Mayor of Dallas

The Mayor of the City of Dallas is a member of the Dallas City Council and its presiding officer. The current mayor is Eric Johnson, who has served one term since 2019 and is the 60th mayor to serve in the position. Dallas operates under a city charter that designates the mayor as the official head of city government and a council-manager system where a city council-appointed city manager serves as the chief operating officer of the city.

Mayor of Dallas
Seal of the City of Dallas
Incumbent Eric Johnson since 2019
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Dallas, Texas
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Dr. Samuel B. Pryor 1856
Formation	Dallas City Charter
Salary	$80,000
Website	City of Dallas - Mayor Eric Johnson

Duties and powers

The city of Dallas operates under a council-manager government type, putting the city of Dallas in a unique position as being one of the largest cities in the United States to utilize this municipal government structure. Unlike the more common form of government used by large cities known as the mayor-council government - where the mayor serves the chief-executive position of the city - the council-manager government of the city of Dallas gives the operational responsibility to the appointed City Manager. The mayor presides over city council meetings and official ceremonies and serves as a representative of the City of Dallas at the local, state, national, and international level. Likewise, it is not uncommon for mayors of the city of Dallas to simultaneously serve as members or heads of other committees while in office, further representing the interests of the people and city of Dallas in organizations and committees.

History

The Office of Mayor was created with the formation of the Dallas City Charter in 1856, also providing for the mayor six aldermen, a treasurer, recorder and a constable. In the charter, it was stated that each office would be elected for a term of one year.^[1] In the reorganization of 1876, the mayor was elected to the office for a term of two years.^[2] The office was first filled in the election of 1856, in which Dr. Samuel B. Pryor defeated A. D. Rice for the position.^[3] A. D. Rice would run for office again and go on to serve as the 4th mayor of the city.

For much of the 19th century, mayors of the city of Dallas served for only one term. This precedence was broken at the end of Winship C. Connor's term, who – after serving three consecutive terms from 1887 to 1894 – would go on to be the city's longest consecutively serving mayor in the 19th century. His success was accredited to the development of the city's first water, power, and streetcar systems.

The municipal government of Dallas underwent two significant structural changes during its history. The first change was made in 1907 where the city voted to change from an alderman system to a commission form of government. Stephen J. Hay was the first mayor elected in this new form of government, demonstrating the success of the highly debated commission form of government and contributing to the development of White Rock Lake in response to a water shortage in 1910. The second major government change was made in 1930, altering the commission form of government to specifically be a council-manager form. The first mayor to serve following this change was Tom Bradford, a successful grocer who was a significant financial contributor to the Bradford Memorial Hospital for Babies, the preliminary institution to the Children's Medical Center Dallas. He died after suffering a major heart attack in 1932 and was the first mayor of Dallas to die in office.

Woodall Rodgers, serving two 4 year terms from 1939 to 1947, was mayor during World War II and served during the rampant manufacturing of aircraft and weapon goods in a rapidly industrializing Dallas. Rodgers oversaw the initial transformation of Dallas Love Field from a USAAF training ground to a commercial airport. He was also mayor when the Mercantile National Bank Building was constructed, which was the only skyscraper built in the United States during World War II and was the tallest building in the city of Dallas until the completion of Republic Center Tower I in 1954. The economic success brought by his contributions in office are commemorated by several namesakes throughout the city, most notably the Woodall Rodgers Freeway that passes underneath Klyde Warren Park and over the Trinity River along the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

Earle Cabell served as 48th mayor from 1961 to 1964 and was mayor during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in the city. In the wake of the assassination, Cabell was the target of multiple death threats and accusations of his involvement in the act.

The image of the city of Dallas was immensely tarnished by the assassination of the President, earning the moniker "City of Hate". Following Earle Cabell was Mayor J. Erik Jonsson who funded and supported the then proposed Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. As mayor, he went on to support public works projects such as developing the new Dallas City Hall, the Dallas Convention Center, and the Dallas Central Library - the last of which is now named in his honor. He was followed by Wes Wise who went on to further improve the city's image during his three terms as mayor from 1971 to 1976. However, he stepped down to pursue a political career in United States Congress before the end of his third term. His pro-term mayoral successor, Adlene Harrison, stepped in and became acting mayor for the remainder of his term. She was the city's first female mayor, and the first female Jewish mayor in the United States. Although Dianne Feinstein is officially recognized as the first female Jewish mayor in the United States, Adlene Harrison's position as acting mayor predates Feinstein's start in office by almost two years; Adlene began serving as acting mayor on February 11, 1976, while Feinstein took office on December 4, 1978. Adlene would go on to serve as a member of several environmental committees and organizations after her short tenure, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ron Kirk was the first African-American mayor of the City of Dallas and served two terms from 1995 to 2002. As mayor, he led several efforts advocating for race equality and social welfare, mitigated tension between City Council and the Dallas School Board, advocated for economic development, and oversaw the construction of the American Airlines Center. He would later step down to pursue a seat in the US Senate, where he lost in the 2002 election to John Cornyn. After his defeat, he went on to become a lobbyist before being nominated and appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as United States Trade Representative from 2009 to 2013.

Laura Miller - the city's third female mayor, following Adlene Harrison and Annette Strauss - was instrumental in renegotiating the Wright Amendment to revise flight restrictions at Love Field Airport, as well as implementing a citywide smoking ban and an ordinance prohibiting sex-based discrimination. The following mayor Tom Leppert would impose a staunch crime-fighting policy, promote the economic development of a modern inland port, and was a vocal supporter of a controversial convention center hotel project at the peak of the 2008 recession. He would later vacate the office to pursue a US Senate campaign in 2012, of which he would place third in the runoff. Following the four-month incumbency of acting mayor Dwaine Caraway, mayor Mike Rawlings would be known for his vocal leadership during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers, and the removal of confederate monuments following the Charlottesville riots.

List

Samuel B. Pryor, the first mayor of Dallas.

Stephen J. Hay, the first mayor elected under commission government and advocate for the White Rock Lake project.

Earle Cabell, son and grandson of former mayors Ben E. Cabell and William Lewis Cabell respectively, was mayor of Dallas at the time of President Kennedy's assassination.

Incumbent mayor Eric Johnson.

This is the list of people who have held the office of Mayor. Note: municipal elections in Texas are non-partisan. The party affiliation of the Mayor is listed here for informational purposes only. ^[a]

#	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Terms		Party
1	Samuel B. Pryor	1856	1857	1		None
2	John McClannahan Crockett	1857	1858	1		Democratic
3	Isaac Naylor	1858	1858	1		None
4	A. D. Rice	1858	1859	1		None
5	John M. Crockett (Second term)	1859	1861	1		Democratic
6	Joshua Lafayette Smith	1861	1861	1		None
7	Thos. E. Sherwood	1861	1862	1		None
-	Military governor (American Civil War).	1862	1865	None		None
8	John M. Crockett (Third term)	1865	1866	1		Democratic
9	John W. Lane	1866	1866	1		Democratic
10	George W. Guess	1866	1868	1		None
11	Benjamin Long	1868	1870	1		None
12	Henry Ervay	1870	1872	1		None
13	Benjamin Long (Second term)	1872	1874	1		None
14	William Lewis Cabell	1874	1876	1		None
15	John D. Kerfoot	1876	1877	½		None
16	William Lewis Cabell (Second term)	1877	1879	1		None
17	J. M. Thurmond	1879	1880	1		None
18	J. J. Good	1880	1881	½		Democratic
19	J. W. Crowdus	1881	1883	1		None
20	William Lewis Cabell (Third term)	1883	1885	1		None
21	John Henry Brown	1885	1887	1		None
22	Winship C. Connor	1887	1894	3		None
23	Bryan T. Barry	1894	1895	½		None
24	F. P. Holland	1895	1897	1		None
25	Bryan T. Barry (Second term)	1897	1898	1		None
26	John H. Traylor	1898	1900	2		None
27	Ben E. Cabell	1900	1904	4		None
28	Bryan T. Barry (Third term)	1904	1906	2		None
29	Curtis P. Smith	1906	1907	1		Democratic
30	Stephen J. Hay	1907	1911	2		Democratic
31	W. M. Holland	1911	1915	2		None
32	Henry D. Lindsley	1915	1917	1		Democratic
33	Joe E. Lawther	1917	1919	1		Democratic
34	Frank W. Wozencraft	1919	1921	1		Democratic
35	Sawnie R. Aldredge	1921	1923	1		Democratic
36	Louis Blaylock	1923	1927	2		None
37	R. E. Burt	1927	1929	1		None
38	J. Waddy Tate	1929	1931	1		None
39	Tom Bradford	1931	1932	½		None
40	Charles E. Turner	1932	1935	1½		Democratic
41	George Sergeant	1935	1937	1		Democratic
42	George Sprague	1937	1939	1		Democratic
43	Woodall Rodgers	1939	1947	4		None
44	J. R. Temple	1947	1949	1		Democratic
45	Wallace H. Savage	1949	1951	1		Democratic
46	Jean Baptiste Adoue	1951	1953	1		None
47	Robert L. Thornton	1953	1961	4		Democratic
48	Earle Cabell	1961	1964	1½		Democratic
49	J. Erik Jonsson	1964	1971	3½		None
50	Wes Wise	1971	1976	2½		None
Acting (51)	Adlene Harrison	1976	1976	less than 1		Democratic
51 (52)	Robert Folsom	1976	1981	2½		None
52 (53)	Jack Wilson Evans	1981	1983	1		Republican
53 (54)	Starke Taylor	1983	1987	2		Republican
54 (55)	Annette Strauss	1987	1991	2		None
55 (56)	Steve Bartlett	1991	1995	2		Republican
56 (57)	Ron Kirk	1995	2001	3½		Democratic
Acting (58)	Mary Poss	2001	2002	less than 1		None
57 (59)	Laura Miller	2002	2007	2½		Democratic
58 (60)	Tom Leppert	2007	2011	2		Republican
Acting (61)	Dwaine Caraway	2011	2011	less than 1		Democratic
59 (62)	Mike Rawlings	2011	2019	2		Democratic
60 (63)	Eric Johnson	2019	2023	less than 2		Democratic
		2023	incumbent			Republican

See also

• History of Dallas

Notes

1. Term lengths changed many times during the multiple reorganizations of the Dallas City Charter.^[4]

References

1. "01Chartr (1).pdf" (PDF). City of Dallas. p. 5.
2. "01Chartr (1).pdf" (PDF). City of Dallas. p. 6.
3. "ElectMasterList.pdf" (PDF). City of Dallas. p. 5.
4. "01Chartr (1).pdf" (PDF). City of Dallas. p. 6.

External links

• Official page