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Current Data Mayors & Young Elected Leaders 2017

Mayors & Young Elected Leaders 2019

Mayors Who Are Elected Young Leaders

The Young Elected Leaders Project has identified a non-exhaustive list of mayors who are currently in office (as of March 2019) and are Young Elected Leaders age 35 or younger. The youngest mayor, Kelvin Green, TX, is 24 years old. He began his political career when he was just 18 years old. Tamara James, FL, is the eldest in our list with 34 years. These YELs started their careers as local council members or ran for mayor without prior elected office.

Name Town, State Population Age Gender First Elected Office Age First Elected
Barlow, Billy Oswego, NY 18142 30 Male Councilman 23
Bogusz, Matthew Des Plaines, IL 58364 32 Male Alderman 22
Brinlee, Stephen C. Wilburton, OK 2843 34 Male Mayor 22
Campbell, Tara Yorba Linda, CA 64234 25 Female Councilwoman 23
Corona, Daniel West Wendover, NV 4410 28 Male Mayor 25
Correia, Jasiel Fall River, MA 88857 27 Male Councilman 23
Edwards, Maile Wilson Cedar City, UT 28857 33 Female Mayor 27
Fernandez, Enrique Woodland, CA 55468 30 Male Councilman
Green, Kelvin Archer City, TX 1834 24 Male Mayor 18
Hermosillo, Alexis El Mirage, AZ 31797 29 Female Mayor 28
James, Tamara Dania Beach, FL 29639 34 Female Mayor 32
Larson, Erik Aberdeen, WA 16896 27 Male Mayor 24
Morse, Alex Holyoke, MA 39880 30 Male Mayor 22
Myrick, Svante Ithaka, NY 31006 32 Male Councilman 24
Nickels, Justin Manitowoc, WI 33736 32 Male Mayor 22
Paradis, Samantha Belfast, ME 6668 28 Female Mayor 26
Shorraw, Matt Monessen, PA 7720 28 Male Mayor 26
Smith, Ben Butler, PA 13757 31 Male Mayor 29
Stewart, Erin New Britain, CT 73206 31 Female Mayor 26
Tubbs, Michael Stockton, CA 291707 29 Male Councilman 22
Vruwink, Zach Wisconsin Rapids, WI 18367 31 Male Mayor 24
Wagner, C.L. ‘Skip’ Manchester, OH 2023 33 Male Councilman
Young, William Dakota Princeton, KY 6329 25 Male Councilman 24

 

Mayors of the 10 Most Populous American Cities

Of the mayors of the 10 most populous cities in office in 2019, four were first elected to office aged 35 or younger, making them Young Elected Leaders at that time. One mayor, Kate Gallego from Phoenix, AZ, is currently 36 and not only the only female under the 10, but also the only Millennial. In comparison to our findings from 2017, the partisan and age makeup did not change much. Gallego’s inclusion in the list led to a decrease in mean age from almost 55 in 2017 to about 53 in 2019.

The following table contains information on the 10 mayors, sorted by descending population count of their cities. YELs are highlighted in bold in the last column.

Name City State Population Political Party Gender First Elected Office Age First Elected
De Blasio, Bill New York New York 8,622,698 Democrat Male Member of the New York City Council 40
Garcetti, Eric Los Angeles California 3,999,759 Democrat Male Member of the Los Angeles City Council 30
Emanuel, Rahm Chicago Illinois 2,716,450 Democrat Male Member of the U.S. House of Representatives 43
Turner, Sylvester Houston Texis 2,312,717 Democrat Male Member of the Texas House of Representatives 34
Gallego, Kate Phoenix Arizona 1,626,078 Democrat Female Member of the Phoenix City Council 30
Kenney, Jim Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1,580,863 Democrat Male Member of the Philadelphia City Council 33
Nirenberg, Ron San Antonio Texas 1,511,946 Independent Male Member of the San Antonio City Council 36
Faulconer, Kevin San Diego California 1,419,516 Republican Male Member of the San Diego City Council 39
Rawlings, Mike Dallas Texas 1,341,075 Democrat Male Mayor of Dallas 57
Liccardo, Sam San Jose California 1,035,317 Democrat Male Member of the San Jose City Council 36

 

Mayors & Young Elected Leaders 2017