List of mayors of Niagara Falls, New York

Mayor of the City of Niagara Falls
Incumbent Paul Dyster since January 1, 2008
Style	His Honor
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	George B. Wright
Formation	1892
Salary	$77,701 (2012)[1]
Website

The office of mayor of Niagara Falls, New York is currently held by Paul Dyster.^[2] Prior to the establishment of the mayorship, the highest official in Niagara Falls was known as the "village president" and was held by Peter A. Porter in 1878.^[3]

List of mayors

# !	Name	Picture	Party	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	George B. Wright[4][5]		Democratic	April 26, 1892	March 1893
2	Mighellis B. Butler[5][6]		Democrat	March 1893	March 1894	Welcomed the Duke of Veragua to Niagara Falls in 1893.[7]
3	David Phillips[4][5]		Republican[8]	March 1894	March 1895	Elected with an 800-vote majority.[4]
4	Obediah W. Cutler[6]		Republican	March 1895	March 1896	Cutler is referenced as being the prime mover behind the Suspension Bridge water works which was established in 1876.[6]
5	Arthur Schoellkopf[6]		Republican	March 1896	March 1897[5]	His campaign slogan was "municipal government is business, not politics" and he was overwhelmingly elected by every district in the city. After a year in office, Schoellkopf decided not to run for a second term citing that "his private business would not allow him to devote the necessary time to the city’s affairs" and declined the Republican mayoral nomination for 1897.[9]
6	Arthur C. Hastings[6]		Republican	March 1897	March 1899	On April 15, 1897, a charter amendment increased the mayor’s term to two years so Hastings served again from 1898 to 1899.
7	Mighellis B. Butler[6]		Democratic	March 1900	March 1901	Reelected after serving as the 2nd Mayor of Niagara Falls.
8	John M. Hancock		Republican	April 15, 1902	December 31, 1904
9	Obediah W. Cutler[6]		Republican	January 1, 1905	December 31, 1906	This was Cutler's second time in office, having been elected first in 1895 and serving as the 4th Mayor of Niagara Falls.
10	Anthony C. Douglass[10]		Democratic	January 1, 1907	December 31, 1910	Douglass was a contractor with a business at the Jewett Building and resided at 259 Third St.[11]
11	Philip J. Keller		Democratic	January 1, 1911	December 31, 1912	Keller, of "Phil J. Keller & Son" was a butcher with a successful shop at 2013 Main St.[11]
12	William Laughlin		Democratic	January 1, 1913	December 31, 1915	During 1914, the Legislature enacted the "Optional City Government Law" which permitted cities of the second and third class the option of adopting one of seven forms of local government. Voters adopted "Plan C" with the council/manager plan to become effective in 1916. By 1916, there were 98 council-manager cities in the United States.[12]
13	George W. Whitehead		Republican	January 1, 1916	December 31, 1920
14	Maxwell M. Thompson		Republican	January 1, 1920	December 31, 1924	At this time, the mayors office was in the Gluck Building on Second and Falls Streets. Thompson declined to run for re-election.
15	William Laughlin		Democratic	January 1, 1925	December 31, 1931
16	Frank A. Jenss		Republican	January 1, 1932	December 31, 1935	Jenss served three terms as a city councilmen prior to being elected mayor.[13] He declined to seek reelection and instead supported Walter Greig, then councilman.
17	Dr. W. Levell Draper		Republican	January 1, 1936	December 31, 1939
18	Ernest W. Mirrington, Jr.		Republican	January 1, 1940	December 31, 1942	Resigned in 1942 (at the time, the youngest mayor in New York at 34) to join the U.S. Army. Mirrington had previously tried to join the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.[14]
19	Eugene C. Butler		Democratic	January 1, 1942	December 31, 1942	Appointed to fill the term of Ernest W. Mirrington, Jr., won the Democratic nomination for mayor but was defeated in the general election by Stephen A. Lamb.
20	Stephen A. Lamb		Republican	January 1, 1943	December 31, 1947
21	William R. Lupton		Democratic	January 1, 1948	December 31, 1951
22	Ernest W. Mirrington, Jr.		Republican	January 1, 1952	December 31, 1955	In May 1952, there was an 18-day strike of 600 city employees that disrupted services. The strike was settled through the efforts of a citizens’ committee.[15]
23	Calvin L. Keller		Republican	January 1, 1956	December 31, 1962	Keller welcomed John F. Kennedy to Niagara Falls in 1962 during his visit to Western New York.[16]
24	E. Dent Lackey		Democratic	January 1, 1963	December 31, 1975	Lackey was an ex-Methodist minister who served three, four-year terms.[17]
25	Michael C. O'Laughlin[18]		Democratic	January 1, 1976[17]	December 31, 1991	O'Laughlin served four, four-year terms.
26	Jacob A. Palillo		Republican	January 1, 1992	December 31, 1995	Palillo was president of the Niagara Falls Fire Fighters Association for 20 years and first ran for mayor in 1987. Elected in 1991 defeating Anthony F. Quaranto, but in 1995 lost a re-election bid to James C. Galie.[19]
27	James C. Galie[20]		Democratic	January 1, 1996	December 31, 1999	Galie was a former assistant police chief elected last year on a pro-casino platform[21]
28	Irene J. Elia[22]		Republican	January 1, 2000	December 31, 2003
29	Jacob A. Palillo		Republican	January 1, 2003	December 31, 2004
30	James C. Galie		Democratic	January 1, 2004	December 31, 2005
31	Irene J. Elia		Republican	January 1, 2005	December 31, 2006
32	Vincenzo V. Anello		Democratic	January 1, 2006	December 31, 2007
33	Paul Dyster		Democratic	January 1, 2008	Present

List of village presidents

Name	Picture	Village	Party	Took office	Left office	Notes
General Parkhurst Whitney[23]		Village of Niagara Falls		1848		Whitney's son built the Whitney Mansion in Niagara Falls, New York in 1849.[23]
Colonel John Fisk[23]		Village of Bellevue		1854		Fisk was an official of the Bellevue Land Company[23]
Peter A. Porter[24]		Village of Niagara Falls	Republican	1878	1878	Also a member of the New York State Assembly in 1886 and 1887 and elected to the 60th United States Congress.[25]
Colonel Charles P. Gaskill[24]		Village of Niagara Falls		1880s		Gaskill's presidency was marked by firm enforcement of law and order.[24]

History

Elections in New York State
Federal government Presidential elections 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Presidential primaries Democratic 2004 2008 Republican 2004 2008 2012 United States Senate elections 1789 1791 1795 1797 1801 1803 1807 1809 1813 1815 1819-20 1821 1825-26 1827 1831 1833 1837 1839-40 1843 1845 1849 1851 1855 1857 1861 1863 1867 1869 1873 1875 1879 1881 1885 1887 1891 1893 1897 1899 1903 1905 1909 1911 1964 1980 1986 1988 1992 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 House of Representatives elections 1789 1790 1793 1794 1796 1796 1798 1800 1802 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1821 1822 1824 1826 1854 2002 2004 2006 13th 20th 29th 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 Special elections 20th district, 2009 23rd district, 2009 Senate, 2010 29th district, 2010 26th district, 2011 9th district, 2011 11th district, 2015 List of House special elections
State government New York gubernatorial elections 1777 1780 1783 1786 1789 1792 1795 1798 1801 1804 1807 1810 1813 1816 1817 1820 1822 1824 1826 1828 1830 1832 1834 1836 1838 1840 1842 1844 1846 1848 1850 1852 1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1879 1882 1885 1888 1891 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Attorney General elections 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 State Comptroller elections 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 State Assembly elections 99th district, 2006 State elections by year 1811 1844 1846 1847-J 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1870–J 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1900 1902 1903 1904 1906 1907 1908 1910 1912 1913 1914 1916 1917 1918 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1930 1932 1933 1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1942 1943 1944 1946 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1956 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 2002 2006 2008 2009 2010 2012 2016
New York City Characteristics of NYC mayoral elections Mayoral elections 1917 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 City Council elections 2013 Public Advocate elections 2009 2013 Comptroller elections 2009 2013 Borough president elections 2013 The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island
Buffalo Mayoral elections 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017
Rochester Mayoral elections 2009 2013 2017
Syracuse Mayoral elections 2009

• In 1892, upon the establishment of the mayors office, the length of office was a one-year term.^[11]
• In 1897, the term limit was changed to a two-year term.^[11]
• In 1901, the term was changed again to begin on the third Tuesday of April.^[11] The mayor, as the chief executive officer, no longer voted or took part in council meetings. A president of the council was elected, along with the alderman from each of the six wards and four aldermen elected at large. The president of the Common Council assumed the tie-breaking vote and the "municipal year" was changed to begin on the third Tuesday of April.^[6]
• In 1902, the New York State Legislature decided to change the political terms of local officials to coincide with the calendar year. The Niagara Falls Common Council opposed the change, but it passed and interrupted the first term of Mayor Hancock. Hancock's term began on April 15, 1902, but ended on Dec. 31, 1902. Upon his reelection, he began his second term on January 1, 1903.^[11]
• In 1904, the Town of Niagara Falls and the Village of Niagara Falls were amalgamated to form the "City of Niagara Falls."^[23]
• From 1916 to 1985, government in Niagara Falls consisted of a council of four members and a mayor. The mayor and council members were elected to four-year terms and they appointed the city manager, who ran the day-to-day operation of city government.^[12]

Mayoral elections

The 2015 mayoral election was held on Tuesday November 3, 2015, with the following candidates: Incumbent mayor Paul Dyster (Democrat) and challenger John Accardo (Republican).^[2] Dyster won (4,267 to 3,468) his third term as Mayor of Niagara Falls.^[26] With the win, Dyster joins E. Dent Lackey as the only two three-term mayors in Niagara Falls and draws closer to being in office as long former Mayor Michael O’Laughlin, the city’s longest-tenured mayor who held four consecutive terms from 1976 to 1991.^[27]

References