List of mayors of Buffalo, New York

Mayor of the City of Buffalo
Mayor of the City of Buffalo
	City seal
	City flag
	Incumbent; Sean Ryan; since January 1, 2026
	Government of Buffalo
Style	The Honorable ; (formal) ; Mr. Mayor ; (informal)
Seat	Buffalo City Hall
Term length	Four years; renewable;
Constituting instrument	Buffalo City Charter
Inaugural holder	Ebenezer Johnson
Formation	1832
Succession	Deputy Mayor of Buffalo
Deputy	Deputy Mayor of Buffalo
Salary	$178,519 (2024)
Website	www.buffalony.gov/490/Mayor

The mayor of Buffalo is the head of government and chief executive for the city of Buffalo, New York, the second-largest city in New York State.^[1]

List of mayors

Mayors of the City of Buffalo
No.		Term in office	Party
1	Ebenezer Johnson (1786–1849) ^[2]	May 28, 1832^[2] – March 12, 1833^[3]^[a]	Democratic-Republican
2	Major Andre Andrews^[b] (1792–1849) ^[4]	March 12, 1833^[3] – August 18, 1834^[4]^[c]	Independent
3	Ebenezer Johnson	1834 – 1835	Democratic-Republican
4	Hiram Pratt	1835 – 1836	Whig
5	Samuel Wilkeson	1836 – March 14, 1837	Independent
6	Josiah Trowbridge	March 14, 1837 – December 21, 1837	Whig
7	Pierre A. Barker	December 21, 1837 – March 14, 1838	Independent
8	Ebenezer Walden	March 13, 1838 – 1839	Whig
9	Hiram Pratt	1839 – 1840	Whig
10	Sheldon Thompson	1840 – March 2, 1841	Whig
11	Isaac R. Harrington	March 2, 1840 – March 8, 1841	Whig
12	George William Clinton	March 8, 1842 – 1843	Independent
13	Joseph G. Masten (1807–1871) ^[5]	March 14, 1843^[6] – 1844	Democratic
14	William Ketchum	1844 – 1845	Whig
15	Joseph G. Masten (1811–1871) ^[5]	1845 – 1846	Democratic
16	Solomon G. Haven (1810–1861) ^[7]	1846 – 1847	Whig
17	Elbridge G. Spaulding (1809–1897) ^[8]	1847 – 1848	Whig^[d]
18	Orlando Allen (1803–1874) ^[9]	February 28, 1848^[10] – 1849	Whig
19	Hiram Barton	1849 – 1850	Whig
20	Henry K. Smith	1850 – March 4, 1851	Democratic
21	James Wadsworth	March 4, 1851 – 1850	Democratic
22	Hiram Barton	March 9, 1852 – 1853	Whig
23	Eli Cook	1853 – 1855	Democratic
24	Frederick P. Stevens	1856 – 1857	Democratic
25	Timothy T. Lockwood	1858 – January 2, 1860	Democratic
26	Franklin A. Alberger	January 2, 1858 – January 6, 1862	Republican
27	William G. Fargo	January 6, 1862 – 1866	Democratic
28	Chandler J. Wells	1866 – 1867	Republican
29	William Findlay Rogers	1868 – 1869	Democratic
30	Alexander Brush	1870 – 1873	Republican
	Lewis P. Dayton	1874 – 1875	Democratic
32	Philip Becker	1876 – January 7, 1878	Republican
33	Solomon Scheu	January 7, 1878 – January 1880	Democratic
34	Alexander Brush	January 1880 – January 2, 1882	Republican
35	Grover Cleveland	January 2, 1882^[11] – November 20, 1882	Democratic
36	Marcus M. Drake	November 20, 1882 – December 29, 1882	Republican
37	Harmon S. Cutting	December 29, 1882 – January 16, 1883	Democratic
38	John B. Manning	January 16, 1883 – January 6, 1884	Democratic
39	Jonathan Scoville	January 6, 1884 – 1885	Democratic
40	Philip Becker	1886 – 1890	Republican
41	Charles F. Bishop	1890 – 1894	Democratic
42	Edgar B. Jewett	1895 – 1897	Republican
43	Conrad Diehl	1898 – 1901	Democratic
44	Erastus C. Knight	1902 – 1905	Republican
45	James N. Adam	1906 – 1909	Democratic
46	Louis P. Fuhrmann	1910 – 1917	Democratic
47	George S. Buck	1918 – 1921	Republican
48	Frank X. Schwab	1922 – 1929	Republican
49	Charles E. Roesch	1930 – 1933	Republican
50	George J. Zimmermann	1934 – 1937	Democratic
51	Thomas L. Holling	1938 – 1941	Democratic
52	Joseph J. Kelly	1942 – 1945	Democratic
53	Bernard J. Dowd	1946 – 1949	Republican
54	Joseph Mruk	January 1, 1950 – December 31, 1953	Republican
55	Steven Pankow	January 1, 1954 – December 31, 1957	Democratic
56	Frank A. Sedita	January 1, 1958 – December 31, 1961	Democratic
57	Chester A. Kowal	January 1, 1962 – December 31, 1965	Republican
58	Frank A. Sedita	January 1, 1966 – March 5, 1973	Democratic
59	Stanley Makowski	March 5, 1973 – December 31, 1977	Democratic
60	James D. Griffin	January 1, 1978 – December 31, 1993	Democratic
61	Anthony Masiello	January 1, 1994 – December 31, 2005	Democratic
62	Byron Brown	January 1, 2006 – October 15, 2024	Democratic
63	Christopher Scanlon	October 15, 2024 – December 31, 2025	Democratic
64	Sean Ryan	January 1, 2026 – Incumbent	Democratic

History

In 1853, the charter of the city was amended to include the town of Black Rock and the city proper was divided into thirteen wards. In addition, the term of city offices, including mayor changed from a one-year term to a two-year term and was elected directly by the people.^[12]

Mayoral elections

(winners are in bold)

Date	Candidates
November 8, 1881	Grover Cleveland	Milton Beebe
	15,120	11,528
January 9, 1883	John B. Manning	Robert R. Hefford
	11,036	7,321
November 6, 1973	Stanley M. Makowski	Stewart M. Levy	John A. Westra	Patrick W. Giagnacova	Ira Liebowitz
	77,569	24,423	2,640	1,147	597
November 2, 1993	Anthony Masiello	Richard A. Grimm	Eugene Fahey
	36,092	9,277	7,566
November 8, 2005	Byron Brown	Kevin Helfer	Judith Einach	Charles Flynn
	46,613	19,853	3,525	3,082
November 3, 2009	Byron Brown	Michael P. Kearns
	17,728	158
November 5, 2013	Byron Brown	Sergio Rodriguez
	26,120	10,733
November 7, 2017	Byron Brown	Mark J F Schroeder	Anita Howard	Terrence Robinson	Taniqua Simmons
	29,688	11,446	1,357	1,276	102
November 2, 2021	Byron Brown	India Walton	Ben Carlisle	Jaz Miles	William O'Dell
	38,338	25,773	219	23	8

References

Notes

↑ Johnson was unanimously re-elected by the Board of Aldermen on March 12, 1833, but turned down the position.^[3]
↑ Major was not his rank, but his given name. His granddaughter recounted that he "did not like his name and always signed it M. A. Andrews".^[4]
↑ Died in office of cholera^[4]
↑ Spaulding later changed his affiliation to the Republican Party.^[8]

Citations

↑
- For the role of the mayor, see Charter of the City of Buffalo 2025, § 2-3 and § 4-1.
- For Buffalo being New York's second-largest city, see Encyclopædia Britannica 2023.
1 2 Carew Sheldon, Johnson 1919, p. 32.
1 2 3 Buffalo Patriot and Commercial Advertiser 1833.
1 2 3 4 Carew Sheldon, Andrews 1919, p. 32.
1 2
- For his birth date, see Carew Sheldon, Masten 1919, p. 15.
- For his death date, see Brush 1871, p. 2 and Carew Sheldon, Masten 1919, p. 15.
↑ Carew Sheldon 1919a, p. 15.
↑ House of Representatives – Haven n.d.
1 2 House of Representatives – Spaulding n.d.
↑ The Buffalo Times 1924.
↑ Carew Sheldon, Allen 1919, p. 38.
↑ Przepasniak 2026.
↑ Fargo, Francis F. (1876). Memorial of the City and County Hall Opening Ceremonies. Buffalo, N.Y.: Courier Company, printers. p. 142. Retrieved August 16, 2016. Elbridge G. Spaulding mayor of buffalo term.

Sources

Brush, Alexander (April 18, 1871). "Communication From His Honor The Mayor". The Buffalo Daily Republic.
Carew Sheldon, Grace (January 19, 1919). "Buffalo Men in Mayor's Chair: Ebenezer Johnson, First Mayor, Came Here in 1809 to Get Granger's Advice". The Buffalo Sunday Times.
Carew Sheldon, Grace (January 26, 1919). "Buffalo Men in Mayor's Chair: Major Andrews Occupied the Chair at City Hall as Buffalo's Second Mayor". The Buffalo Sunday Times.
Carew Sheldon, Grace (May 4, 1919). "Buffalo Men in Mayor's Chair: Joseph G. Masten Elected Twelfth Mayor of Buffalo in Democratic Landslide". The Buffalo Sunday Times.
Carew Sheldon, Grace (June 22, 1919). "Buffalo Men in Mayor's Chair: Orlando Allen Completes Spaulding's Term and is Elected Seventeenth Mayor". The Buffalo Sunday Times.
Przepasniak, Ellen (July 21, 2026). "Jan. 2, 1882: Grover Cleveland begins brief term as mayor of Buffalo". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
"Corporation Proceedings". Buffalo Patriot and Commercial Advertiser. March 19, 1833.
"Mayor Allen a Marked Success Back in '48: City Father In Pioneer Days of Buffalo Left An Enviable Record for Others to Follow". The Buffalo Times. March 16, 1924.
"Buffalo | New York, United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. March 28, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
"Charter of the City of Buffalo". September 2, 2025. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
"HAVEN, Solomon George". History, Art & Archives of the United States House of Representatives. n.d. Retrieved September 30, 2026.
"SPAULDING, Elbridge Gerry". History, Art & Archives of the United States House of Representatives. n.d. Retrieved July 20, 2026.

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