The office ofMayor-President of Baton Rouge, Louisiana was formally created in 1846 as the chief executive of the City ofBaton Rouge, Louisiana,[1] which has been thestate capital ofLouisiana continuously since 1849 (except for a brief time during and after theCivil War whenOpelousas,Shreveport, orNew Orleans held that title).
Baton Rouge was granted the right toincorporate in 1817 underlegislation approved by Louisiana's secondgovernor,Jacques Villeré. The city was chartered the following year and led by amagistrate who was chosen among the popularly-elected, five-memberboard of selectmen.[2] Selectmen were up for election annually.[3]
Earlymayors also served one-year terms.[4] The office had a two-year term in the 1880s[5] and was increased to four years in duration in 1898.[6]
The first mayoral election in 1846 was between James Cooper (who had previously served as a magistrate[6]) andJohn Dufrocq,[1] aWhig Party member[7] who won the balloting.[6] In 1856 another noteworthy race occurred, this time betweenKnow Nothing mayor Joseph Monget and hisDemocratic challenger, Edward Cousinard;[8] after actually tying in the popular vote, the commissioners of election decided to award the election to the incumbent.[9] Cousinard later won the mayor's seat himself in the 1857 election.[6]
The city's government essentially ceased to exist for the duration of theCivil War, once theBattle of Baton Rouge had begun in 1862.[10]: 250 It was also largely stripped of influence at one point by the FirstReconstruction Act, which was issued in 1867.[11]
Multiple mayoral elections during theReconstruction Era were disputed. After the 1871 election Gov.Henry Clay Warmoth did what he legally could from the temporary capitol in New Orleans to briefly prop up the newAfrican AmericanRepublican mayor,[12] who was facing an overwhelmingly Democratic-controlled board of selectmen[10]: 254 —but in 1872 Warmoth himself was facing a mountingimpeachment effort and forced to broaden what remained of his support by reaching out to Democrats who had a much more solid base in Louisiana than the Republicans did; he declared the disputed 1872 election results null and void, and awarded the state's commission to the Democratic candidate.[13] Ultimately, the 1872–73 term essentially ended up with two separately-functioning city governments, one recognized primarily by African American and pro-Unionwhite Republicans (including so-called "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags") and one recognized primarily by native white Democrats.[10]: 253–54 Although the term "city council" had been used on occasion before,[14] the board of selectmen really seems to have begun transitioning over to the use of the term under the Republican mayor that year,[15] perhaps in anticipation of needing to differentiate it from the competing board of selectmen that the Democrats were in the process of setting up (the board finally formally adopted the title "city council" in 1874[16]). The Republicans had shown improvements in their organizational efforts (and electoral strength in general) by being able to win the 1872 election without Warmoth's help—and then by holding a share of the government for the duration of the term. While the Democratic mayor,James Elam, had been willing to fight to hang on to his seat after the disputed votes of 1871 and 1872, he either determined that he had no chance at the ballot box in the 1873 annual municipal elections or he simply no longer felt up to the challenge any more (he did, in fact, die only several months after the scheduled election date[17]). Shortly before the election was to be held, African Americanstate senator J. Henri Burch, a prominent area Republican, met with Elam, and they negotiated a compromise where Elam would resign his position and support new governorWilliam Pitt Kellogg's appointment of the Republican incumbent to the mayor's seat—along with three Republicans and three Democrats to the city council (as selected by aconference committee).[18] This compromise was largely acceptable to both sides (very rare for Reconstruction), although a rogue faction of the Democrats did attempt to hold their own election for the council (which failed to draw many to the polls and apparently quickly faded away).[19]
After making it through 1873 relatively peacefully, Kellogg also appointed the mayor in 1874.[10]: 255 The Republicans did win amunicipal election in their own right in 1875, but in 1876 the Democrats were able to use various forms of intimidation, including by former members of the oldKnights of the White Camelia, to regain the mayor's seat[20]: 224 for the first of 28 consecutive Democratic chief executives.
In 1914 the city began using acity commission government under then-mayor Alex Grouchy, Jr.[2] (it had already been in the works before the sudden death of Mayor Jules Roux the year before).[21] In 1949 the governments of the city and theParish of East Baton Rouge were largely consolidated under then-mayor S. Powers Higginbotham,[22] and in 1982 they were fully merged into a single governing body (similar to aconsolidated city-county, although the municipalities ofBaker,Central, andZachary remain self-governing). At that time, the title of "mayor" changed to "mayor-president,"[23] being that they were now both mayor of Baton Rouge and president of East Baton Rouge Parish. Indeed, three recent mayor-presidents resided in Baker or Zachary at the time of their elections, giving them the distinction of serving as mayor of Baton Rouge without actually living there. No candidate from the City of Central has been elected mayor-president yet, althoughMack A. "Bodi" White, Jr. came very close to doing so in 2016 by receiving 48.2% of the vote.[24]
No families have dominated the office over the years, although Baton Rouge's longest-serving mayor—Wade Bynum (24 years over two different periods of time)[9]—did replace his brother Turner Bynum after he died in office,[25] andMary Webb was later appointed by the city council to complete the term of her late husband,Jesse Webb, Jr.[26] Although most of Baton Rouge's mayors have been white male Democrats, the last four mayor-presidents have included multiple Republicans and African Americans, as well as a woman. The current mayor-president isSid Edwards.[27]
Below is a list of Baton Rouge's chief executives—magistrates from 1818 to 1846,[28][2] mayors from 1846 to 1949, and mayor-presidents from 1949 to present. The town magistrate was an appointive office, determined from within the elected five-member board of selectmen.[2] All city mayors and city-parish mayor-presidents were otherwise popularly elected, unless specified below.
| No. | Image | Mayor | Term start | Term end | Party | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Williams | 1818 | 1820 | firstmagistrate | ||
| 2 | Francois "Palo" Gardere | 1820 | 1821 | |||
| 3 | William Williams | 1821 | 1822 | |||
| 4 | William Wykoff | 1822 | 1823 | |||
| 5 | Jason Candee | 1823 | 1824 | |||
| 6 | Bartholomew Beauregard | 1824 | 1828 | |||
| 7 | William Grivet | 1828 | 1829 | |||
| 8 | William R. Willis | 1829 | 1832 | |||
| 9 | John Reid | 1832 | 1833 | |||
| 10 | William R. Willis | 1833 | 1834 | |||
| 11 | P. A. Walker | 1834 | 1835 | |||
| 12 | Raphael Legendre | 1835 | 1836 | |||
| 13 | Stephen Henderson | 1836 | 1836[16] | resigned[16] | ||
| 14 | Raphael Legendre | 1836 | 1838 | |||
| 15 | William Gil | 1838 | 1839 | |||
| 16 | James Cooper | 1839 | 1843 | |||
| 17 | Abel Waddill | 1843 | 1844 | |||
| 18 | James Cooper | 1844 | 1845 | |||
| 19 | John Reid | 1845 | 1846 | final magistrate | ||
| 20 | John R. Dufrocq | 1846 | 1855 | Whig[7] | first mayor;[6] 1854: re-elected unopposed[29] | |
| 21 | Joseph Monget | 1855 | 1857 | Know Nothing[8] | 1856: appointed, by commissioners of election, due to election resulting in a tie vote of 223–223[9] | |
| 22 | Edward Cousinard | 1857 | 1859 | Democratic[8] | ||
| 23 | James Essex Elam | 1859 | 1862 | Democratic | ||
| 24 | Benjamin Bryan | 1862 | 1862 | Democratic | resigned, due toBattle of Baton Rouge[9] | |
| 25 | Jordan Holt | 1862 | 1865 | Democratic[30] | 1862: appointed, byboard of selectmen;[9] 1863–1865: city administered byUnion occupation troops, rather than by municipal government;[10]: 250 1865: reappointed, byGov.J. Madison Wells; resigned, to serve inLouisiana House of Representatives[9] | |
| 26 | James Essex Elam | 1865 | 1869 | Democratic[10]: 251–52 | 1865: appointed, by Wells;[10]: 251 1867: election canceled, due to order byGen.Philip Sheridan[10]: 252 in accordance with the implementation of the FirstReconstruction Act[11] | |
| 27 | Oliver P. Skolfield | 1869 | 1870 | Democratic[31] | ||
| 28 | James Essex Elam | 1870 | 1871 | Democratic[10]: 253 | ||
| 29 | Loyeau Berhel | 1871 | 1871 | Republican[10]: 253 | certified elected, by Democratic-controlled commissioners of election; commissioned to assume office, by Gov.Henry Clay Warmoth[12] but was eventually removed after charges of voting irregularities upheld by Democratic-controlled electoral investigative committee;[10]: 254 firstAfrican American mayor; first Republican mayor[10]: 253 His surname is sometimes rendered as "Brahill".[32] | |
| 30 | James Essex Elam | 1871 | 1872 | Democratic | 1871: retroactively declared elected by Democratic-controlled electoral investigative committee[10]: 254 | |
| 31 * | Henry Schorten | 1872 | 1876 | Republican[33] | 1872: certified elected, by commissioners of election[15] and remained in office after charges of voting irregularities dismissed by Democratic-controlled electoral investigating committee;[10]: 254 1873: appointed, by Gov.William Pitt Kellogg; 1874: reappointed, by Kellogg;[10]: 255 firstwhite Republican mayor; first Republican mayor to serve full term | |
| 32 * | Jordan Holt | 1872 | 1872 | Democratic | acting mayor;[15] after his and Democratic-controlled Board of Selectmen's endorsement of petition signed by prominent local citizens, election results were voided, by Warmoth[34] | |
| 33 * | James Essex Elam | 1872 | 1873 | Democratic[33] | commissioned to assume office, by Warmoth;[13] resigned, due to the creation of the bipartisan "compromise list of candidates for the city government" for Kellogg to appoint[18] | |
| 34 | | Leon Jastremski | 1876 | 1882 | Democratic[10]: 256 | |
| 35 | Joseph Charrotte† | 1882 | 1883 | Democratic | died in office[6] | |
| 36 | John Wax | 1883 | 1883 | Democratic | acting mayor[28] | |
| 37 | William S. Booth | 1883 | 1884 | Democratic | ||
| 38 | Gustavus L. Vay | 1884 | 1888 | Democratic | ||
| 39 | Benjamin Franklin Bryan | 1888 | 1890 | Democratic | ||
| 40 | Gustavus L. Vay | 1890 | 1894 | Democratic | ||
| 41 | Benjamin Franklin Bryan | 1894 | 1896 | Democratic[35] | ||
| 42 | John Wax | 1896 | 1898 | Democratic | ||
| 43 | Robert A. Hart | 1898 | 1902 | Democratic | ||
| 44 | Robert L. Pruyn | 1902 | 1902 | Democratic | resigned, due to commitments of hisbuilding contractor business[36] | |
| 45 | Ben Mayer | 1902 | 1903 | Democratic | acting mayor;[37][28] first knownJewish mayor[38] | |
| 46 | Wade Bynum | 1903 | 1910 | Democratic | longest-serving mayor (also served 1923–41) | |
| 47 | Jules Roux† | 1910 | 1913 | Democratic | died in office[6] | |
| 48 | Isidore Larguier | 1913 | 1913 | Democratic | acting mayor[39][28] | |
| 49 | Alex Grouchy | 1913 | 1922 | Democratic | 1913: appointed, bycity council[40] | |
| 50 | Turner Bynum† | 1922 | 1922 | Democratic | died in office[6] | |
| 51 | Louis Ricaud | 1922 | 1923 | Democratic | acting mayor[2][28] | |
| 52 | Wade Bynum | 1923 | 1941 | Democratic | longest-serving mayor (also served 1903–10) | |
| 53 | Fred S. LeBlanc | 1941 | 1944 | Democratic | resigned, to serve asLouisiana Attorney General[41] | |
| 54 | Sargent Higginbotham | 1944 | 1953 | Democratic | 1944: appointed, by Gov.Jimmie Davis;[41] final mayor; 1949: first mayor-president[22] | |
| 55 | Jesse L. Webb, Jr.† | 1953 | 1956 | Democratic | died in office[26] | |
| 56 | Frank J. McConnell | 1956 | 1956 | Democratic | acting mayor[42][28] | |
| 57 | Mary Estus Jones Webb | 1956 | 1957 | Democratic | appointed, by city council; first female mayor[26] | |
| 58 | Jack Christian | 1957 | 1965 | Democratic | ||
| 59 | Woodrow Dumas | 1965 | 1981 | Democratic | resident ofBaker at time of election | |
| 60 | Pat Screen | 1981 | 1989 | Democratic | title renamed from Mayor to Mayor-President on January 1, 1983 after consolidation of the city and parish councils into the 12-member Metro Council | |
| 61 | Thomas Edward McHugh | 1989 | 2001 | Democratic | resident ofZachary at time of election; changed party affiliation to Republican in 1995;[43] first Republican mayor sinceReconstruction Era | |
| Republican | ||||||
| 62 | Bobby Ray Simpson | 2001 | 2005 | Republican | mayor ofBaker at time of election | |
| 63 |  | Kip Holden | 2005 | 2017 | Democratic | first African American mayor to serve full term; first Democratic African American mayor (Republican Loyeau Berhel served one year in 1871) |
| 64 | | Sharon Weston Broome | 2017 | 2025 | Democratic | first elected female mayor; first female African American mayor; first female mayor to serve full term |
| 65 | Sid Edwards | 2025 | Incumbent | Republican |
Note: an asterisk denotes that the 1872–73 mayoral term featured two competing claims to the title, one from a Republican-controlled city government led by Henry Schorten and one from a Democratic-controlled city government led by Jordan Holt and, later, James Essex Mason Elam; for what it is worth, Schorten physically occupied the actual mayor's chair in the city hall,[44] effectively making the Holt and Elam administrations arump government.
We learn by dispatch from Hon. John S. Chapman that at the election in Baton Rouge for mayor, yesterday, the Republican candidate, Mr. L. Brahill, was elected by fifteen majority.
