When was the last time Washington, D.C. had a Republican mayor?

The last person to hold a formal Republican mayoral title in Washington, D.C. left office in 1870. Sayles Jenks Bowen, a Radical Republican and ardent abolitionist, served as the 20th mayor of Washington City from June 1868 to June 1870. No Republican has held the city's top executive post since, across any governmental structure the District has operated under.

The short version, with important nuance

The answer depends partly on how you define "mayor." There are actually two distinct answers, depending on whether you're asking about the old city of Washington (which had elected mayors from 1820 until 1871) or the modern home rule government that DC residents elect today.

• Last Republican mayor of Washington City (the historical office): Sayles Jenks Bowen, in office June 8, 1868 to June 7, 1870.
• Last Republican to serve as DC's chief executive in any form: Robert Enoch McLaughlin, who served as President of the DC Board of Commissioners from 1956 to 1961, a presidential appointee under Eisenhower.
• Under home rule (1974 to present): Every mayor has been a Democrat. No Republican has won.

Sayles Jenks Bowen: the last Republican mayor, 1868 to 1870

Sayles Jenks Bowen served as the 20th Mayor of Washington City from 1868 to 1870 and, as of 2025, is the last Republican mayor in the District of Columbia or any of its sub-jurisdictions.

Bowen was one of the most controversial mayors in the history of the American capital because of his outspoken support of emancipation and racial integration. Under his leadership, Washington opened its first public schools for African American children. Notably, the 1868 mayoral election was the first in American history that allowed African American men the right to vote, predating the ratification of the 15th Amendment.

Bowen won a narrow race. Republicans nominated Bowen, a New York native and government postmaster, whom many newspapers at the time called "the Radical." He defeated Democrat John T. Given, then left office after one term in June 1870.

His successor, Matthew Gault Emery, also a Republican, served from 1870 to 1871, when the office was abolished. Emery was the last mayor of the City of Washington; the current office of Mayor of the District of Columbia has a different geographic jurisdiction. So if you count Emery, the last Republican to hold the word "mayor" in their title left in February 1871.

The pre-home rule era: a Republican appointee in the 1950s

After the old city government collapsed in 1871, Congress ran DC directly for nearly a century through a Board of Commissioners. Those commissioners were presidential appointees, not elected. Robert Enoch McLaughlin served as the 21st President of the Board of Commissioners from 1956 to 1961 and is the last Republican to serve as chief executive for the District of Columbia.

As a Republican appointee of President Eisenhower from 1955 to 1961, McLaughlin spoke forthrightly of the prospects for better local government if leaders were elected. The Washington Post's obituary noted that his role as president of the Board of Commissioners "was the closest thing to a 'mayor' that the city was allowed to have." McLaughlin died in 1978.

The commissioner form of government was replaced in 1967 by a mayor-commissioner and a nine-member city council appointed by the President. Walter Washington had been the last appointed head of the city, serving as Mayor-Commissioner under President Lyndon Johnson, before being elected DC's first home rule mayor. Washington was a Democrat.

The home rule era: Democrats only, since 1974

The 1973 DC Home Rule Act established a local government for Washington, DC, allowing residents to vote for mayor and a city council for the first time in a century. On January 2, 1975, the first elected DC Council and mayor in nearly 100 years were sworn into office. Mayor Walter Washington, Council Chair Sterling Tucker, and a council that included future mayors Marion Barry, David Clarke, Arrington Dixon, and John A. Wilson took their oaths that day.

Every elected mayor since has been a Democrat: Walter Washington, Marion Barry (three terms), Sharon Pratt, Adrian Fenty, Vincent Gray, and Muriel Bowser. The Democratic primary has consistently been the most important contest, as 90% of the District's voters are registered Democrats.

Republicans have run, but none has come close. Barry defeated Republican nominee Arthur Fletcher in the general election on November 7, 1978. Fletcher received 27,366 votes, or 28.09% of the total, the best GOP showing of the home rule era. More recently, on November 8, 2022, Washington, D.C. held an election for its mayor, and incumbent Democrat Muriel Bowser was elected to a third term in a landslide. The Republican nominee, Stacia Hall, received 11,510 votes, or 5.83% of the total.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Sayles Jenks Bowen
• Wikipedia: Robert Enoch McLaughlin
• Wikipedia: Matthew Gault Emery
• Wikipedia: 1978 DC Mayoral Election
• Wikipedia: 2022 DC Mayoral Election
• DC Council: 50 Years of Home Rule
• Boundary Stones/WETA: The 1868 Mayoral Election
• Washington Post: Robert E. McLaughlin obituary