The mayor of Galveston is the official head of the city of Galveston in the U.S. state of Texas. The incumbent mayor is Craig Brown, who was elected in 2020, re-elected in 2022, and was re-elected to another three-year term on May 4, 2024. He took office in July 2020, succeeding the previous mayor, Jim Yarbrough.
History Local politics in Galveston have a tradition of being nonpartisan. There are no party labels on local ballots.
Commission government When Galveston originated the commission form of government, starting the year 1901, the mayor officially held the title of "Mayor-President" and was president of the board of commissioners. Galveston's first mayor under the commission system was William T. Austin, who served for four years.
Council-manager government The city of Galveston has had a council-manager system of government since its adoption of the form in 1961.
List of mayors and mayor-presidents of the board of commissioners Below is a list of Galveston's mayors and presidents of the Board of Commissioners.
No. Image Mayor Term start Term end Party Note 1 John Melville Allen March 1839 June 1840 Democratic First Mayor of Galveston 2 John H. Walton June 1840 May 1841 3 John Melville Allen 1841 1842 Democratic 4 James M. Branham 1842 1843 Announced a curfew for all blacks, free and slave, in the city of Galveston that prohibited being in public after 8pm without a permit and forbade being in public after 10pm in all cases. 5 John Melville Allen 1843 1846 Democratic 6 John Seabrook Sydnor 1846 1847 Plantation owner that operated "the largest slave market west of New Orleans in the heart of Galveston". 7 Joseph Bates 1848 1848 Whig Fought in the Second Seminole War, was a representative of the Alabama legislature. 8 Hamilton Stuart 1849 1852 Democratic Founder of the Galveston Civilian,Anonymous (June 9, 2020) Galveston Civilian Texas State Historical Association once argued "that the products of slave labor sustain the commerce of the world, civilization and Christianity." 9 Michael Seeligson 1853 June 1853 Resigned in June. 10 Willard B. Richardson 1853 1854 Mayor pro tempore, editor, partner and proprietor of the Galveston News.Darst, Maury (1995) Galveston News Texas State Historical Association 11 James Cronican 1854 1855 Had previously represented the district of Galveston in the First Texas Legislature from February 1846 to December 1847. 12 James Edward Haviland 1855 1856 13 John Henry Brown 1856 1857 Democratic Later became the mayor of Dallas. 14 Thomas Miller Joseph 1858 1862 Democratic Leslie A. Thompson was claimed to be the mayor in 1858 in some later sources. However, he is only mentioned as a city alderman in 1856 and 1857. Vacant 1863 1863 15 Charles Henry Leonard 1864 1867 Democratic Former soldier of the Texian Army, fought to suppress the Córdova Rebellion and Native American revolts in 1838 under General Rusk. 16 J. C. Haviland 1867 June 17, 1867 Major General Charles Griffin, commander of the Fifth Military District, ordered Haviland to disband the city's entire police force. Haviland was removed from office by Griffin as he was considered "an impediment to reconstruction" on June 17, 1867. 17 Isaac G. Williams 1867 1869 Appointed to fill the vacancy after Haviland was removed from office. 18 James A. McKee 1869 March 6, 1871 Republican 19 Albert Somerville June 5, 1871 1873 20 Charles W. Hurley 1873 1875 21 Robert L. Fulton 1875 1877 Democratic 22 D. C. Stone 1877 1879 23 Charles Henry Leonard 1879 1881 Democratic 24 L. C. Fisher 1881 1883 25 Robert L. Fulton 1883 1893 Democratic 26 Ashley Wilson Fly 1893 1899 27 Walter Charles Jones 1899 1900 Mayor during the Great Storm of 1900. 28 William T. Austin 1901 1905 First mayor under the commission plan.Died in office. 29 Henry A. Landes 1905 1909 Elected as mayor-president after Austin's death. 30 Lewis Dallam Fisher 1909 1917 Under his administration the seawall was first built. 31 Isaac Herbert Kempner 1917 1919 Early advocate of the commission form of government. 32 Harry O. Sappington 1919 1921 33 Charles H. Keenan 1921 1923 34 Baylis Earle Harriss 1923 1925 35 John Elias Pearce 1925 1935 36 Adrian F. Levy 1935 1939 37 Brantly Callaway Harris 1939 1942 38 Henry W. Flagg 1942 1943 39 George W. Frazer 1943 1947 40 Herbert Yemon Cartwright Jr. 1947 1955 41 George Roy Clough 1955 1959 42 Herbert Yemon Cartwright Jr. 1959 1960 43 Edward Schreiber 1961 1962 44 Theodore B. Stubbs 1962 1963 45 Edward Schreiber 1964 1970 46 Marcus Lamar Ross 1971 1973 47 Ralph Albert Apfell 1973 1977 48 Elias "Gus" Manuel 1978 February 2, 1984 Died in office. 49 Janice Reddig Coggeshall 1984 1989 50 Barbara Krantz Crews 1990 1996 51 Henry Freudenburg III 1996 1998 52 Roger Reuben "Bo" Quiroga 1998 2004 53 Lyda Ann Thomas 2004 2010 54 Joe Jaworski 2010 2012 Democratic 55 Lewis S. Rosen June 22, 2012 2014 56 James D. "Jim" Yarbrough 2014 July 15, 2020 Democratic 57 Craig K. Brown July 2020 July 2026 58 John Paul Listowski July 2026 Present Republican
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