and retain existing ones, so addressing crime would improve safety while also improving the local business climate. Tishaura Jones said that she supported restructuring the police department's budget to reallocate funding towards mental health services, job training programs, and treating substance abuse. Reed called for a strategy known as focused deterrence with groups most likely to commit violent crimes.^[169] Spencer, citing her background in mathematics and modeling, said she would implement a data-driven strategy for crime reduction in the city.
On November 18, 2020, Mayor Lyda Krewson (D) announced that she would not seek re-election. "After a lot of thinking and a lot of discussion with my family, I have decided to retire in April and not file to run for reelection this coming Monday," she said. She became the city's first female mayor after winning election on April 4, 2017, with more than 67% of the vote.^[170]
Prior to the 2021 election, the last 10 mayors of St. Louis were all Democrats. The last time a Republican held the mayor's office was Aloys Kaufmann, mayor from 1943 to 1949.^[171]

St. Petersburg, Florida

See also: Mayoral election in St. Petersburg, Florida (2021)

Ken Welch defeated Robert Blackmon 60% to 40% to win the general election for mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman (D) did not run for re-election due to term limits.^[172]
Welch served as a Pinellas County Commissioner from 2000 to 2020, and Blackmon had served on the St. Petersburg City Council since 2020.^[173]^[174] Though the race was officially nonpartisan, Welch was a registered Democrat and Blackmon was a registered Republican.^[175]^[176]
St. Petersburg was one of seventeen of the 100 largest cities to hold general elections for mayor on Nov. 2, 2021. Heading into the election, 63 of the 100 largest cities' mayors were Democrats, 26 were Republicans, 10 were either nonpartisan or independent, and one mayor's affiliation was unknown. Following the Nov. 2 election, no mayoral offices changed partisan control. To read more about mayoral elections in 2021, click here.
A central issue in the race was the redevelopment of Tropicana Field and the question of whether the location would continue to be the home stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. In an Oct. 11 debate, Welch said: "I absolutely think we can keep the Rays in St. Peterburg. Secondary, if we can't keep them certainly Tampa Bay is the next option." He went on to say that: "I have said that it [baseball] is secondary. [...] The priority is the jobs and equitable development and it has to be a fair deal to the City of St. Pete and the taxpayers." Blackmon said: "I still hold out hope that we can have the Rays have a stadium [in St. Petersburg]." He also said: "I need to look at the harsh realities that are constantly evolving on the site. That site is the future of economic development for our city. It is where we can put hotel space. It is where we can put office space."^[177]
In an article about Welch’s campaign, the Tampa Bay Times quoted Cesar Fernandez, Kriseman’s 2013 campaign manager, as saying: “The advantage Ken Welch has is people love living in St. Pete. All of these things make it hard for a Blackmon to say, ‘We had it wrong. We need change.’” In an article about Blackmon’s campaign, the Times wrote: “Barry Edwards, a local political strategist informally advising the Blackmon campaign, said the path for a Republican is to run as a change agent and disruptor against a long-time elected official close to the current administration.”^[175] ^[176]
Blackmon and Welch were the two top vote-getters in the August 24, 2021, primary with 28.6% and 39.1% of the vote, respectively. Since no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, Blackmon and Welch advanced to the November 2 general election. Seven other candidates ran against Blackmon and Welch in the primary. Of these candidates, Darden Rice, who received 16.5% of the vote, was the only one to poll over 10%. Rice endorsed Welch in the general election.^[178]
This was the first open race for mayor of St. Petersburg since 2009.^[179] The last Republican to serve as mayor of St. Petersburg was Bill Foster from 2010 to 2014.^[180] Kriseman defeated Foster in the 2013 mayoral election, and was subsequently re-elected in 2017.

City council battlegrounds

Click below to expand summaries of key 2021 city council battleground elections.

Dallas, Texas

See also: City council elections in Dallas, Texas (2021)

Six districts held runoff elections for Dallas City Council on June 5, 2021. Three races were for open seats, and three were between an incumbent and a challenger. All fourteen seats were up for election this year.

In Districts 2, 11, and 13, incumbent councilmembers Adam Medrano, Lee Kleinman, and Jennifer Staubach Gates did not run for re-election due to term limits.^[181]^[182]^[183] In District 2, Jesse Moreno defeated Sana Syed 58% to 43%. In District 11, Jaynie Schultz defeated Barry Wernick 54% to 46%. In District 13, Gay Donnell Willis defeated Leland Burk 54% to 47%.

Three races with incumbents advanced to a runoff. In District 4, incumbent Carolyn King Arnold defeated Maxie Johnson 55% to 45%. In District 7, incumbent Adam Bazaldua defeated Kevin Felder 64% to 36%. In District 14, Paul Ridley defeated incumbent David Blewett 61% to 39%.

Writing for D Magazine, Alex Macon said: “If there is one issue driving Dallas City Council candidates this election season, it’s public safety.”^[184] An increase in violent crime brought attention to the issue. Between 2019 and 2020, Dallas saw a 27% increase in aggravated assaults and a 23% increase in murders.^[185] Additionally, following protests in response to the death of George Floyd, the council faced calls to reallocate some police department funding to other areas. In September 2020, the council voted to increase the police department’s budget to $24 million. In this budget, the council reallocated $7 million from police overtime funding to hire more civilian workers in the department, increase street lighting, and invest in other programs to address crime.^[186]

The Dallas City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for setting policy, approving the budget, determining the tax rate, issuing and selling municipal bonds, purchasing and selling city property, establishing city departments, holding public meetings, approving city ordinances, determining city services, and appointing the city manager, city attorney, city auditor, city secretary, and municipal court judges.^[187]

The city council consists of 14 members elected by district, and one mayor elected at large.^[187]

Click here for a current list of council members

Office	Name	Party	Date assumed office	Date term ends
Dallas City Council District 1	Chad West	Nonpartisan	June 17, 2019	2025
Dallas City Council District 2	Jesse Moreno	Nonpartisan	June 14, 2021	2025
Dallas City Council District 3	Zarin Gracey	Nonpartisan	June 20, 2023	2025
Dallas City Council District 4	Carolyn King Arnold	Nonpartisan	December 19, 2018	2025
Dallas City Council District 5	Jaime Resendez	Nonpartisan	June 17, 2019	2025
Dallas City Council District 6	Omar Narvaez	Nonpartisan	2017	2025
Dallas City Council District 7	Adam Bazaldua	Nonpartisan	June 17, 2019	2025
Dallas City Council District 8	Tennell Atkins	Nonpartisan	2017	2025
Dallas City Council District 9	Paula Blackmon	Nonpartisan	June 17, 2019	2025
Dallas City Council District 10	Kathy Stewart	Nonpartisan	June 20, 2023	2025
Dallas City Council District 11	Jaynie Schultz	Nonpartisan	June 14, 2021	2025
Dallas City Council District 12	Cara Mendelsohn	Nonpartisan	June 17, 2019	2025
Dallas City Council District 13	Gay Donnell Willis	Nonpartisan	June 14, 2021	2025
Dallas City Council District 14	Paul Ridley	Nonpartisan	June 14, 2021	2025

All fourteen seats on the Dallas City Council are up for election every two years.

Miami, Florida

See also: City elections in Miami, Florida (2021)

The city of Miami, Florida, held general elections for mayor and city commission on November 2, 2021. Two of five commission seats were up for election in 2021. District 3 Commissioner Joe Carollo won re-election and Christine King defeated District 5 Commissioner Jeffrey Watson. Watson was appointed to the position on November 18, 2020, to serve the remainder of Keon Hardemon's term.

Four candidates total ran for District 3, and seven ran for District 5. The filing deadline for this election was September 18, 2021. This page covers the city commission elections. Click here to learn more about the city's mayoral election.

The Miami Herald described the relationship between the mayor's and the city commission's powers as follows:^[188]

“

Miami’s executive mayor, elected citywide, is a mostly ceremonial position that comes with little legislative power. The mayor can veto legislation, which can be overriden by the five-person City Commission. The mayor can hire and fire the city manager, city government’s chief executive, though the commission can fire the manager, too. To push an agenda, Miami’s figurehead mayor has to convince commissioners to support their issues and promote their initiatives to the public.

Commissioners vote on big-ticket city contracts, leases of public land, major zoning changes and other city laws that impact everyday life for people living inside city limits. They also vote on Miami’s $1 billion budget.^[189]

”

Conflict between the Miami police chief and the city commission unfolded in the weeks leading up to the election. Click here to learn more.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2021)

The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, held general elections for all 13 of its city council seats on November 2, 2021. Fifty-eight candidates—including eleven incumbents—ran in the elections. Minneapolis used ranked-choice voting in the election which allowed voters to rank up to three candidates on the ballot.
Of the 11 incumbents running for city council, six won re-election and five lost. All incumbents were Democrats except Cam Gordon, who ran as Green Party candidate. In the two open city council seats, Jason Chavez won in District 9 and Aisha Chughtai won in District 10.^[190] As a result, seven of the 13 city councilmembers were newcomers in 2022. All winners were Democrats except for Robin Wonsley who was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.^[191]
On Nov. 12, 2021, Ward 2 candidate Yusra Arab announced she would seek a recount, which was scheduled for Nov. 19.^[192] The initial post-election tally showed Arab trailing Robin Wonsley Worlobah by 19 votes in the third round of tallying.^[193] On Nov. 22, the Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services announced that Worlobah remained the winner, with the margin decreasing to 14 votes.^[194] To read more about recount laws in Minnesota, click here.
The Star Tribune's Kelly Smith described the city council and mayoral elections as microcosms of a more general rift in the Democratic Party, writing "[t]he split between moderate and progressive Democratic candidates ahead of the Nov. 2 election reflects a broader gap across Minnesota and nationwide as the Democratic establishment faces intense competition from a newly energized and insurgent progressive wing of the party."^[195] Axios Twin Cities' Nick Halter also observed the rift, writing, "[t]he City Council has been moving to the left for several years now, and a slate of challengers [in Wards 3, 4, and 11] could move the needle back toward the middle."^[196]
Following the election, Axios' Halter wrote that the council "that had been moving to the left in recent elections took a step back toward the right."^[197] Halter identified the winners in Wards 3, 4, and 11 as more moderate than their predecessors and the winners in Wards 1 and 9 as more liberal, resulting in a net gain of one seat for moderate councilmembers.^[197]
Elections in Minneapolis are officially nonpartisan, but the Minneapolis City Charter allows mayoral and city council candidates to choose a party label to appear below their name on the official ballot. Ballotpedia includes candidates' party or principle to best reflect what voters will see on their ballot.^[198]
Of the 58 candidates who sought election, 42 were Democrats, four were Republicans, and 12 were independent or some other party. While 42 candidates identified as Democrats, the Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) issued its own official endorsements in seven wards. The party did not issue endorsements in six races, five of which featured incumbents. Learn more about the Minneapolis DFL endorsement process here.

Seattle, Washington

See also: City council elections in Seattle, Washington (2021)

Seattle, Washington's two at-large city council seats, elected citywide, were up for election on November 2, 2021.
Incumbent Teresa Mosqueda defeated Kenneth Wilson for the position 8 seat. Sara Nelson defeated Nikkita Oliver for the position 9 seat. Position 9 incumbent Lorena González ran for mayor in 2021. Mayor Jenny Durkan did not seek re-election. This page focused on the open position 9 race.
Nelson co-owned Fremont Brewing as of the election. She served as a legislative advisor to former councilmember Richard Conlin and placed third in a 2017 at-large city council primary. She said Seattle voters were "tired of the ideological rhetoric and the failed policies that come out of council" and described herself as progressive and pragmatic.^[199]
Oliver (they/them), an attorney and the executive director of the organization Creative Justice, was a founding member of the Seattle Peoples Party. They placed third in the 2017 mayoral primary. Oliver said, "Seattle is ready to do the work to address the root causes of the crises that we’re facing [with] solutions that are actually commensurate to its crises."^[199]
All four city council candidates filled out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. For select responses, including candidates' key messages, click here. For full survey responses, click candidates' names above to see their profile pages on Ballotpedia.
For coverage of the August 3, 2021, primary election, click here.
Seattle City Council members serve four-year terms. The other seven seats are elected by district, and the most recent elections were held in 2019. Click here for background information on the 2019 elections.

Other battlegrounds

Click below to expand summaries of key 2021 battleground elections.

New York City comptroller
See also: Comptroller election in New York, New York (June 22, 2021, Democratic primary)

Brad Lander won the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller on June 22, 2021. Ten candidates ran in the primary. The general election was on November 2, 2021.
Seven candidates were mentioned by media outlets as leading candidates and led in endorsements and/or fundraising:^[200]^[201] Brian Benjamin, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, Zachary Iscol, Corey Johnson, Brad Lander, Kevin Parker, and David Weprin.
The primary election featured the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV). Voters were allowed to rank up to five candidates on their ballot in order of preference. A candidate had to receive a majority of votes cast to win the election, and votes for eliminated candidates were redistributed based on the next preference on the ballot. Lander received more than 50% of the vote after 10 rounds of tabulation. Click here to learn more about RCV in this election.
The comptroller's duties include performing audits of city agencies and managing five public pension funds. As of March 2021, the funds totaled $253 billion in assets.^[202] Discussing the city's elections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, The New York Times' Jeffery C. Mays wrote, "Like the race for mayor, the contest for comptroller may be the city’s most consequential in decades, and the June 22 Democratic primary will most likely decide its winner. ... The city had a 20 percent unemployment rate, and is still projecting hefty future budget gaps." Mays also wrote that the comptroller would oversee how federal stimulus money issued in response to the pandemic was spent.^[203]
Each candidate argued that their background equipped them for the office.
- Benjamin, a state senator, previously worked for a housing developer and in financial management for Morgan Stanley.
- Caruso-Cabrera was a financial analyst for CNBC.
- Iscol served in the Marines and is a business and nonprofit founder.
- Johnson was speaker of the New York City Council at the time of the primary.
- Lander, also on the city council as of the primary, co-founded the council's Progressive Caucus.
- Parker, a state senator, previously worked for investment banking firm UBS PaineWebber and as project manager for the New York State Urban Development Corporation.
- Weprin, a state assemblyman, previously served on the city council, where he was chair of the Finance Committee for eight years.
At the first official debate on June 10, candidates offered different ideas about which city agencies should be audited more frequently. As of 2021, agency audits were required every four years. Lander said he would prioritize auditing the Department of Corrections in addition to big agencies like the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Department of Education. Caruso-Cabrera said she would prioritize auditing the Department of Education. Johnson proposed annual audits for the education, homeless services, housing preservation and development, and police departments. Weprin said he would audit all city agencies every year. Iscol said he would audit the city's "holistic response, a multiagency response to specific problems, like public safety, like homelessness, like the education gap." Parker said big agencies should be audited more frequently and that the first one should be the NYPD. Benjamin also said he would prioritize auditing the NYPD.^[204]
Click here to view candidates' key messages.
Also running in the primary were Terri Liftin, Alex Pan, and Reshma Patel.

Seattle city attorney

See also: City attorney election in Seattle, Washington (2021)

Ann Davison defeated Nicole Thomas-Kennedy in a general election for city attorney of Seattle, Washington, on November 2, 2021, with 55.1% of the vote to Thomas-Kennedy's 44.1%.^[205]
Davison and Thomas-Kennedy advanced from the primary after winning 32.7% and 36.4% of the vote, respectively. Incumbent Pete Holmes, who was first elected in 2010, received 30.6% of the vote.
Crosscut, a nonprofit Seattle news site, said the race "will be one of clear contrasts and highlights just how divided the city is over issues of crime, public safety and criminal justice."^[206] In a Crosscut Elway poll from September 7-9 where respondents were provided with a list of issues to choose from and more than one answer was allowed, 79% chose homelessness, 47% percent chose police, and 45% chose crime.^[207]
Seattle news blog My Northwest described Davison "as more of an overt conservative, as a registered Republican who’s been vocal on her 'tough on crime' politics" compared to Thomas-Kennedy, whose "position as an 'abolitionist' in favor of ending the prosecution of low-level misdemeanors would represent a sizable shift in the City Attorney’s Office."^[208]^[209] As of October 17, 2021, Thomas-Kennedy led Davison in overall fundraising, having raised a total of $336,598.00 to Davison's $317,646.00.^[210]
At the time of the election, Davison was a Seattle attorney and arbitrator and previously ran as a Republican for lieutenant governor of Washington in 2020. Davison said the city needs "balanced leadership that makes us smart on crime: proactive not reactive” and said she would "focus on improving efficiencies within division in regards to zoning” and “transform existing Mental Health Court to specialized Behavioral Health Court for cases that involve mental health, substance use disorder or dual diagnosis."^[211] Former governor Dan Evans (R), former King County Prosecutor Chris Bayley (R), former Seattle Municipal Judge Ed McKenna, and the Seattle Times endorsed Davison.^[212]
Thomas-Kennedy worked as a public defender and criminal and eviction attorney.^[213] She ran on a platform of decriminalizing poverty, community self-determination, green infrastructure, and ending homeless sweeps. Her campaign website said, "Every year the City Attorney chooses to prosecute petty offenses born out of poverty, addiction and disability. These prosecutions are destabilizing, ineffective, and cost the City millions each year."^[214] The Seattle newspaper The Stranger, Former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn (D) and several local Democratic party organizations endorsed Thomas-Kennedy.^[215]
In Seattle, the city attorney heads the city's Law Department and supervises all litigation in which the city is involved. The city attorney supervises a team of assistant city attorneys who provide legal advice and assistance to the City's management and prosecute violations of City ordinances.^[216]

Mayoral partisanship

See also: Partisanship in United States municipal elections (2021)

Mayoral elections were held in 28 of the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2021. Once mayors elected in 2021 assumed office, the mayors of 63 of the country's 100 largest cities were affiliated with the Democratic Party.

The following top-100 mayoral offices changed partisan control in 2021:

Mayor John J. Lee of North Las Vegas, Nevada, announced that he was changing his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican on April 6, 2021.^[217]

David Bronson (R) was elected as mayor of Anchorage, Alaska, on May 11, 2021. He assumed office on July 1, 2021, replacing nonpartisan Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson.

In cities where mayoral elections are nonpartisan, Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder’s partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.

Mayoral partisanship in state capitals

Fifteen state capitals held mayoral elections in 2021. The following office changed partisan control:

Daniel Rickenmann (R) was elected as mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, on November 16, 2021. Incumbent Mayor Stephen Benjamin (D) did not run for re-election.

Once mayors elected in 2021 assumed office, the mayors of 38 state capitals were affiliated with the Democratic Party, six were Republicans, one was independent, and two were nonpartisan. The partisan affiliation of three state capital mayors was unknown.

Municipal elections across the United States

Use the tabs below to sort 2021 municipal elections either by state or by date.

By state

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Local elections
	Mayoral elections; School board elections; Local trial court elections; Local ballot measure elections;
	Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama (Mayor)Montgomery, AlabamaAnchorage, AlaskaTucson, ArizonaRiverside, CaliforniaOrange County, CaliforniaAurora, ColoradoColorado Springs, ColoradoDover, DelawareJacksonville, FloridaMiami, FloridaMiami, Florida (Mayor)Hialeah, FloridaHialeah, Florida (Mayor)Orlando, FloridaSt. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg, Florida (Mayor)Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia (Mayor)Boise, IdahoWichita, KansasBaton Rouge, LouisianaNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana (Mayor)Augusta, MaineAugusta, Maine (Mayor)Boston, MassachusettsBoston, Massachusetts (Mayor)Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan (Mayor)Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, Minnesota (Mayor)St. Paul, Minnesota (Mayor)Jackson, MississippiJackson, Mississippi (Mayor)St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri (Mayor)Helena, MontanaHelena, Montana (Mayor)Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, Nebraska (Mayor)Lincoln, NebraskaJersey City, New JerseyJersey City, New Jersey (Mayor)Essex County, New JerseyHudson County, New JerseyAlbuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque, New Mexico (Mayor)Santa Fe, New MexicoSanta Fe, New Mexico (Mayor)Bernalillo County, New MexicoNew York, New YorkNew York, New York (Mayor)Albany, New YorkAlbany, New York (Mayor)Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York (Mayor)Bronx County, New YorkErie County, New YorkKings County, New YorkNew York County, New YorkQueens County, New YorkRichmond County, New YorkDurham, North CarolinaDurham, North Carolina (Mayor)Guilford County, North CarolinaColumbus, OhioCleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio (Mayor)Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio (Mayor)Toledo, OhioToledo, Ohio (Mayor)Fairfield County, OhioFranklin County, OhioOklahoma City, OklahomaTulsa County, OklahomaMultnomah County, OregonPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Mayor)Allegheny County, PennsylvaniaProvidence, Rhode IslandColumbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina (Mayor)Pierre, South DakotaArlington, TexasArlington, Texas (Mayor)Dallas, TexasFort Worth, TexasFort Worth, Texas (Mayor)Garland, TexasGarland, Texas (Mayor)Irving, TexasPlano, TexasPlano, Texas (Mayor)San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, Texas (Mayor)Collin County, TexasEl Paso County, TexasHarris County, TexasTarrant County, TexasChesapeake, VirginiaNorfolk, VirginiaVirginia Beach, VirginiaRichmond, VirginiaSeattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington (Mayor)Clallam County, WashingtonKing County, WashingtonMadison, WisconsinMilwaukee, WisconsinDane County, WisconsinMilwaukee County, WisconsinSubmit

Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama - Mayor and city council
Montgomery, Alabama - City council (special elections)

Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska - Mayor and service area board of supervisors
Juneau, Alaska - Mayor and city assembly

Arizona

Tucson, Arizona - City council

California

Riverside, California - City council
Orange County, California - Board of supervisors (special)

Colorado

Aurora, Colorado - City council
Colorado Springs, Colorado - City council

Delaware

Dover, Delaware - City council (regular & special)

Florida

Hialeah, Florida - Mayor and city council
Jacksonville, Florida - City council (special election)
Miami, Florida - Mayor and city council
Orlando, Florida - City commissioners
St. Petersburg, Florida - Mayor and city council

Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia - Mayor, city council, and municipal court judge

Idaho

Boise, Idaho - City council

Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa - City council

Kansas

Topeka, Kansas - Mayor and city council
Wichita, Kansas - City council

Louisiana

Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Family court and city court judges (special)
New Orleans, Louisiana - Mayor city council, sheriff, assessor, coroner, civil district court clerk, and criminal district court clerk

Maine

Augusta, Maine - Mayor and city council

Maryland

Annapolis, Maryland - Mayor and city council

Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts - Mayor and city council

Michigan

Detroit, Michigan - Mayor, city council, clerk, and board of police commissioners
Lansing, Michigan - Mayor and city council

Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota - Mayor, city council, board of estimate and taxation, park and recreation board
St. Paul, Minnesota - Mayor

Mississippi

Jackson, Mississippi - Mayor and city council

Missouri

Jefferson City, Missouri - City council and city prosecutor
St. Louis, Missouri - Mayor, comptroller, and board of aldermen

Montana

Helena, Montana - Mayor and city council

Nebraska

Lincoln, Nebraska - City council and airport authority board
Omaha, Nebraska - Mayor and city council

New Hampshire

Concord, New Hampshire - Mayor and ward councilors

New Jersey

Jersey City, New Jersey - Mayor and city council
Essex County, New Jersey - County sheriff
Hudson County, New Jersey - County register

New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico - Mayor and city council
Santa Fe, New Mexico - Mayor and city council
Bernalillo County, New Mexico - Flood control authority board, community college board, and conservation district board

New York

Albany, New York - Mayor and city council
Buffalo, New York - Mayor and city court judges
New York, New York - Mayor, city council, public advocate, and comptroller
Bronx County, New York - Borough president and civil court judges
Erie County, New York - County legislature, comptroller, sheriff, and family court judge
Kings County, New York - Borough president, district attorney, surrogate court judge, and civil court judges
New York County, New York - Borough president, district attorney, and civil court judges
Queens County, New York - Borough president and civil court judges
Richmond County, New York - Borough president and civil court judge

North Carolina

Durham, North Carolina - Mayor and city council
Guilford County, North Carolina - Special districts

Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio - Mayor and city council
Cleveland, Ohio - Mayor, city council, and city municipal court judge
Columbus, Ohio - City council, city attorney, and city auditor
Toledo, Ohio - Mayor, city council, and municipal judge
Fairfield County, Ohio - Educational service center, municipal court clerk, and municipal court judges
Franklin County, Ohio - County municipal court judges

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - City council
Tulsa County, Oklahoma - Treasurer (special)

Oregon

Multnomah County, Oregon - Community college boards, educational service boards, & Portland Community College Board Zone 7 (special)

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - Mayor and city council
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - District attorney, city controller, and local judicial seats
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Mayor and city council
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania - County council and sheriff

Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island - City council (special)

South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina - Mayor and city council

South Dakota

Pierre, South Dakota - City council

Texas

Arlington, Texas - Mayor and city council
Dallas, Texas - City council
Fort Worth, Texas - Mayor and city council
Garland, Texas - Mayor and city council
Irving, Texas - City council
Plano, Texas - Mayor and city council
San Antonio, Texas - Mayor and city council
Bexar County, Texas - River district board
Collin County, Texas - Community college board
El Paso County, Texas - Community college board
Harris County, Texas - Community college board
Tarrant County, Texas - Community college board and water district board

Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah - City council

Vermont

Montpelier, Vermont - City council

Virginia

Chesapeake, Virginia - Commissioner of revenue, commonwealth's attorney, sheriff, and treasurer
Norfolk, Virginia - Commissioner of revenue, commonwealth's attorney, sheriff, and treasurer
Richmond, Virginia - Commonwealth's attorney, sheriff, and treasurer
Virginia Beach, Virginia - Commissioner of revenue, commonwealth's attorney, sheriff, and treasurer

Washington

Olympia, Washington - City council
Seattle, Washington - Mayor, city council, and city attorney
Clallam County, Washington - City elections in Forks, Port Angeles, and Sequim
King County, Washington - Executive, county council, Seattle port commissioner, superior court judge, one intermediate appellate court judge, and one King Conservation District seat

Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin - Common council and municipal judge
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Municipal judge
Dane County, Wisconsin - County executive, county supervisors (special), and circuit court judges
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin - Circuit court judges

U.S. territories

Puerto Rico

Cataño, Puerto Rico - Mayor

By date

February 2

Special election

New York, New York

February 9

Primary

February 16

Primary

February 23

Special election

New York, New York

March 2

Primary

St. Louis, Missouri

General election

Montpelier, Vermont

March 9

Special election

Orange County, California

March 23

Special election

April 6

Primary

General election

April 20

General election

Dover, Delaware

April 27

Primary runoff

Jackson, Mississippi

General runoff

Montgomery, Alabama

May 1

General election

May 4

Primary

General election

Lincoln, Nebraska

May 11

General election

Omaha, Nebraska

May 18

Primary

General election

Multnomah County, Oregon

June 5

Runoff election

June 8

Primary

General election

June 15

Primary

Dane County, Wisconsin

June 22

Primary

July 6

Special election

Providence, Rhode Island

July 13

Special elections

August 3

Primary

August 10

Special election

Dane County, Wisconsin

August 24

September 14

Primary

September 21

Primary

October 5

Primary

Durham, North Carolina

General election

Juneau, Alaska

General runoff

Birmingham, Alabama

November 2

Primary

Hialeah, Florida

General election

General runoff

Riverside, California

November 13

Primary

November 16

General election

General runoff

November 30

General runoff

December 7

General

Jacksonville, Florida

General runoff

Orlando, Florida

December 11

General

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

December 19

General

Cataño, Puerto Rico

Issues

As municipal election candidates address issues relevant to their localities, common themes often emerge in elections across the country. In 2021, four common issues stood out in municipal battleground elections: coronavirus pandemic response and recovery, crime and public safety, criminal justice and policing, and homelessness and housing policy. Click on the links below to read more about the elections in which these issues featured prominently.

List of mayors of the 100 largest cities

The following table contains a list of current mayors of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. by population.

Click to view a list of current mayors of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. by population.

100 Largest Cities By Population
Rank	City	Population (2020)	Mayor	Took office	Term ends	Government type	Mayoral election in 2024?
1	New York, New York	8,804,190	Eric Adams (D)	2022	2026	Strong mayor	No
2	Los Angeles, California	3,898,747	Karen Bass (D)	2022	2026	Strong mayor	No
3	Chicago, Illinois	2,746,388	Brandon Johnson (D)	2023	2027	Strong mayor	No
4	Houston, Texas	2,304,580	John Whitmire (D)	2024	2028	Strong mayor	No
5	Phoenix, Arizona	1,608,139	Kate Gallego (D)	2019	2025	Council-manager	Yes
6	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1,603,797	Cherelle Parker (D)	2024	2028	Strong mayor	No
7	San Antonio, Texas	1,434,625	Ron Nirenberg (I)	2017	2025	Council-manager	No
8	San Diego, California	1,386,932	Todd Gloria (D)	2020	2024	Strong mayor	Yes
9	Dallas, Texas	1,304,379	Eric Johnson (R)	2019	2027	Council-manager	No
10	San Jose, California	1,013,240	Matt Mahan (D)	2023	2024	Council-manager	Yes
11	Austin, Texas	961,855	Kirk Watson (D)	2023	2025	Council-manager	Yes
12	Jacksonville, Florida	949,611	Donna Deegan (D)	2023	2027	Strong mayor	No
13	Fort Worth, Texas	918,915	Mattie Parker (R)	2021	2025	Council-manager	No
14	Columbus, Ohio	905,748	Andrew J. Ginther (D)	2015	2027	Strong mayor	No
15	Indianapolis, Indiana	897,041	Joseph Hogsett (D)	2016	2024	Strong mayor	No
16	Charlotte, North Carolina	874,579	Vi Lyles (D)	2017	2025	Council-manager	No
17	San Francisco, California	873,965	London Breed (D)	2018	2025	Strong mayor	Yes
18	Seattle, Washington	737,015	Bruce Harrell (D)	2022	2025	Strong mayor	No
19	Denver, Colorado	715,522	Michael Johnston (D)	2023	2027	Strong mayor	No
20	Nashville, Tennessee	715,884	Freddie O'Connell (D)	2023	2027	Strong mayor	No
21	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	681,054	David Holt (R)	2018	2026	Council-manager	No
22	El Paso, Texas	678,815	Oscar Leeser (D)	2021	2025	Council-manager	Yes
23	Boston, Massachusetts	675,647	Michelle Wu (D)	2021	2026	Strong mayor	No
24	Portland, Oregon	652,503	Ted Wheeler (D)	2017	2025	City commission	Yes
25	Las Vegas, Nevada	641,903	Carolyn Goodman (Nonpartisan)	2011	2024	Council-manager	Yes
26	Detroit, Michigan	639,111	Mike Duggan (D)	2014	2026	Strong mayor	No
27	Memphis, Tennessee	633,104	Paul Young (D)	2024	2028	Strong mayor	No
28	Louisville, Kentucky	633,045	Craig Greenberg (D)	2023	2027	Strong mayor	No
29	Baltimore, Maryland	585,708	Brandon M. Scott (D)	2020	2024	Strong mayor	Yes
30	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	577,222	Cavalier Johnson (D)	2021	2024	Strong mayor	Yes
31	Albuquerque, New Mexico	564,559	Tim Keller (D)	2017	2025	Strong mayor	No
32	Tucson, Arizona	542,629	Regina Romero (D)	2019	2027	Council-manager	No
33	Fresno, California	542,107	Jerry Dyer (R)	2021	2028	Hybrid	Yes
34	Sacramento, California	524,943	Darrell Steinberg (D)	2016	2024	Council-manager	Yes
35	Kansas City, Missouri	508,090	Quinton Lucas (D)	2019	2027	Council-manager	No
36	Mesa, Arizona	504,258	John Giles (R)	2014	2025	Council-manager	Yes
37	Atlanta, Georgia	498,715	Andre Dickens (D)	2022	2026	Strong mayor	No
38	Omaha, Nebraska	486,051	Jean Stothert (R)	2013	2025	Strong mayor	No
39	Colorado Springs, Colorado	478,961	Yemi Mobolade (I)	2023	2027	Strong mayor	No
40	Raleigh, North Carolina	467,665	Mary-Ann Baldwin (D)	2019	2024	Council-manager	Yes
41	Long Beach, California	466,742	Rex Richardson (D)	2022	2026	Council-manager	No
42	Virginia Beach, Virginia	459,470	Bob Dyer (R)	2018	2025	Council-manager	Yes
43	Miami, Florida	442,241	Francis Suarez (R)	2021	2025	Hybrid	No
44	Oakland, California	440,646	Sheng Thao (D)	2023	2027	Hybrid	No
45	Minneapolis, Minnesota	429,954	Jacob Frey (D)	2022	2026	Strong mayor	No
46	Tulsa, Oklahoma	413,066	G. T. Bynum (R)	2016	2024	Strong mayor	Yes
47	Bakersfield, California	403,455	Karen Goh (R)	2017	2025	Council-manager	Yes
48	Wichita, Kansas	397,532	Lily Wu (L)	2024	2028	Council-manager	No
49	Arlington, Texas	394,266	Jim Ross (Unknown)	2021	2025	Council-manager	No
50	Aurora, Colorado	386,261	Mike Coffman (R)	2019	2027	Council-manager	No
51	Tampa, Florida	384,959	Jane Castor (D)	2019	2027	Strong mayor	No
52	New Orleans, Louisiana	383,997	LaToya Cantrell (D)	2018	2026	Strong mayor	No
53	Cleveland, Ohio	372,624	Justin Bibb (D)	2022	2026	Strong mayor	No
54	Honolulu, Hawaii	350,964	Rick Blangiardi (I)	2021	2024	Strong mayor	Yes
55	Anaheim, California	346,824	Ashleigh Aitken (D)	2022	2026	Council-manager	No
56	Lexington, Kentucky	322,570	Linda Gorton (R)	2019	2027	Strong mayor	No
57	Stockton, California	320,804	Kevin Lincoln II (R)	2021	2024	Council-manager	Yes
58	Corpus Christi, Texas	317,863	Paulette Guajardo (Nonpartisan)	2021	2025	Council-manager	Yes
59	Henderson, Nevada	317,610	Michelle Romero (R)	2023	2027	Council-manager	No
60	Riverside, California	314,998	Patricia Lock Dawson (Nonpartisan)	2012	2024	Council-manager	Yes
61	Newark, New Jersey	311,549	Ras J. Baraka (D)	2014	2026	Strong mayor	No
62	St. Paul, Minnesota	311,527	Melvin Carter III (D)	2022	2026	Strong mayor	No
63	Santa Ana, California	310,227	Valerie Amezcua (D)	2022	2024	Council-manager	Yes
64	Cincinnati, Ohio	309,317	Aftab Pureval (D)	2022	2026	Hybrid	No
65	Irvine, California	307,670	Farrah Khan (D)	2020	2024	Council-manager	Yes
66	Orlando, Florida	307,573	Buddy Dyer (D)	2003	2024	Strong mayor	No
67	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	302,971	Edward Gainey (D)	2022	2026	Strong mayor	No
68	St. Louis, Missouri	301,578	Tishaura Jones (D)	2021	2025	Strong mayor	No
69	Greensboro, North Carolina	299,035	Nancy B. Vaughan (D)	2013	2025	Council-manager	No
70	Jersey City, New Jersey	292,449	Steven Fulop (D)	2013	2026	Strong mayor	No
71	Anchorage, Alaska	291,247	David Bronson (R)	2021	2024	Hybrid	Yes
72	Lincoln, Nebraska	291,082	Leirion Gaylor Baird (D)	2019	2027	Strong mayor	No
73	Plano, Texas	285,494	John Muns (R)	2021	2025	Council-manager	No
74	Durham, North Carolina	283,506	Leonardo Williams (D)	2023	2025	Council-manager	No
75	Buffalo, New York	278,349	Byron Brown (D)	2005	2026	Strong mayor	No
76	Chandler, Arizona	275,987	Kevin Hartke (Nonpartisan)	2019	2027	Council-manager	No
77	Chula Vista, California	275,487	John McCann (R)	2022	2026	Council-manager	No
78	Toledo, Ohio	270,871	Wade Kapszukiewicz (D)	2022	2026	Strong mayor	No
79	Madison, Wisconsin	269,840	Satya Rhodes-Conway (D)	2019	2027	Strong mayor	No
80	Gilbert, Arizona	267,918	Brigette Peterson (R)	2021	2025	Hybrid	Yes
81	Reno, Nevada	264,165	Hillary Schieve (Nonpartisan)	2014	2026	Council-manager	No
82	Fort Wayne, Indiana	263,886	Vacant N/A	N/A	2028	Strong mayor	No
83	North Las Vegas, Nevada	262,527	Pamela Goynes-Brown (D)	2022	2026	Council-manager	No
84	St. Petersburg, Florida	258,308	Kenneth Welch (D)	2022	2027	Strong mayor	No
85	Lubbock, Texas	257,141	Tray Payne (R)	2022	2024	Council-manager	Yes
86	Irving, Texas	256,684	Rick Stopfer (R)	2017	2026	Council-manager	No
87	Laredo, Texas	255,205	Victor Treviño (Unknown)	2022	2026	Council-manager	No
88	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	249,545	Allen Joines (D)	2001	2024	Council-manager	Yes
89	Chesapeake, Virginia	249,422	Richard West (R)	2008	2024	Council-manager	Yes
90	Glendale, Arizona	248,325	Jerry Weiers (R)	2013	2024	Council-manager	Yes
91	Garland, Texas	246,018	Scott LeMay (R)	2019	2025	Council-manager	No
92	Scottsdale, Arizona	241,361	David Ortega (I)	2021	2025	Council-manager	Yes
93	Norfolk, Virginia	238,005	Kenneth Alexander (D)	2016	2024	Council-manager	Yes
94	Boise, Idaho	235,684	Lauren McLean (D)	2020	2028	Strong mayor	No
95	Fremont, California	230,504	Lily Mei (D)	2016	2024	Council-manager	Yes
96	Spokane, Washington	228,989	Lisa Brown (D)	2024	2028	Strong mayor	No
97	Santa Clarita, California	228,673	Cameron Smyth (R)	2023	2024	Council-manager	No
98	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	227,470	Sharon Weston Broome (D)	2017	2024	Strong mayor	Yes
99	Richmond, Virginia	226,610	Levar Stoney (D)	2016	2024	Strong mayor	Yes
100	Hialeah, Florida	223,109	Esteban Bovo Jr. (R)	2021	2025	Strong mayor	No

Historical election data

The 100 largest cities in the U.S. held an average of 29.0 mayoral elections and 51.3 city council elections each year between 2014 and 2020. Ballotpedia covers local elections in America’s 100 largest cities by population and in the counties that overlap those cities. This section includes statistics for mayoral elections, city council elections, and county elections between 2014 and 2020, comparing uncontested races, incumbents who sought re-election, and incumbents who were defeated in their re-election bids.

The following table details the total number of elections at the city and county level covered by Ballotpedia between 2014 and 2020, including the number of cities that held mayoral and city council elections in a given year:

Total municipal elections covered by Ballotpedia from 2014 to 2020
Year	Cities	Mayor	City council	Counties
2020	59	29	52	80
2019	64	30	63	29
2018	58	26	49	78
2017	59	36	50	23
2016	46	25	45	12
2015	59	33	58	N/A
2014	43	24	42	N/A

Mayoral elections

Between 2014 and 2020, 68.5% of incumbent mayors sought re-election; of these, 18.0% were defeated in their bids for re-election. The first chart below shows the number of incumbents who sought election each year compared to the number of seats up for election. The second chart shows the number of incumbents who were defeated compared to the number of incumbents who ran for re-election.

The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of mayoral races and the number and percentage of uncontested races, incumbents who sought re-election, and incumbents who were defeated in their re-election bids.

Mayoral election incumbency statistics from 2014 to 2020
Year	Total seats	Uncontested		Incumbents who sought re-election		Incumbents defeated
Year	Total seats	#	%	#	%	#	%
2020	29	1	3.4%	22	75.9%	5	22.7%
2019	30	2	6.7%	21	70.0%	4	19.0%
2018	26	1	3.8%	18	69.2%	1	5.6%
2017	36	0	0.0%	24	66.7%	5	20.8%
2016	25	4	16.0%	15	60.0%	4	26.7%
2015	33	3	9.1%	25	75.8%	4	16.0%
2014	24	2	8.3%	14	58.3%	2	14.3%

City council elections

Between 2014 and 2020, 69.2% of city council incumbents sought re-election; of these, 13.0% were defeated in their bids for re-election. The first chart below shows the number of incumbents who sought election each year compared to the number of seats up for election. The second chart shows the number of incumbents who were defeated compared to the number of incumbents who ran for re-election.

The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of city council races and the number and percentage of uncontested races, incumbents who sought re-election, and incumbents who were defeated in their re-election bids.

City council election incumbency statistics from 2014 to 2020
Year	Total seats	Uncontested		Incumbents who sought re-election		Incumbents defeated
Year	Total seats	#	%	#	%	#	%
2020	253	47	18.6%	175	69.2%	26	14.9%
2019	457	59	12.9%	312	68.3%	39	12.5%
2018	200	29	14.5%	137	68.5%	19	13.9%
2017	367	47	12.8%	274	74.7%	37	13.5%
2016	216	48	22.2%	156	72.2%	22	14.1%
2015	467	97	20.8%	309	66.2%	30	9.7%
2014	198	31	15.7%	130	65.7%	21	16.2%

County elections

Between 2017 and 2020, 83.9% of county and special district incumbents sought re-election; of these, 8.8% were defeated in their bids for re-election. The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of county races and the number and percentage of uncontested races, incumbents who sought re-election, and incumbents who were defeated in their re-election bids.

County election incumbency statistics from 2014 to 2020
Year	Total seats	Uncontested		Incumbents who sought re-election		Incumbents defeated
Year	Total seats	#	%	#	%	#	%
2020	2,167	1,190	54.9%	1,861	85.9%	147	7.9%
2019	183	85	46.4%	140	76.5%	11	7.9%
2018	2,168	1,115	51.4%	1,807	83.3%	176	9.7%
2017	108	47	43.5%	74	68.5%	9	12.2%

Uncontested races

An average of 1.9 mayoral races and 51.1 city council races went uncontested between 2014 and 2020. In terms of mayoral elections, 2016 saw the highest number of uncontested races (four), and 2017 saw the fewest (zero). For city council seats, 2015 had the highest number of uncontested races (97) and 2018 had the fewest (29). The chart below shows the percentage of uncontested mayoral and city council races between 2014 and 2020.

More local election analysis

In 2021, Ballotpedia covered elections for mayor, city council, and all other city officials in the 100 largest cities by population in the United States, as well as elections for county officials whose jurisdictions overlapped with those cities.

Local elections:

United States municipal elections, 2021

School board elections, 2021

Local trial court judicial elections, 2021

Local ballot measure elections in 2021

Partisanship in United States municipal elections (2021)

Top 15 elections to watch

Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection report

Footnotes

[1] City of Anchorage, "Election Summary Report," May 25, 2021

[2] Anchorage Daily News, "Bronson set to win race for Anchorage mayor; Dunbar concedes," May 23, 2021

[3] Municipality of Anchorage, "April 6, 2021 Regular Municipal Election Results," accessed April 20, 2021

[4] Anchorage Daily News, "Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz resigns over what he calls ‘unacceptable personal conduct'", October 14, 2020

[5] Anchorage Daily News, "Meet Austin Quinn-Davidson, Anchorage’s new acting mayor," October 24, 2020

[6] State of Alaska Division of Elections, "August 19, 2014 Primary Candidate List," accessed June 2, 2014

[7] Alaska Daily News, "A contentious election for Anchorage mayor is nearing the finish line, revealing deep divisions on how the city should move ahead," May 8, 2021

[8] City Charter of Anchorage, AL, Secs. 5.01-03, accessed March 15, 2021

[9] City Charter of Anchorage, AL, Secs. 5.01-03, accessed August 26, 2014

[10] A candidate must receive at least 50%+1 of the vote in order to avoid a runoff election.

[11] City of Arlington, "Ord. 21-006," accessed March 22, 2021

[12] Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "‘We live in new times’: Arlington runoffs will come down to turnout, experts say," May 19, 2021

[williamsaffiliation-13] 13.0 ^13.1 While the position in Arlington is officially nonpartisan, Ballotpedia tracks the party affiliations of all mayors of the 100 largest cities. Ballotpedia identified Williams' party affiliation as a Republican using local news references such as those found here and here.

[14] Google Docs, "2021 Municipal & ISD Candidate Primary Voting Record : Sheet1," accessed May 4, 2021

[15] Arlington Spectator, "June 5/May 1, 2021 Election - Our Analysis," accessed May 4, 2021

[aboutglaspie-16] 16.0 ^16.1 Michael Glaspie's campaign website, "About Me," accessed March 23, 2021

[dmne-17] The Dallas Morning News, "Our recommendation for Arlington mayor," April 11, 2021

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