| Mayor of Portland, Oregon | |
|---|---|
 | |
.jpg) | |
| Style | Mayor |
| Term length | Four years |
| Inaugural holder | Hugh O'Bryant |
| Formation | 1851 |
| Salary | $175,463[1] |
Themayor of Portland, Oregon, is the official head of the city ofPortland, Oregon, United States. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and has no term limits. By law, all elections in Portland are nonpartisan.[2] The current mayor isKeith Wilson, who has served since January 1, 2025, and was first elected in the2024 election.
The current term for mayor of Portland is four years, having been increased from two years in 1913.[3] Mayoral elections were previously held in May of U.S. presidential election years (years divisible by four), during the Oregonprimary election, with a runoff between the top two vote-getters held in November of the same year should no candidate garner amajority vote in the May election, however a new system taking effect in 2024[4] holds a single general election in November of presidential election years using theinstant runoff ranked choice voting method. The mayor-elect takes office the following January.
Prior to 2025, Portland used acity commission government, the only major city to do so. The mayor and commissioners were responsible for legislative policy and oversaw the various bureaus tasked with day-to-day operation of the city.[5] The mayor served as chairman of the council, and was responsible for allocating department assignments to his fellow commissioners. The mayor's power included declaring an emergency and acting aspolice commissioner.
Beginning with the 2025 mayoral term, Portland switched to a Council-Mayor form of government.[4] The executive mayor works with a professional city administrator to implement the laws enacted by council and administer the city’s bureaus, employees, facilities, and resources.[4] The executive mayor develops and proposes the city’s budget to council for review and approval, may introduce measures before the council, and breaks tie votes in the council.[4]
The mayor is elected in citywide election. Elections utilize the instant runoff ranked choice voting method, beginning with the 2024 general election. The city charter also allows forwrite-in candidates. The mayor is elected to a four-year term with no term limits. The office of mayor is officiallynonpartisan by state law, although most mayoral candidates identify a party preference. Mayoral elections happen in conjunction with theUnited States presidential election. Elections followed atwo-round system prior to 2024 where the first round of the elections was a primary election. If a candidate received a majority of the vote in the primary they were elected outright, however, If no candidate received a majority the top two candidates advance to a runoff election, called thegeneral election.
The most recent election was in2024, when businessmanKeith Wilson defeated 19 other candidates.[6]
| # | Image | Name (birth–death) | Term | Election | Previous office/occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Hugh O'Bryant (1813–1883) | 1851–1852[7][8] | Officer in theOregon Riflemen[9] | |
| 2 |  | A. C. Bonnell (1801–1875) | April 1852 – November 1852 | ||
| 3 |  | Simon B. Marye (c. 1810–1868) | November 1852 – April 1853 | ||
| 4 |  | Josiah Failing (1806–1877) | 1853–1854 | Member of thePortland City Council (1852) | |
| 5 |  | William S. Ladd (1826–1893) | 1854–1855 | Member of thePortland City Council (1853) | |
| 6 |  | George W. Vaughn (1809–1877) | 1855–1856 | ||
| 7 | .jpg) | James O'Neill (1824–1901) | 1856–1857 | Agent forWells Fargo & Company | |
| 8 | | William S. Ladd (1826–1893) | 1857–1858 | 5th Mayor of Portland (1854–1855) | |
| 9 | | A. M. Starr (c. 1820–1891) | 1858–1859 | Member of thePortland City Council (1854, 1856) | |
| 10 |  | S. J. McCormick (1828–1891) | 1859–1860 | Delegate to theOregon Constitutional Convention fromMultnomah County | |
| 11 |  | G. Collier Robbins (1823–19??) | 1860–1861 | Member of thePortland City Council (1855, 1858) | |
| 12 |  | John M. Breck (1828–1900) | 1861–1862 | City Assessor of Portland[10] | |
| 13 | | William H. Farrar (1826–1873) | 1862–1863 | Delegate to theOregon Constitutional Convention fromMultnomah County[11] District Attorney for theOregon Territory[11] (1853–1859) | |
| 14 | .png) | David Logan (1824–1874) | 1863–1864 | Member of theOregon Territorial Legislature fromWashington County[12] | |
| 15 |  | Henry Failing (1834–1898) | 1864 – November 16, 1866[13] | ||
| 16 |  | Thomas J. Holmes (1819–1867) | 1866–1867 | Member of thePortland Public Schools Board of Education[14] | |
| 17 |  | J. A. Chapman (1821–1885) | 1867–1868 | Major/Surgeon in theUnited States Army[15] | |
| 18 | | Hamilton Boyd | 1868–1869 | Multnomah County Commissioner | |
| 19 |  | Bernard Goldsmith (1832–1901) | 1869–1871 | Director of theLibrary Association of Portland[16] | |
| 20 |  | Philip Wasserman (1828–1895) | 1871–1873 | ||
| 21 | | Henry Failing (1834–1898) | 1873–1875 | 15th Mayor of Portland (1864–1866) | |
| 22 | | J. A. Chapman (1821–1885) | 1875–1877 | 17th Mayor of Portland (1867–1868) | |
| 23 |  | William Spencer Newbury (1834–1915) | 1877–1879 | Mayor ofIola, Kansas (1870) | |
| 24 |  | David P. Thompson (1834–1901) | 1879–1882 | 6th Governor of theIdaho Territory[17] (1875–1876) | |
| 25 | | J. A. Chapman (1821–1885) | 1882–1885 | 17th and 22nd Mayor of Portland (1867–1868, 1875–1877) | |
| 26 |  | John Gates (1827–1888) | 1885 – April 27, 1888 (died in office)[18] | President of the Portland National Bank[19] | |
| 27 |  | Van B. DeLashmutt (1842–1921) | May 2, 1888[20] – 1891 | ||
| 28 |  | William S. Mason (1832–1899) | 1891–1894 | ||
| 29 |  | George P. Frank (1852–1896) | 1894–1896 | ||
| 30 |  | Sylvester Pennoyer (1831–1902) | 1896–1898 | 8thGovernor of Oregon[21] (1887–1895) | |
| 31 | | William S. Mason (1832–1899) | July 1, 1898[22] – March 27, 1899 (died in office)[23] | 28th Mayor of Portland (1891–1894) | |
| 32 |  | W. A. Storey (1854–1917) | May 17, 1899[24] –1900 | Member of thePortland City Council[25] (1898–1899) | |
| 33 |  | Henry S. Rowe (1851–1914) | 1900–1902 | 1900 | |
| 34 |  | George Henry Williams (1823–1910) | 1902–1905 | 32ndUnited States Attorney General (1871–1875) | |
| 35 |  | Harry Lane (1855–1917) | 1905–1909 | Superintendent of theOregon State Insane Asylum[26] (1887–1891) | |
| 36 |  | Joseph Simon (1851–1935) | 1909–1911 | United States Senator from Oregon[27] (1898–1903) | |
| 37 |  | Allen G. Rushlight (1874–1930) | 1911–1913 | Member of thePortland City Council[28] (1905–1911) | |
| 38 |  | H. Russell Albee (1867–1950) | June 1913 – July 1917[29] | ||
| 39 |  | George L. Baker (1868–1941) | July 1917 – July 1933[29] | Member of thePortland City Commission[30] | |
| 40 |  | Joseph K. Carson (1891–1956) | July 1933 – December 31, 1940[29] | ||
| 41 |  | Earl Riley (1890–1965) | January 1, 1941 – December 31, 1948[29] | Member of thePortland City Commission (1930–1940) | |
| 42 | .jpeg) | Dorothy McCullough Lee (1901–1981) | January 1, 1949 – December 31, 1952[29] | Member of thePortland City Commission[31] (1943–1949) | |
| 43 | | Fred L. Peterson (1896–1985) | January 1, 1953 – December 31, 1956 | Member of thePortland City Commission[32] (1941–1952) | |
| 44 |  | Terry Schrunk (1913–1975) | January 1, 1957 – January 1, 1973[29] | 24thSheriff ofMultnomah County[33] (1949–1956) | |
| 45 |  | Neil Goldschmidt (1940–2024) | January 2, 1973 – August 15, 1979[29][34][Note 1] | Member of thePortland City Commission[35] (1970–1973) | |
| 46 | Connie McCready (1921–2000) | September 5, 1979[29][36] – November 23, 1980[29] | –[Note 2] | Member of thePortland City Commission[37] (1970–1979) | |
| 47 | .png) | Frank Ivancie (1924–2019) | November 24, 1980[29][38] – January 3, 1985[39] | 1980[Note 3] | Member of thePortland City Commission[40] (1967–1980) |
| 48 |  | Bud Clark (1931–2022) | January 3, 1985 – January 2, 1993[29] | 1984 1988 | |
| 49 |  | Vera Katz (1933–2017) | January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2005[29] | 1992 1996 2000 | 57thSpeaker of the Oregon House of Representatives[41] (1985–1990) |
| 50 | .jpg) | Tom Potter (born 1940) | January 3, 2005 – December 31, 2008[29] | 2004 | 38th Chief of thePortland Police Bureau (1990–1990) |
| 51 | .jpg) | Sam Adams (born 1963) | January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2012[29] | 2008 | Member of thePortland City Commission[42] (2005–2009) |
| 52 | _(cropped).jpg) | Charlie Hales (born 1956) | January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2016 | 2012 | Member of thePortland City Commission[43] (1993–2002) |
| 53 | _(cropped).jpg) | Ted Wheeler (born 1962) | January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2024 | 2016 2020 | 28thTreasurer of Oregon[44] (2010–2017) |
| 54 | | Keith Wilson 1962 or 1963 (age 62–63) | January 1, 2025 – present | 2024 | CEO of Titan Freight Systems[45] (2010–2017) |
Note: The color shown in the number (#) column denotes registered political party (red forRepublican, blue forDemocratic,teal for thePeople's Party (Populist), gray forIndependent). Officially, Mayors run and serve as nonpartisan.
The City of Portland mayor's office, in theCity Hall, contains a collection of mounted portraits of all the mayors to date. As of February 2024, only two mayors are missing from the collection;William H. Farrar (1862–1863) andHamilton Boyd (1868–1869).