List of mayors of Manchester, New Hampshire

This is a list of mayors of Manchester, New Hampshire.

Political party designations are shown for some mayors, where known. However, municipal elections are officially non-partisan.

Throughout most of the previous century, elections have been held in odd-numbered years. Mayors are elected for a two-year term of office. The first city election in Manchester, New Hampshire occurred on August 19, 1846.

The administrative and executive powers of the city are vested in the mayor. The mayor must be a resident of the city for at least a year prior to filing for the office of mayor. The mayor has the power to supervise the administrative affairs of the city and presides over meetings of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The mayor is the de facto head of the Board of School Committee, which oversees the city’s schools.

From 1846 to 1857, mayors served for a one-year term, expiring on the third Tuesday in March. From 1857 to 1872, the mayor's term expired on the last day of December. In 1873, the term ended annually on the Third Tuesday in March, up until 1880, when it became a two-year term.

List

Mayor	Term	Party	Birth–death	Notes	Photo
Hiram Brown	1846–1847	Whig	January 23, 1801 – September 7, 1890	Elected the city's first mayor, August 19, 1846.
Jacob F. James	1847–1849	Whig	d, April 15, 1892	Elected May 22, 1847, after two previous elections had been invalidated, since no candidate had won the required number of votes. He was re-elected April 26, 1848, after two elections had failed to yield the need number of votes to declare a winner.
Warren L. Lane	1849–1850	Democrat	d. March 4, 1861	Elected in Oct. 1849 special election after elections in both April and May 1849 election yielded no clear winner.
Moses Fellows	1851–1852
Frederick Smyth	1852–1855		March 9, 1819 – April 22, 1899
Theodore T. Abbott	1855–1857	American	March 22, 1799 – 1886	Elected March 1855, re-elected March 1856.
Jacob F. James	1857			Elected Nov. 1856.
Alonzo Smith	1858		May 21, 1808 – April 17, 1865
Edward W. Harrington	1859–1860
David A. Bunton	1861–1862	Republican	October 18, 1805 – July 10, 1890
Theodore T. Abbott	1863	American	March 22, 1799 – 1886
Frederick Smyth	1864	Republican	March 9, 1819 – April 22, 1899)	Smyth won election almost unanimously with numerous candidates receiving five votes or less. Elected governor of New Hampshire in 1865.
Darwin J. Daniels	1865 – August 15, 1865		d. August 15, 1865	Died in office, aged 50. [1]
John Hosley	August 1865 – 1866			Elected to fill vacancy.
Joseph B. Clark	1867
James A. Weston	1868	Democrat		Governor of New Hampshire, 1871–1872
Isaac W. Smith	1869	Republican	May 18, 1825 – 1898
James A. Weston	1870–1871	Democrat
Person Colby Cheney	1872	Republican		Governor of New Hampshire 1875–77. Appointed U.S. Senator 1886–1887 to fill vacancy.
Charles H. Bartlett	1873		October 15, 1833–January 25, 1900	Elected December 12, 1872, resigned February 18, 1873 because he was Clerk of the U.S. District Court, and could not hold a state or municipal elected office.
John P. Newell	1873			Chosen mayor by Aldermen and the Common Council to fill vacancy.
James A. Weston	1874–1875	Democrat
Alpheus Gay	1875–1876
Ira Cross	1876–1877	Republican	July 23, 1833 – February 11, 1914	Resigned.
John L. Kelly	1877–1880
Horace B. Putnam	1881–1884		November 5, 1825 – April 20, 1888
George H. Stearns	1885–1886		April 22, 1838 – August 21, 1929	Died at the age of 91.
John Hosley	1887–1888
David B. Varney	1889–1890
Edgar J. Knowlton	1891 – May 10, 1894			Resigned May 10, 1894. David B. Varney de facto mayor, July 1894 – June 1895.
William C. Clarke	1895–1902
Eugene E. Reed	1903–1910	Democrat	April 23, 1866 – December 15, 1940	U.S. Congress, 1913 – 1915, defeated 1914. Candidate for U.S. Senate, 1918.
Edward C. Smith	1911–1912	Republican	October 24, 1864 – August 25, 1926
Charles C. Hayes	1913–1914	Republican
Harry W. Spaulding	1915–1917	Republican
Moise Verrette	1918–1921	Democrat		Executive Councillor 1916–1918
George E. Trudel	1922–1925
Arthur E. Moreau	1926–1931	Republican
Damase Caron	1932–1941	Democrat
Wilfred A. Laflamme	1942–1943	Republican
Josephat T. Benoit	1944–1961	Democrat	March 3, 1900 – May 14, 1976	Served a record nine consecutive terms. Born a Canadian citizen and moved to the United States at the age of seven. Held two doctorates.
John C. Mongan	1962–1963	Republican	April 17, 1925 – June 10, 2013	Inaugurated at Memorial High School, first mayor since 1946 inaugurated outside of City Hall.
Roland S. Vallee	1964–1967	Democrat	November 13, 1929 – October 27, 1997	Known as the "singing mayor."
John C. Mongan	1968–1969	Republican	April 17, 1925 – June 10, 2013
Henry J. Pariseau	1970	Republican	April 1, 1918 – May 30, 1970	Died in office
Charles R. "Dick" Stanton	1970–1971	Democrat	April 10, 1929 – May 10, 1985	City Clerk Stanton was chosen by Board of Mayor and Aldermen to fill remainder of Pariseau's two-year term.
Sylvio L. Dupuis	1972–1975	Democrat	b. 1934	Resigned, May 1975, to be one of the founders of Catholic Medical Center.
Charles R. "Dick" Stanton	1975–1981	Democrat	April 10, 1929 – May 1985	Subsequent to his reappointment as City Clerk, Stanton was chosen by Board of Mayor and Aldermen to fill remainder of Dupuis' two-year term, then won three terms as mayor in his own right in 1975, 1977 and 1979.
Emile Beaulieu	1982–1983	Democrat	April 2, 1931 – December 30, 2016	Lost reelection to Robert F. Shaw, 1983.
Robert F. Shaw	1984–1987	Republican	May 29, 1934 – August 17, 2004	Switched to Democratic Party in 1995. Killed in auto accident on Route 93 in Manchester.
Emile Beaulieu	1988–1989	Democrat	April 2, 1931 – December 30, 2016	Lost reelection to Raymond J. Wieczorek, 1989. Switched to Republican Party in 1995.
Raymond Wieczorek	1989–2000	Republican	December 9, 1928 – November 22, 2022	Lost reelection to Robert A. Baines, 1999. Later served as an Executive Councillor 2002–2012.
Robert A. Baines	2000–2006	Democrat	b. 1946	Lost reelection to Frank Guinta, 2005.
Frank Guinta	2006–2010	Republican	b. September 26, 1970	Inaugurated January 3, 2006. Youngest Manchester mayor in over 150 years. Later served as U.S. Representative 2011–2013; 2015–2017.
Theodore "Ted" Gatsas	2010–2018	Republican	b. May 22, 1950	Inaugurated January 5, 2010. Lost reelection to Joyce Craig, 2017. Now serving as an Executive Councillor 2019–
Joyce Craig	2018–2024	Democratic		Inaugurated January 2, 2018. First female elected mayor of Manchester.
Jay Ruais	2024–present	Republican		Inaugurated January 2, 2024.

See also

• Mayoral elections in Manchester, New Hampshire

References

• Manchester City Clerk's office, list of mayors
• Board of Mayor and Aldermen election results, 1846–2003 (.pdf file)
• Manchester City Government Book, 2004–2005. For dates of mayors' terms.