Fifteen of the 100 most populous U.S. cities are holding mayoral elections on Nov. 3

Fifteen of the 100 most populous cities in the U.S. are holding mayoral elections on Nov 3. Among those, nine cities have Democratic mayors, three have Republican mayors, and two have nonpartisan mayors. One mayor’s partisan affiliation is unknown.

While most mayoral elections in the 100 most populous cities are nonpartisan, Ballotpedia has maintained a list of mayors’ partisan affiliations since 2016. Currently, there are 67 Democratic, 21 Republican, one Libertarian, three independent, six nonpartisan, and one unaffiliated mayor. One mayor's partisan affiliation is unknown.

Currently, there are the most Democratic mayors and the fewest Republican mayors in the top-100 cities since 2016. Since 2016, the number of Democratic-led top-100 cities has ranged from 61 to 67, and the number of Republican-led cities has ranged from 22 to 30. Based on 2020 population estimates, 81% of the population of the top 100 cities lives in cities with Democratic mayors, and 14% lives in cities with Republican mayors.

Battlegrounds

Los Angeles, California: Incumbent Karen Bass and Nithya Raman are running. Although the city's mayoral election is officially nonpartisan, both candidates are Democrats. Bass, who was elected in 2022, is the first mayoral incumbent in Los Angeles to face a runoff since 2005. Raman represents Los Angeles City Council District 4 and is an urban planner. Former Vice President Kamala Harris (D), Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), and U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) endorsed Bass. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the California Working Families Party, and Our Revolution endorsed Raman. Bass and Raman have both completed our Candidate Connection survey, click here and here to read their responses.

Louisville, Kentucky: Incumbent Craig Greenberg and Shameka Parrish-Wright are running. This is the first time Louisville is holding nonpartisan elections for mayor and metro council. A 2024 law, HB288, required the city to switch to nonpartisan elections. Greenberg was elected as a Democrat in 2022 and has endorsements from Gov. Andy Beshear (D) and the Louisville Democratic Party. Parrish-Wright is a member of the Louisville City Council and has an endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America. Greenberg and Parrish-Wright have also both completed our Candidate Connection survey, click here and here to read their responses.

In addition to the battleground elections we mentioned above, each of the candidates running for mayor in Chula Vista, California, Henderson, Nevada, and Reno, Nevada also completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey.

Key Trends to watch:

DSA endorsements: As we mentioned above, DSA-endorsed candidates are on the Nov. 3 ballot for mayor in two of the 100 most populous U.S. cities: Los Angeles, California, and Louisville, Kentucky. The Democratic incumbent mayors of both cities are also on the ballot. A third DSA-endorsed candidate is running for mayor of Washington, D.C., where the office is open. In all, 10 DSA-endorsed candidates are running for mayor.
Open seats: No mayors voluntarily retired this year. An average of 63.4% of mayors ran for re-election between 2020 and 2025, and an average of 16.3% of mayors retired (not including term-limited mayors). An average of 17.5% of mayors were term-limited. (Note: These figures do not include Washington, D.C.)

Recent election history

Seven top-100 cities have already held mayoral elections this year, including five that held general elections and two in which a candidate won the primary outright. Two of these elections resulted in a change in mayoral partisan control:

In Irving, Texas, Albert Zapanta, who is unaffiliated, defeated two other candidates to succeed Republican incumbent Rick Stopfer.
In Chandler, Arizona, Matt Orlando won outright after he received more than 50% of the vote in the primary. Orlando, an independent, will succeed Republican incumbent Kevin Hartke (R).

Click here to learn more about mayoral elections in 2026.