List of elected socialist mayors in the United States

U.S. towns electing Socialist mayors or major officers, 1911–1920
Year	No.	Year	No.
1911	74	1912	8
1913	32	1914	5
1915	22	1916	6
1917	18	1918	2
1919	5	1920	2
Source: James Weinstein, 1967 [1]

The following is a list of mayors who have declared themselves to be socialists or have been a member of a socialist party in the United States.

In 1911 it was estimated there were twenty-eight such mayors^[2] and in 1913 thirty-four.^[3] In 1967, however, James Weinstein's table of "Cities and Towns Electing Socialist Mayors or Other Major Municipal Officers, 1911–1920" counted 74 such municipalities in 1911 and 32 in 1913, with smaller peaks in 1915 (22) and 1917 (18).^[1]

List of mayors

Mayor	Term start	Term end	City	State		Party
C.L. Barewald ^[I]	1920[4]		Davenport	Iowa		Socialist Party of America
David Belgum	1976[5]	1987[5]	University Heights	Iowa		Socialist Party of America
J.B. Bitterly	1911[6]	1915[6]	Victor	Colorado		Socialist Party of America
C. Henry Bloom^[II]	1933[7]	1953[8]	Rockford	Illinois		Rockford Progressive Party[9]
Eugene Bootz	1914[6]	1915[6]	Edgewater	Colorado		Socialist Party of America
John C. Chase	1898 1899[10]	1899 1900	Haverhill	Massachusetts		Socialist Party of America[11]
Major Church	1918	1921	Eureka	Utah		Socialist Party of America[12]
Peter Clavelle^[III]	1989 1995	1993 2006	Burlington	Vermont		Vermont Progressive Party
Charles H. Coulter^[IV]	1900[13]	1901	Brockton	Massachusetts		Socialist Party of America[11]
John Dobler	1911[14]	1913[14]	Gulfport	Florida		Socialist Party of America
Louis J. Duncan^[V]	1911[15]	1914 (October)[16]	Butte	Montana		Socialist Party of America
Elijah Falk	1915[6]	1919[6]	Eureka	California		Socialist Party of America
Parkman B. Flanders	1920[17]	1923[17]	Haverhill	Massachusetts		Socialist Party of America
Edward Foe	1911[18]		Red Cloud	Nebraska		Socialist Party of America
James B. Furber	1922[19]		Rahway	New Jersey		Socialist Party of America
Irving Freese	1947[20]	1951[21]	Norwalk	Connecticut		Socialist Party of America
John H. Gibbons	1919 (November)[22]		Lackawanna	New York		Socialist Party of America
Robert Gordon	1916[23]	1917[23]	Barre	Vermont		Socialist Party of America
W.E. Griffin	1911[15]		Beatrice	Nebraska		Socialist Party of America
J. Herman Hallstrom^[VI]	1921[9] 1929[9]	1927[9] 1933[9]	Rockford	Illinois		Rockford Labor Legion
J.M. Haley	1912[6]	1916[6]	Paonia	Colorado		Socialist Party of America
Frank B. Hamilton	1918[24]		Piqua	Ohio		Socialist Party of America
H.P. Houghton	1911[15]		Girard	Kansas		Socialist Party of America
Daniel Webster Hoan	1916	1940	Milwaukee	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America
George A. Huscher	1912[25]	1915[26]	Murray	Utah		Socialist Party of America
J.F. Johnston	1912 (September)[27]	1914[28]	Fairhope	Alabama		Socialist Party of America
Bob Kiss	2006	2012	Burlington	Vermont		Vermont Progressive Party
H. L. Larson	1912	1913	Crookston	Minnesota		Socialist Party of America
James Larson	1911[15]		Marinette	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America
Daniel T. Leigh	1906	1907	Cedar City	Utah		Socialist Party of America[29]
Arthur LeSueur	1910[30]		Minot	North Dakota		Socialist Party of America
David Love	1916[31]		West Allis	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America
James Love	1914[14]	1916[14]	Lake Worth	Florida		Socialist Party of America
George R. Lunn	1911[32] 1915[32]	1913[32] 1917[32]	Schenectady	New York		Socialist Party of America
Edward Mauck	1911[15]		Wymore	Nebraska		Socialist Party of America
Jasper McLevy	1933	1957	Bridgeport	Connecticut		Socialist Party of America
John A. C. Menton	1911[15]	1912 (April)[33]	Flint	Michigan		Socialist Party of America
Andrew Mitchell	1908[34]		Eureka	Utah		Socialist Party of America
Robert Murray	1911	1915	Toronto	Ohio		Socialist Party of America
A. Ousdahl	1909	1910	Brainerd	Minnesota		Socialist Party of America[35]
Alfred A. Perrine	1911	1913	Mount Vernon	Ohio		Socialist Party of America
E.E. Robinson	1911	1913	Mineral Ridge	Ohio		Socialist Party of America
Bernie Sanders^[VII]	1981	1989	Burlington	Vermont		Independent
Henry M. Schutte	1915		Adamston	West Virginia		Socialist Party of America
Emil Seidel	1910 (April 6)[36]	1912	Milwaukee	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America
William Shay	1911	1917	Star City	West Virginia		Socialist Party of America
Peter Stewart	1912 (April 3)[37]	1914 (April)[38]	Hartford	Arkansas		Socialist Party of America
Henry Stolze, Jr.	1911[15]		Manitowoc	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America
Ernst Gottfrid Strand	1916[39]	1917[39]	Two Harbors	Minnesota		Socialist Party of America
J. Henry Stump	1927 1939 1947	1931 1935 1943	Reading	Pennsylvania		Socialist Party of America
William Swoboda	1931 (April)[40]	1932 (April)[41]	Racine	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America
Fred Suitor	1929[23]	1931[23]	Barre	Vermont		Socialist Party of America
William Thum	1911[15]	1913[6]	Pasadena	California		Socialist Party of America
Thomas Todd	1909[6]	1914[6]	Grand Junction	Colorado		Socialist Party of America
A. Barton Cross	1913[6]	1914[6]	Naugatuck	Connecticut		Socialist Party of America
George Urie	1912	1913	Cedar City	Utah		Socialist Party of America[29]
Thomas Van Lear^[VIII]	1917[42]	1919	Minneapolis	Minnesota		Public Ownership Party
Scott Wilkins	1912[43]	1913	St. Marys	Ohio		Socialist Party of America
Jackson Stitt Wilson	1911[15]	1913	Berkeley	California		Socialist Party of America
John T. Wood	1911[44]	1913[44]	Coeur d'Alène	Idaho		Socialist Party of America
Seth Wood	1913[6]	1914[6]	Lafayette	Colorado		Socialist Party of America
Ewell Work	1910 (April)[45]	1912?	Ledford	Illinois		Socialist Party of America
Frank P. Zeidler	1948	1960	Milwaukee	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America

Notes

• I^ Barewald resigned from the Socialist Party during the first week of January 1921 and captured national headlines by declaring radicals "insane" and instructing local police to greet unwanted members of the Industrial Workers of the World with "hot lead." See: "Wants Town Rid of IWW: Mayor Barewald Advises Use of Riot Guns," Eugene Morning Register, Jan. 9, 1921, pg. 1.
• II^ Ran for the Rockford Progressive Party, which was formed by dissidents of the Rockford Labor Party in 1929.^[8][9]
• III^ Clavelle became a member of the Democratic Party in 2004.
• IV^ Chase and Coulter were both elected mayor for the Social Democratic Party, but the party later merged itself with a dissident faction of the Socialist Labor Party in 1901 and founded the Socialist Party of America.^[46]
• V^ His name is alternatively spelled Lewis J. Duncan.^[47][48]
• VI^ Was running for the Rockford Labor Legion from 1921–1927, in 1929 the Labor Party refused to nominate him on the grounds that he had moved from some of the party's principles. He ran as an independent from 1929-33.^[9]
  • The Rockford Labor Legion was a coalition of local trade unions, socialist organizations and temperance societies.^[9]
• VII^ Sanders has self-declared himself to be a democratic socialist.^[49]
• VIII^ Van Lear was expelled from the Socialist Party in 1918

Footnotes

1. Weinstein, James (1967). The Decline of Socialism in America 1912–1925. New York: Monthly Review Press, reprinted in 1969 by Vintage Books (Random House), Table 2: "Cities and Towns Electing Socialist Mayors or Other Major Municipal Officers, 1911–1920", pp. 116–118.
2. Hoxie, Robert F. "The Rising Tide of Socialism": A Study. The Journal of Political Economy. October 1911;19(8):609-631. doi:10.1086/251906.
3. In: Ghent, W.J.. Socialism and Government: Working Programs and Records of Socialists in Office. Girard, KS: Appeal to Reason; 1916 [Retrieved 4 January 2010]. p. 46.
4. "Socialists Elected," San Bernardino County Sun, April 4, 1920, pg. 3.
5. Belgum, David Rudolph (1990). Memoirs of Iowa's Only Socialist Mayor. Iowa City: Rose of Sharon Publishing House.
6. Ross, The Socialist Party of America, pg. 610.
7. Hal Nelson 1968, pp. 102.
8. Nelson 1968, pp. 102.
9. Bengston 1999, pp. 209.
10. Bedford 1966, pg. 90.
11. Bedford 1966, pg. 117.
12. John S. McCormick and John R. Sillito, A History of Utah Radicalism: Startling, Socialistic, and Decidedly Revolutionary. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 2011; pg. 192.
13. Won election in November 1899 by a plurality of 1,564. See: Appeal to Reason, Dec. 16, 1899, pg. 4.
14. Ross, The Socialist Party of America, pg. 612.
15. "The Socialist Avalanche," Political Action [Milwaukee], whole no. 39 (April 15, 1911), pg. 1.
16. "Butte Mayor and Sheriff Ousted". Herald Journal. October 7, 1914. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
17. Arrington 1922, pp. 487.
18. Political Action [Milwaukee], whole no. 39 (April 15, 1911), pg. 1.
19. "A Socialist Mayor: New Jersey Socialists Carry Rahway," The New Age (Buffalo), June 1, 1922, pg. 5.
20. Socialists Sweep Norwalk Election; Party's Candidates for Mayor, Sheriff, Treasurer, and 11 for City Council Win. The New York Times. October 7, 1947 [Retrieved February 5, 2010].
21. "Freese Quits Socialists In Norwalk: Mayor Heads Party of Independents for November Election," Hartford Courant, August 14, 1951. Freese ran again for office as an independent, winning additional two year terms in 1951, 1953, and 1957. See: Ross, The Socialist Party of America, pg. 612.
22. "Elect Socialist Mayor" (PDF). The New York Times. November 5, 1919. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
23. Fry, Amy Lyons (2003). "Socialist Mayors". In John J. Duffy; Samuel B. Hand; Ralph H. Orth, editors. The Vermont Encyclopedia. University of Vermont Press. p. 274.
24. "Socialist Mayor Frank B. Hamilton" was embroiled in a federal sedition case late in 1918. See: Ohio Socialist, whole no. 49 (Jan. 1, 1919), pp. 1, 4. He was elected in Nov. 1917 according to "Frank B. Hamilton," Miami County Genealogical Researchers, http://www.thetroyhistoricalsociety.org/
25. Ann Arbor Call, whole no. 91 (August 17, 1912), pg. 2.
26. Elected to two terms, 1911 and 1913. See: John S. McCormick and John R. Sillito, A History of Utah Radicalism, pg. 201.
27. "Socialist Mayor Chosen" (PDF). The New York Times. September 18, 1912. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
28. Ross, The Socialist Party of America, pg. 609.
29. John S. McCormick and John R. Sillito, A History of Utah Radicalism, pg. 189.
30. LeSueur was elected on a ballot which did not list party affiliation but he was a veteran Socialist nominated to run by Local Grand Forks. See: Mila Tupper Maynard, "A Socialist Mayor and an Almost Mayor," Social-Democratic Herald [Milwaukee], vol. 13, no. 35, whole no. 648 (Dec. 31, 1910), pg. 2.
31. Love was elected by a margin of 164 votes in the April 1916 election. "About the Milwaukee Election: Socialists Elect Mayor and Two Socialist Aldermen in West Allis," St. Louis Labor, whole no. 794 (April 22, 1916), pg. 8.
32. "Democrats Fail in Hunt for Candidate" (PDF). The New York Times. July 6, 1918. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
33. "Socialst Mayor Defeated" (PDF). The New York Times. April 2, 1912. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
34. John S. McCormick and John R. Sillito, A History of Utah Radicalism, pg. 190.
35. "Brainerd, Minn., Elects Socialist Mayor," St. Louis Labor, vol. 6, whole no. 429 (April 24, 1909), pg. 5.
36. "Socialst Mayor for Milwaukee" (PDF). The New York Times. April 6, 1910. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
37. "Arkansas Socialist Mayor" (PDF). The New York Times. April 4, 1912. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
38. "Socialist Mayor Defeated". The Los Angeles Times. April 9, 1914. Retrieved February 5, 2010. (pay-fee for article)
39. Bengston 1999, pp. 182.
40. "'Fruits of Victory' Suit Fruit-Selling Mayor-Elect". Milwaukee Sentinel. April 9, 1931. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
41. "Socialst Mayor Resigns from Party". Reading Eagle. April 9, 1932. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
42. "Socialist Mayor Talks for Hillquit" (PDF). The New York Times. November 5, 1917. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
43. "Comrades Who Will Control the City Government of St. Marys Ohio for the Next Two Years," International Socialist Review, vol. 12, no. 6 (Dec. 1911), pp. 376-378.
44. French 1914, pp. 917.
45. "Elect Mayor as Socialist," Chicago Daily Socialist, vol. 4, no. 156 (April 27, 1910), pg. 4.
46. Bedford 1966, pp. 122.
47. "One Man is Killed in Rioting and Million Damage". The New York Times. June 24, 1914. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
48. "Butte Mayor is Stabbed by Miner". The New York Times. July 6, 1914. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
49. Lerer, Lisa (2009-07-16). "Where's the outrage over AIG bonuses?". The Politico. Retrieved 2009-08-04. Only a handful of members, including self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), criticized Goldman’s payments and questioned whether the company also received additional government assistance through the Federal Reserve.

Bibliography

• Benjamin F. Arrington, Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts. Chicago: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1922; pg. 976.
• Henry F. Bedford, Socialism and the Workers in Massachusetts, 1886-1912. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1966.
• Henry Bengston, On the Left in America: Memoirs of the Scandinavian-American Labor Movement. SIU Press, 1999; pg. 237.
• Hiram Taylor French, History of Idaho: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People and Its Principal Interests. New York: New York Public Library, 1914; pg. 976.
• C. Hal Nelson, Sinnissippi Saga: A History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois. Winnebago County Illinois Sesquicentennial Committee, 1968; pg. 536.
• Jack Ross, The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 2015; pp. 609–638.
• James Weinstein, The Decline of Socialism in America 1912–1925. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1967; pp. 116–118.