List of mayors and city managers of Lowell, Massachusetts


This is a list of mayors and city managers of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell became a city in 1836. From 1836 to 1943 the mayor of Lowell was the chief administrative officer of the city. Lowell switched to a Massachusetts "Plan E" form of city government in 1943, since January 1, 1944 the city has been administrated by a professional city manager, the office of mayor, while retained under "Plan E", is strictly a ceremonial one.

Mayors

#MayorPictureTermPartyNotes
1stElisha Bartlett1836–1838Whig
2ndLuther Lawrence1838 – April 17, 1839Federalist
AElisha HuntingtonApril 1839 – April 1840WhigBecame acting mayor after the death
of Luther Lawrence in April 1839.
3rdElisha HuntingtonApril 1840 – April 1842Whig
4thNathaniel WrightApril 1842 – April 1844Citizens ticket, ; Whig
5thElisha HuntingtonApril 1844 – January 1846Whig
6thJefferson Bancroft1846–1848Whig
7thJosiah B. French1849–1850Coalitionist/Democratic
8thJames H.B. Ayer1851Whig
9thElisha HuntingtonJanuary 1852 – January 1853Whig
10thSewall G. Mack1853–1854Whig
11thAmbrose Lawrence1855Native American Party
12thElisha Huntington1856Whig
13thStephen Mansur1857Republican
14thElisha HuntingtonJanuary 1858 – January 1859Whig
15thJames Cook1859Republican
16thBenjamin C. Sargent1860–1861Republican
17thHocum Hosford1862–1865Citizens ticket, Republican
18thJosiah G. Peabody1865–1866Republican
19thGeorge F. Richardson1867 – January 4, 1869Republican
20thJonathan P. FolsomJanuary 4, 1869 – 1870Republican
21stEdward Fay Sherman1871Republican
22ndJosiah G. Peabody1872Republican
23rdFrancis Jewett1873–1875Republican
24thCharles A. StottJanuary 1, 1876 – 1877Republican
25thJohn A. G. RichardsonJanuary 7, 1878 – 1879Democratic
26thFrederic T. Greenhalge1880 – January 2, 1882Republican
27thGeorge RunelsJanuary 2, 1882Republican
28thJohn J. Donovan1883–1884DemocraticFirst Irish-American Mayor of Lowell
29thEdward J. Noyes1885Republican
30thJames C. Abbott1886–1887Democratic
31stCharles Dana Palmer1888 – January 1891Republican
32ndGeorge W. FifieldJanuary 1891 – 1892Democratic
33rdJohn J. Pickman1893–1894Republican
34thWilliam F. Courtney1895–1897Democratic
35thCol. James W. Bennett1898Republican
36thJeremiah Crowley1899–1900DemocraticIrish-American
37thCharles A. R. Dimon1901 – May 5, 1902Democratic
AWilliam E. Badger1902RepublicanActing
38thCharles E. Howe1903–1904Republican
39thJames B. Casey1905–1906DemocraticIrish-American
40thFrederick W. Farnham1907–1908Republican
41stGeorge H. BrownJanuary 1, 1909-January, 1910Republican
42ndJohn F. Meehan1910–1911DemocraticIrish-American
43rdJames E. O'Donnell1912–1913DemocraticIrish-American
44thDennis J. Murphy1914–1915DemocraticIrish-American
45thJames E. O'Donnell1916–1917Democratic
46thPerry D. Thompson1918–1921Republican
47thGeorge H. Brown1922Republican
48thJohn J. Donovan1923–1926Democratic
49thThomas J. Corbett1927–1928Democratic
50thThomas H. Braden1929–1931Republican
52ndCharles H. Slowey1932–1933Democratic
53rdJames J. Bruin1934–1935Democratic
54thDewey G. Archambault1936–1939RepublicanFirst Franco-American Mayor of Lowell
55thGeorge T. Ashe1940–1943Democratic
AJoseph J. Sweeney1943DemocraticActing mayor.
Last mayor before the City Manager form of government was established under a Massachusetts Plan E Charter.
56thWoodbury F. Howard1944–1945RepublicanFirst ceremonial mayor.
Beginning of the weak mayor system.
City manager form of government
established on January 1, 1944.
57thLeo A. Roy1946–1947Republican
58thGeorge A. Ayotte1948–1949Republican
59thWilliam C. Geary1950Democratic
60thGeorge C. Eliades1951–1952DemocraticFirst Greek-American Mayor of Lowell
61stHenry Beaudry1952–1953Republican
62ndJohn Janas1954–1955RepublicanFirst Polish-American Mayor of Lowell
63rdSamuel S. Pollard1956–1959Democratic
64thRaymond J. Lord1960–1961Republican
65thJoseph M. Downes1962–1963Democratic
66thEllen A. Sampson1964–1965RepublicanFirst Female Mayor of Lowell
67thEdward J. Early Jr.1966–1967Democratic
68thRobert G. Maguire1968–1969Democratic
69thRichard P. Howe1970–1971Democratic
70thEllen A. Sampson1972–1973Republican
71stArmand W. LeMay1974–1975Democratic
72ndLeo J. Farley1976–1977Democratic
73rdRaymond F. Rourke1978–1979Democratic
74thRobert C. Maguire1980–1981Democratic
75thM. Brendan Fleming1982–1983Democratic
76thBrian J. Martin1984–1985Democratic
77thRobert B. Kennedy1986–1987Democratic
78thRichard P. Howe1988–1991Democratic
79thTarsy T. Poulios1992–1993Democratic
80thRichard P. Howe1994–1995Democratic
81stEdward "Bud" Caulfield1996–1997
82ndEileen Donoghue1998–2001Democratic
83rdRita Mercier2002–2003Democratic
84thArmand Mercier2004–2005
85thWilliam F. Martin2006–2007Democratic
86thEdward "Bud" Caulfield2008–2009Democratic
87thJames L. Milinazzo2010–2011DemocraticItalian-American
88thPatrick O. Murphy2012–2013IndependentInaugurated at age 29,
youngest mayor in Lowell history
89thRodney Elliott2014–2016Democratic
90thEdward J. Kennedy2016–2018Democratic
91stWilliam Samaras2018–2020Democratic
92ndJohn Leahy2020–2022Independent
93rdSokhary Chau2022-2024DemocraticFirst Cambodian mayor in the United States.
94thDaniel Rourke2024–present