Listed below are U.S. cities and towns that have elected mayors who were either members of a socialist party (such as the Socialist Party of America) or who declared themselves to be socialists. This probably is not a complete list.
The mayors were mostly elected during the Progressive Era of the early 20th century or shortly thereafter, but a few were elected more recently.
Adamston, West Virginia Albany, Ohio Amsterdam, Ohio Anaconda, Montana Antlers, Oklahoma Arma, Kansas Barberton, Ohio Barnhill, Ohio Barre, Vermont Beatrice, Nebraska Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Bemidji, Minnesota Berkeley, California Bicknell, Indiana Bingham, Utah Boone, Iowa Brainerd, Minnesota Bremerton, Washington Bridgeport, Connecticut Brockton, Massachusetts Buena Vista, Colorado Burlington, Vermont Burlington, Washington Butte, Montana Byesville, Ohio Camas, Washington Canal Dover, Ohio Canton, Illinois Canton, Ohio Cardwell, Missouri Carrolton, Ohio Coshocton, Ohio Cedar City, Utah Clinton, Indiana Coeur d'Alène, Idaho Coalgate, Oklahoma Coquille, Oregon Crookston, Minnesota Curransville, Kansas Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Daly City, California Davenport, Iowa Davis, Illinois Dawson, Minnesota Des Lacs, North Dakota Des Plaines, Illinois Dorrisville, Illinois East Liverpool, Ohio Edgewater, Colorado Edmonds, Washington Elwood, Indiana Eureka, California Eureka, Utah Fairhope, Alabama Flint,Michigan Fostoria, Ohio Frankfort, Michigan Frontenac, Kansas Gas City, Indiana Gibson, Missouri Girard, Kansas Grafton, Illinois Grand Junction, Colorado Granite City, Illinois Greenville, Michigan Gulfport, Florida Haledon, New Jersey Hamilton, Ohio Harbor Springs, Michigan Hartford, Arkansas Haverhill, Massachusetts Hendricks, West Virginia Hillsboro, Kansas Hilyard, Washington Hopkinton, Iowa Hymera, Indiana Iola, Wisconsin Jackson, Mississippi Jenera, Ohio Jerseyville, Illinois Kalamazoo, Michigan Lackawanna, New York Lafayette, Colorado Lake Worth, Florida La Porte, Minnesota Ledford, Illinois Liberal, Missouri Lincoln, Illinois Lima, Ohio Linden Heights, Ohio Lorain, Ohio Madrid, Iowa Mammoth, Utah Manitowoc, Wisconsin Marinette, Wisconsin Martins Ferry, Ohio Massillon, Ohio Medford, Oregon Miami, West Virginia Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mindenmines, Missouri Mineral City, Ohio Mineral Ridge, Ohio Minneapolis, Minnesota Minot, North Dakota Missoula, Montana Mount Vernon, Ohio Murray, Utah Naugatuck, Connecticut Nederland, Colorado New Boston, Ohio New Castle, Pennsylvania New Knoxville, Ohio Norwalk, Connecticut O'Fallon, Illinois Osnaburg, Ohio Paonia, Colorado Pasadena, California Pasco, Washington Pitcairn, Pennsylvania Piqua, Ohio Racine, Wisconsin Rahway, New Jersey Reading, Pennsylvania Red Cloud, Nebraska Red Lodge, Montana Rockaway, New Jersey Rugby, North Dakota Ridgeley, West Virginia Rockford, Illinois Salem, Ohio Schenectady, New York Sheboygan, Wisconsin Shelby, Ohio Siesston, South Dakota Silverton, Ohio South Connellsville, Pennsylvania St. Hilaire, Minnesota St. John, Oregon St. Marys, Ohio Stockton, Utah Star City, West Virginia Sugar Grove, Ohio Tenstrike, Minnesota Thayer, Illinois Toronto, Ohio Traverse City, Michigan Tukwila, Washington Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania Two Harbors, Minnesota Union, Pennsylvania University Heights, Iowa Venice, Illinois Victor, Colorado Warsaw, Ohio West Allis, Wisconsin Weston, West Virginia Wilson, Michigan Winnfield, Louisiana Winslow, Arkansas Wymore, Nebraska
Frank Zeidler, who served three terms as mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1948-1960). He was the city's third socialist mayor.
It’s not a complete list, I live in a city where the mayor has pulled some stunts such as getting the city council to defund the police by nearly a million $, and this in a city with a large group of homeless that continually gets bussed in. Meth camp a couple miles from here. They don’t get in the shelters & camp in the woods & go around all day looking for stuff to steal from residents.
@RuttermanDidn’t know it was like that until the call for defunding police departments started in the Dem-controlled cities. Yikes. It has divided this city for sure and I lived in Oklahoma. There is a university here & that attracts leftists from other areas of the country. There is a group working to get other people elected, I hope they can do it. And the mayor is being investigated for something that happened before she took office.
Back before the Red Scare made US politics a choice between Conservative and Ultra Conservative options only.
SW-User
Milwaukee should not be a poster -child for a good American city.
The region is totally racist. They never finished a highway. Hence, public transportation failed.
The Milwaukee public school system is horrible. The police force is horrible.
I’m not sure if it was the county or the city but they pay their public employees too much and overpaid pensions. Too many public unions were wasting tax dollars.
@SW-User I'm not promoting Milwaukee as a good place to live.
SW-User
@SW-User being from Wisconsin myself, I've been there many times. it's a shithole and everything you said is accurate as hell listening to my family that live there.
@Rutterman Oh absolutely. I'm sure the sheer number will come as a surprise to most. For me, though, it drives greater curiosity for the rest of the story.
@sarabee1995 The country's demographics were certainly changing before and during the Progressive Era, with a lot of immigrants arriving from eastern and southern Europe. I think this probably had a lot to do with what was going on politically.
