List of mayors of Buffalo, New York

The following is a list of people who have served as mayors of the city of Buffalo in the U.S. state of New York.

Mayor of the City of Buffalo
Seal of the City of Buffalo
Flag of the City of Buffalo
Incumbent Christopher Scanlon since October 15, 2024
Government of Buffalo
Style	The Honorable (formal) Mr. Mayor (informal)
Seat	Buffalo City Hall
Term length	Four years; renewable
Constituting instrument	Buffalo City Charter
Inaugural holder	Ebenezer Johnson
Formation	1832
Succession	Deputy Mayor of Buffalo
Deputy	Deputy Mayor of Buffalo
Salary	$178,519 (2024)
Website	www.city-buffalo.com/Home/Leadership/Mayor

List of mayors

Main article: Politics and government of Buffalo, New York

No.	Name	Picture	Party	Term in office	Election	Notes
1	Ebenezer Johnson		Democratic-Republican	May 1832 – March 1833	1832	Doctor during the War of 1812[1]
2	Major Andre Andrews		Independent	March 1833 – 1834	1833	Founding member of the first Bank of Buffalo[1]
3	Ebenezer Johnson		Democratic-Republican	1834 – 1835	1834
4	Hiram Pratt		Whig	1835 – 1836	1835
5	Samuel Wilkeson		Independent	1836 – March 14, 1837	1836
6	Josiah Trowbridge		Whig	March 14, 1837 – December 21, 1837	1837
7	Pierre A. Barker		Independent	December 21, 1837 – March 13, 1838	–
8	Ebenezer Walden		Whig	March 13, 1838 – 1839	1838
9	Hiram Pratt		Whig	1839 – 1840	1839
10	Sheldon Thompson		Whig	1840 – March 2, 1841	1840
11	Isaac R. Harrington		Whig	March 2, 1841 – March 8, 1842	1841
12	George William Clinton		Independent	March 8, 1842 – 1843	1842	Served as the 7th United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York
13	Joseph G. Masten		Democratic	1843 – 1844	1843
14	William Ketchum		Whig	1844 – 1845	1844
15	Joseph G. Masten		Democratic	1845 – 1846	1845
16	Solomon G. Haven		Whig	1846 – 1847	1846
17	Elbridge G. Spaulding		Whig	1847 – 1848	1847	Served as New York State Treasurer from 1854–1855 and was twice elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
18	Orlando Allen		Whig	1848 – 1849	– 1848
19	Hiram Barton		Whig	1849 – 1850	1849
20	Henry K. Smith		Democratic	1850 – March 4, 1851	1850
21	James Wadsworth		Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 9, 1852	1851
22	Hiram Barton		Whig	March 9, 1852 – 1853	1852
23	Eli Cook		Democratic	1853 – 1855	March 1853 November 1853
24	Frederick P. Stevens		Democratic	1856 – 1857	1855
25	Timothy T. Lockwood		Democratic	1858 – January 2, 1860	1857
26	Franklin A. Alberger		Republican	January 2, 1860 – January 6, 1862	1859
27	William G. Fargo		Democratic	January 6, 1862 – 1866	1861 1863	Co-founded the modern day financial firms of American Express and Wells Fargo[2]
28	Chandler J. Wells		Republican	1866 – 1867	1865
29	William F. Rogers		Democratic	1868 – 1869	1867
30	Alexander Brush		Republican	1870 – 1873	1869 1872 (special)
31	Lewis P. Dayton		Democratic	1874 – 1875	1873
32	Philip Becker		Republican	1876 – January 7, 1878	1875
33	Solomon Scheu		Democratic	January 7, 1878 – January 1880	1877
34	Alexander Brush		Republican	January 1880 – January 2, 1882	1879
35	Grover Cleveland		Democratic	January 2, 1882 – November 20, 1882	1881	Elected 22nd & 24th President of the United States. The only American President to be mayor of a major city.
36	Marcus M. Drake		Republican	November 20, 1882 – December 29, 1882	–
37	Harmon S. Cutting		Democratic	December 29, 1882 – January 16, 1883	–
38	John B. Manning		Democratic	January 16, 1883 – January 6, 1884	1883 (special)
39	Jonathan Scoville		Democratic	January 6, 1884 – 1885	1883
40	Philip Becker		Republican	1886 – 1890	1885 1887
41	Charles F. Bishop		Democratic	1890 – 1894	1889 1891
42	Edgar B. Jewett		Republican	1895 – 1897	1894
43	Conrad Diehl		Democratic	1898 – 1901	1897
44	Erastus C. Knight		Republican	1902 – 1905	1900
45	James N. Adam		Democratic	1906 – 1909	1905
46	Louis P. Fuhrmann		Democratic	1910 – 1917	1909 1913
47	George S. Buck		Republican	1918 – 1921	1917
48	Frank X. Schwab		Republican	1922 – 1929	1921 1925
49	Charles E. Roesch		Republican	1930 – 1933	1929
50	George J. Zimmermann		Democratic	1934 – 1937	1933
51	Thomas L. Holling		Democratic	1938 – 1941	1937
52	Joseph J. Kelly		Democratic	1942 – 1945	1941
53	Bernard J. Dowd		Republican	1946 – 1949	1945
54	Joseph Mruk		Republican	January 1, 1950 – December 31, 1953	1949
55	Steven Pankow		Democratic	January 1, 1954 – December 31, 1957	1953
56	Frank A. Sedita		Democratic	January 1, 1958 – December 31, 1961	1957
57	Chester A. Kowal		Republican	January 1, 1962 – December 31, 1965	1961
58	Frank A. Sedita		Democratic	January 1, 1966 – March 5, 1973	1965 1969
59	Stanley M. Makowski		Democratic	March 5, 1973 – December 31, 1977	– 1973
60	James D. Griffin		Democratic	January 1, 1978 – December 31, 1993	1977 1981 1985 1989
61	Anthony Masiello		Democratic	January 1, 1994 – December 31, 2005	1993 1997 2001
62	Byron Brown		Democratic	January 1, 2006 – October 15, 2024	2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
63	Christopher Scanlon		Democratic	October 15, 2024 –

Number of mayors by party affiliation

Party	Mayors
Democratic	30
Democratic-Republican	2
Republican	15
Whig	12
No Party	4

History

In 1853, the charter of the city was amended to include the town of Black Rock and the city proper was divided into thirteen wards. In addition, the term of city offices, including mayor changed from a one-year term to a two-year term and was elected directly by the people.^[3]

Mayoral elections

(winners are in bold)

Date	Candidates
November 8, 1881	Grover Cleveland	Milton Beebe
	15,120	11,528
January 9, 1883	John B. Manning	Robert R. Hefford
	11,036	7,321
November 6, 1973	Stanley M. Makowski	Stewart M. Levy	John A. Westra	Patrick W. Giagnacova	Ira Liebowitz
	77,569	24,423	2,640	1,147	597
November 2, 1993	Anthony Masiello	Richard A. Grimm	Eugene Fahey
	36,092	9,277	7,566
November 8, 2005	Byron Brown	Kevin Helfer	Judith Einach	Charles Flynn
	46,613	19,853	3,525	3,082
November 3, 2009	Byron Brown	Michael P. Kearns
	17,728	158
November 5, 2013	Byron Brown	Sergio Rodriguez
	26,120	10,733
November 7, 2017	Byron Brown	Mark J F Schroeder	Anita Howard	Terrence Robinson	Taniqua Simmons
	29,688	11,446	1,357	1,276	102
November 2, 2021	Byron Brown	India Walton	Ben Carlisle	Jaz Miles	William O'Dell
	38,338	25,773	219	23	8

See also

• Timeline of Buffalo, New York

References

1. "Dr. Ebenezer Johnson". Through The Mayor's Eyes, The Only Complete History of the Mayor's of Buffalo, New York, Compiled by Michael Rizzo. The Buffalonian is produced by The Peoples History Union. 2009-05-27. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
2. Grossman, Peter Z. (1987). American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 1-58798-283-8.
3. Fargo, Francis F. (1876). Memorial of the City and County Hall Opening Ceremonies. Buffalo, N.Y.: Courier Company, printers. p. 142. Retrieved 16 August 2016. Elbridge G. Spaulding mayor of buffalo term.