List of mayors of Racine, Wisconsin

Racine City Hall

This is a list of mayors of Racine, Wisconsin, USA. Racine was originally incorporated as a village in 1841 before Wisconsin statehood. In the first term of the Wisconsin Legislature (1848), Racine was re-incorporated as a city. Racine has always since then utilized a mayor-council form of government.[1] Mayors were initially elected every year; a two-year mayoral term was adopted in 1891, and a four-year term was implemented in 1991.

The first mayor of Racine was Reuben M. Norton, a pioneer businessman. The current mayor is Cory Mason, who previously represented Racine in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Racine's longest-serving mayor was Stephen F. Olsen, serving from 1973 to 1987. The most notable mayor was likely Walter Samuel Goodland (1911–1915), who went on to become governor of Wisconsin. The most locally famous mayor was likely Jerome Case (1856, 1858, 1860), who also established the Case Corporation which was a major employer in the city and whose name is still present on many local institutions, including Jerome I. Case High School.

Village presidents (1841–1848)

The village of Racine was incorporated by an act of the Wisconsin Territory government signed into law on February 13, 1841. An election was held on April 6, 1841, to elect the first village government.[1]

Order President Term start Term end Notes
X Elias Smith 1841 1841 Elected but resigned at the time his term was scheduled to begin, April 12.[1]
1 Charles S. Wright 1841 1842 Elected at May 5 special election.[1]
2 Bushnell B. Gary 1842 1843 [1]
3 Matthew B. Mead 1843 1844 [1]
4 Warren Cole 1844 1845 [1]
5 John A. Carswell 1845 1846 [1]
6 Clark W. Spafard 1846 1847 [1]
7 C. W. White 1847 1848 [1]
8 Eli R. Cooley 1848 1848 [1]

Mayors with 1-year term (1848–1891)

Wisconsin achieved statehood in May 1848, and the 1st Wisconsin Legislature met in June. At that session, they approved an act to re-incorporate Racine as a city, which was signed by Governor Nelson Dewey on August 8, 1848. The first city election was held in October of that year.[1] Unless otherwise indicated, Wisconsin's mayoral elections have always taken place on the first Tuesday of April, with inauguration following within two weeks.

Reuben M. Norton, first mayor of Racine
Jerome Case, the 8th, 10th, and 12th mayor of Racine and founder of the Case Corporation
Martin Mathias Secor, the 28th and 31st mayor of Racine
Order Mayor Term start Term end Notes
1 Reuben M. Norton 1848 1849 Elected in October 1848.[1]
2 Henry Bryan 1849 1850 [1]
3 Eli R. Cooley 1850 1851 [1]
4 William H. Waterman 1851 1852 [1]
5 William T. Richmond 1852 1853 [1]
6 David McDonald 1853 1855 First two-term mayor.[1]
7 George Wustum 1855 1856 [1]
8 Jerome I. Case 1856 1857 [1]
9 John W. Cary 1857 1858 [1]
10 Jerome I. Case 1858 1859 [1]
11 William W. Vaughan 1859 1860 [1]
12 Jerome I. Case 1860 1861 First three-term mayor.[1]
13 George C. Northrop 1861 1862 [1]
14 Alvin Raymond 1862 1863 [1]
15 George C. Northrop 1863 1864 [1]
16 Thomas Falvey 1864 1865 [1]
17 John W. Hart 1865 1866 [1]
18 George A. Thompson 1866 1869 First mayor to serve three consecutive terms.[1]
19 Massena B. Erskine 1869 1872 [1]
20 Reuben G. Doud 1872 1874 [1]
21 Robert Hall Baker 1874 1875 [1]
22 Reuben G. Doud 1875 1876 [1]
23 John G. Meachem 1876 1879 [1]
24 Ernest J. Hueffner 1879 1880 [1]
25 Massena B. Erskine 1880 1881 [1]
26 William P. Packard 1881 1883 [1]
27 Titus G. Fish 1883 1884 [1]
28 Martin Mathias Secor 1884 1885 [1]
29 Joseph Miller 1885 1886 [1]
30 Daniel A. Olin 1886 1888 [1]
31 Martin Mathias Secor 1888 1889 [1]
32 Frank L. Mitchell 1889 1890 [1]
33 Adolph Weber 1890 1891 [1]

Mayors with 2-year term (1891–1991)

Walter Samuel Goodland, 40th mayor of Racine and 31st governor of Wisconsin
Order Mayor Term start Term end Notes
34 Jackson I. Case 1891 1895 [1]
35 David G. Janes 1895 1897 [1]
36 Fred Graham 1897 1899 [1]
37 Michael Higgins Jr. 1899 1903 [1]
38 Peter B. Nelson 1903 1907 Elected 1903, 1905.[1][2]
39 Alex J. Horlick 1907 1911 Elected 1907, 1909.[1]
40 Walter Samuel Goodland 1911 1915 Elected 1911, 1913.[1]
41 T. William Thiesen 1915 1919 Elected 1915, 1917.[1][3]
42 William H. Armstrong 1919 1921 Elected 1919.[4]
43 A. J. Lunt 1921 1923 Elected 1921.[5]
44 William H. Armstrong 1923 1931 Elected 1923, 1925, 1927, 1929.
First five-term mayor.
45 William J. Swoboda 1931 1937 Elected 1931, 1933, 1935.
46 Roy A. Spencer 1937 1939 Elected 1937.
47 T. G. Morris 1939 1943 Elected 1939, 1941.
48 Francis H. Wendt 1943 1949 Elected 1943, 1945, 1947.
49 John E. Gothner 1949 1955 Elected 1949, 1951, 1953.
50 Jack H. Humble 1955 1963 Elected 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961.
51 William H. Beyer 1963 1969 Elected 1963, 1965, 1967.
52 Kenneth L. Huck 1969 1973 Elected 1969, 1971.
53 Stephen F. Olsen 1973 1987 Elected 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985.[6][7]
First mayor to serve seven terms.
Racine's longest-serving mayor.
54 N. Owen Davies 1987 1995 Elected 1987, 1989.

Mayors with 4-year term (1991–present)

In 1989, Racine's city council voted to double the mayoral term from two years to four years.[8]

John Dickert, 57th mayor of Racine
Cory Mason, 58th mayor of Racine
Order Mayor Term start Term end Notes
54 N. Owen Davies 1987 1995 Re-elected 1991.[9]
55 James M. Smith 1995 2003 Elected 1995, 1999.
56 Gary E. Becker 2003 2007 Elected 2003, 2007.
Indicted and resigned in January 2009.[10]
- Tom Friedel 2009 2009 Interim mayor elected by city council January 30, 2009.[11]
57 John Dickert 2009 2017 Elected in May 5, 2009, special election.[12]
Re-elected 2011, 2015.
Resigned July 2017.[13]
- Dennis Wiser 2017 2017 Acting mayor due to succession ordinance (was city council president at the time of Dickert's resignation).[13]
58 Cory Mason 2017 present Elected in October 17, 2017, special election.
Re-elected 2019, 2023.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba Stone, Fanny S., ed. (1916). Racine, Belle City of the Lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin. Vol. 1. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. pp. 143–146. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  2. ^ "Big Pluralities for Republicans". Racine Journal Times. April 8, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Mayor's Majority Exceeds Opponent's Total Vote". Racine Journal Times. April 4, 1917. p. 1. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Armstrong is Racine's Next Mayor". Racine Journal Times. April 2, 1919. p. 1. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Lunt Elected Mayor; Hurley Asks Recount". Racine Journal Times. April 6, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Herman, Robert J. (April 4, 1973). "Olsen Elected Mayor". Racine Journal Times. p. 1. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Herman, Robert J. (April 2, 1975). "Knudsen, Mattes, new members on City Council". Racine Journal Times. p. 4. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "More years, more pay". Racine Journal Times. June 20, 1989. p. 6. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Burke, Michael (April 3, 1991). "Mayor Davies easily wins re-election by 4 to 1 margin". Racine Journal Times. p. 3. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Associated Press (January 21, 2009). "Wisconsin: Racine Mayor Resigns". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  11. ^ "Racine mayor named". Kenosha News. January 30, 2009. p. 9. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Racine picks new mayor". Kenosha News. May 6, 2009. p. 11. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "Racine's mayor to resign Sunday". Kenosha News. July 11, 2017. p. 5. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading