United States mayoral elections, 2020

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Elections were held for mayor in 29 of America's 100 largest cities by population in 2020. Elections were also held for mayor in 19 cities in Guam and 78 cities in Puerto Rico.

This page provides links to Ballotpedia's coverage of those mayoral elections. Click here for coverage of other municipal elections in 2020, and click here for coverage of school board elections in 2020.

Elections covered on this page may have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. To read more about those elections and changes to them, click here.

Below, you will find the following:

Note: The statistics on this page do not include data from local elections in the U.S. territories.

Battleground election summary

Ballotpedia designated certain 2020 elections as battlegrounds—races expected to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive or compelling. Here is a summary of key 2020 mayoral battleground elections:


Mayoral election in Miami-Dade County, Florida

See also: Mayoral election in Miami-Dade County, Florida (2020)

Daniella Levine Cava defeated Esteban Bovo Jr. in the nonpartisan general election for Mayor of Miami-Dade County on November 3, 2020. Incumbent Mayor Carlos Gimenez reached his consecutive term limit and could not run for re-election. Though the race was nonpartisan, the candidates received partisan support. Four local Republican organizations endorsed Bovo, who held office in the Florida House of Representatives as a Republican from 2008 to 2012.[1] Seven local and state Democratic organizations, including the Florida Democratic Party, endorsed Levine Cava.[2] The office was last held by a Democratic-aligned candidate in 2004, which was also the last time a Democratic-aligned candidate and a Republican-aligned candidate faced off in a general election.

Mayoral election in Portland, Oregon

See also: Mayoral election in Portland, Oregon (2020)

Incumbent Ted Wheeler defeated Sarah Iannarone and Teressa Raiford (write-in) in the general election for mayor of Portland, Oregon on November 3, 2020. Wheeler said he led on police reform and the city's COVID-19 response. His campaign website said, "We are in the midst of a pandemic, the ensuing economic crisis, racial justice reckoning, and facing the constantly growing effects of climate change. We have an incredible amount of work ahead, and need continued leadership now more than ever."[3] Iannarone's campaign website said, "The current Mayor’s record is full of broken promises on solutions for houselessness and inequality. He’s shown no leadership on civil unrest or public safety. ... I’m offering a progressive alternative."[4]

Mayoral election in Stockton, California

See also: Mayoral election in Stockton, California (2020)

Kevin Lincoln defeated incumbent Michael Tubbs in the general election for mayor of Stockton, California, on November 3, 2020. Tubbs conceded the race on November 17.[5] The general election was held after no candidate received a majority of the vote in the March 3 primary.[6] Mayoral elections in Stockton are nonpartisan, meaning that candidates’ party affiliations do not appear on the ballot. However, Lincoln was a member of the Republican Party at the time of the election and Tubbs was a member of the Democratic Party.[7] Tubbs' campaign website said he was "running to continue revitalizing our neighborhoods, attract more good paying jobs, increase safety through community policing, and bring innovation into our civic life and local economy."[8] According to the Los Angeles Times, Tubbs was "the city’s first Black mayor and a favorite in progressive circles for championing ideas such as universal basic income."[9] Lincoln's campaign website included proposals for a homeless policy initiative, public safety policy initiative, and civic engagement plan.[10] Lincoln received support from local police and firefighters unions.[9][11] His professional experience included serving in the Marines, working in private security, and pastoring a church.[7]

Mayoral election in El Paso, Texas

See also: Mayoral election in El Paso, Texas (2020)

Oscar Leeser defeated incumbent Donald "Dee" Margo in the runoff election for mayor of El Paso, Texas, on December 12, 2020. Leeser received 79.5% of the vote to Margo's 20.5%. The runoff election was held after no candidate received a majority of the vote in the November 3 general election. Mayoral elections in El Paso are nonpartisan, meaning that candidates’ party affiliations do not appear on the ballot. However, media outlets identified Leeser as a member of the Democratic Party, and Margo previously served as a Republican in the Texas House of Representatives.[12][13] Leeser served as mayor of El Paso from 2013 to 2017. He did not seek re-election in 2017, and Margo won a runoff election for the office. According to The Texas Tribune, the 2020 runoff election was "dominated by Margo’s management of the [COVID-19] crisis."[14] According to the Tribune, "Margo ran on his experience guiding the city through three major crises — not just the pandemic, but also the 2019 massacre at a Walmart and the Central American migrant influx prior to that," while Leeser "pitched himself as a better crisis manager who would do more to bring the city together to get the virus under control."[15][14]


Mayoral partisanship

See also: Partisanship in United States municipal elections (2020)

Once mayors elected in 2020 assumed office, the mayors of 65 of the country's 100 largest cities were affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Mayoral elections were held in 29 of the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2020. Seven party changes took place as a result of these 29 elections. Five offices held by Republican incumbents and two offices held by Democratic incumbents changed partisan control.

In Scottsdale, Arizona, independent David Ortega won the open seat. Incumbent Jim Lane (R) was term-limited. In Irvine, California, Democrat Farrah Khan defeated incumbent Christina Shea (R). In San Diego, California, Democrat Todd Gloria won the open seat. The incumbent, Kevin Faulconer (R), was term-limited. In Stockton, California, Republican Kevin Lincoln II defeated incumbent Michael Tubbs (D). In Honolulu, Hawaii, independent Rick Blangiardi won the open seat. Democratic mayor Kirk Caldwell was term-limited. In El Paso, Texas, Democrat Oscar Leeser defeated incumbent Donald Margo (R). In Corpus Christi, Texas, nonpartisan Paulette Guajardo defeated incumbent Joe McComb (R).

Mayoral elections across the United States

Arizona

California

Hawaii

Louisiana

Maryland

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Oregon

Texas

Virginia

Wisconsin

U.S. territories

Guam

Puerto Rico

List of mayors of the 100 largest cities

See also: List of current mayors of the top 100 cities in the United States

To view a list of the current mayors of the top 100 U.S. cities by population, click here.

List of mayors in the U.S. territories

Guam

Mayors

To view a list of the current mayors of Guam, click here.

Vice-mayors

To view a list of the current vice-mayors of Guam, click here.

Puerto Rico

To view a list of the current mayors of Puerto Rico, click here.

Historical election data

Mayoral elections

Between 2014 and 2019, 67.2% of incumbent mayors sought re-election; of these, 17.1% were defeated in their bids for re-election. The first chart below shows the number of incumbents who sought election each year compared to the number of seats up for election. The second chart shows the number of incumbents who were defeated compared to the number of incumbents who ran for re-election.

The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of mayoral races and the number and percentage of uncontested races, incumbents who sought re-election, and incumbents who were defeated in their re-election bids.

Mayoral election incumbency statistics from 2014 to 2019
Year Total seats Uncontested Incumbents who
sought re-election 		Incumbents defeated
# % # % # %
2019
30
2
6.7%
21
70.0%
4
19.0%
2018
26
1
3.8%
18
69.2%
1
5.6%
2017
36
0
0.0%
24
66.7%
5
20.8%
2016
25
4
16.0%
15
60.0%
4
26.7%
2015
33
3
9.1%
25
75.8%
4
16.0%
2014
24
2
8.3%
14
58.3%
2
14.3%


Uncontested races

An average of 2.0 mayoral races and 51.8 city council races went uncontested between 2014 and 2019. In terms of mayoral elections, 2016 saw the highest number of uncontested races (four) and 2017 saw the fewest (zero). For city council seats, 2015 had the highest number of uncontested races (97) and 2018 had the fewest (29). The chart below shows the percentage of uncontested mayoral and city council races between 2014 and 2019.


More local election analysis

In 2020, Ballotpedia covered elections for mayor, city council, and all other city officials in the 100 largest cities by population in the United States, as well as elections for county officials whose jurisdictions overlapped with those cities.

Election analysis

Municipal elections


See also

Local Politics 2020 Election Analysis
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Municipal government
Local courts
School boards
Local ballot measures
Local recalls

Municipal elections, 2020
Mayoral elections, 2020
Local court elections, 2020
School board elections, 2020
Local ballot measure elections, 2020
Political recall efforts, 2020

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Esteban Bovo's 2020 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed October 21, 2020
  2. ↑ Daniella Levine Cava's 2020 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed October 21, 2020
  3. ↑ Ted Wheeler's 2020 campaign website, "Our Progress," accessed October 29, 2020
  4. ↑ Sarah Iannarone's 2020 campaign website, "Home," accessed October 29, 2020
  5. ↑ CBS Sacramento, "Election Update: Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs Concedes To Kevin Lincoln," November 17, 2020
  6. ↑ City of Stockton, "Elections," accessed February 7, 2020
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 AP News, "Stockton mayor who pushed guaranteed income isn’t reelected," November 18, 2020
  8. ↑ Michael Tubbs 2020 campaign website, "Why I'm running," accessed November 24, 2020
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Los Angeles Times, "Rising Democratic star Michael Tubbs risks reelection defeat, thanks in part to a Stockton blog," November 6, 2020
  10. ↑ Kevin Lincoln 2020 campaign website, "On the issues," accessed November 24, 2020
  11. ↑ Kevin Lincoln 2020 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed November 24, 2020
  12. ↑ AP News, "El Paso elects former mayor, defeating incumbent in runoff," December 13, 2020
  13. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "New El Paso Mayor Takes On List of Challenges," July 21, 2013
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Texas Tribune, "Hit hard by the coronavirus, El Pasoans will decide a mayoral runoff where the central focus has been handling the pandemic," December 11, 2020
  15. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "El Paso Mayor Dee Margo loses reelection bid to Oscar Leeser," December 12, 2020
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