List of mayors of Gotham City

This page lists all of the known Mayors of Gotham City in DC Comics.

Known Mayors of Gotham City

Mayors in the comic books

Several mayors of Gotham City have appeared in the comic book series that collectively form the "Batman Family" of titles:

• The first Mayor of Gotham seen in the comics was unnamed, but drawn to look like New York Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia.^[1][2]

• Bruce Wayne was the Mayor of Gotham City for a week.^[3]

• Mayor Hayes (first name unknown) - Mayor Hayes was introduced in Batman #207 (Dec. 1968).

• Mayor Theodore Cobblepot - The great-grandfather of Penguin. His tenure of office is the longest ever. He is mentioned in Gotham Underground #9 (August 2008) and appears in the flashback scenes in Batman: Gates of Gotham .

• Mayor Thorndike (first name unknown) - He appears in the flashbacks from the "Made of Wood" storyline where he was killed by the original Made of Wood Killer on July 17, 1948.^[4]

• Mayor Wilson Klass - The Mayor of Gotham City during Batman's early years. First appeared in the "Prey" storyline from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. He was presumably the mayor during Frank Miller's Batman Year One.^[5]

• Mayor Hamilton Hill — A corrupt politician elected mayor thanks to the machinations of Rupert Thorne. He became mayor in Detective Comics #511 (February 1982). During his early time in office, he assisted Rupert Thorne's attempts to identify and defeat Batman, principally by firing Police Commissioner (and Batman ally) James Gordon and replacing him with one of Thorne's cronies Peter Pauling. After Thorne was defeated, Hill re-instated Gordon, but spent the rest of his time in office trying to shift the blame for the state of Gotham onto Gordon's shoulders. Hill last appeared in Batman #381 (March 1985) in the Pre-Crisis DC universe.

• Lloyd Bochner provides the voice of Mayor Hamilton Hill in Batman: The Animated Series. In Batman Beyond, there is a high school named after him.
• Hamilton Hill is the new mayor of Gotham City at the start of Season 5 of The Batman voiced by Lex Lang. In a diversion from the comics and Batman: The Animated Series, this version of Hill is an African-American.
• Hamilton Hill briefly appears in the Young Justice episode "Alpha Male" voiced by Corey Burton. He and several friends are shown on a hunting trip in India. After accidentally stumbling upon scientific equipment built by the Brain, Hill and the others are shot by Monsieur Mallah. A headline in a Gotham newspaper later reveals that Hill survived, albeit with serious injuries.
• Hamilton Hill is mentioned in Batman: Arkham Origins. His name is on a building. According to one of the Gotham Intel files by Anarky, he was mentioned to have been involved in a sex scandal and to be in Rupert Thorne's pocket. In the DLC titled "Cold, Cold Heart", Hill is trying to recover with reports of him considering having Peter Grogan replace Gillian B. Loeb as police commissioner following his death at the hands of Joker (who was disguised as Black Mask during the events of the game proper). However, protests erupt over Loeb's corruption which was also exposed as well as evidence linking Grogan to the Maroni family. By the end of the game, it is mentioned that Hamilton Hill has ultimately resigned from office after Batman captures Mr. Freeze and Penguin and exposes Ferris Boyle.
• Hamilton Hill appears in the first two episodes of Batman: The Telltale Series voiced by Robert Pescovitz. Hill is running for re-election against Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent, who is being financially backed by Bruce Wayne. As Hill had been in an alliance with Thomas Wayne and Carmine Falcone decades earlier where the three of them ran Gotham as a covert criminal enterprise, Hill leaked knowledge of Thomas Wayne's misdeeds and crimes to disgrace Bruce and thus undercut the support for Dent's mayoral bid. He also used the power of the Mayor's office to have the GCPD search and seize evidence from Wayne Manor, which he then leaked to Oswald Cobblepot as part of a mutually beneficial arrangement to disgrace Bruce. It is also revealed that Hill ordered Joe Chill to assassinate Thomas and Martha Wayne and make it look like a mugging as he apparently feared Thomas was becoming too volatile to control. Shortly before a mayoral debate against Dent, Bruce/Batman went to get more answers from Hill about Thomas' criminal endeavours, also finding out that Cobblepot had a vendetta against the Wayne's due to an old bargain that handed Cobblepot family land over to Thomas Wayne. Despite warnings from Bruce/Batman to stay away from the debate as Cobblepot was likely to attack it as part of his plan for a people's revolution in Gotham, Hill went anyway and was subsequently held hostage when Cobblepot and his forces stormed the venue. He was drugged with truth serum and as a result confessed his contempt for Gotham's poor, saying they should be incinerated. In the battle between Cobblepot's forces and the GCPD alongside Batman and Catwoman to free the hostages, Mayor Hill was shot and killed by Cobblepot as revenge for his role in depriving the Cobblepots of their family land, just after confessing his role in authorizing the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Following Mayor Hill's death, Harvey Dent is sworn in as the new Mayor of Gotham City.

• Mayor Skowcroft (first name unknown) - He first appeared in Swamp Thing #53 (October 1986), trying to prevent panic when the city was under attack by Swamp Thing due to Abby Holland's arrest for bestiality. Mayor Skowcroft was eventually persuaded by Batman to release Abby on the grounds that a definition of bestiality that included non-human intelligent humanoids would include a great number of superhero relationships.

• Mayor Julius Lieberman - He plays a significant role in Batman versus Predator #1 (1991) and also appears in Batman: Run, Riddler, Run #1-3 and Justice Society of America vol. 2 #1.

• Mayor Armand Krol — Krol first appeared in Detective Comics #647 (August 1992). Like Hamilton Hill, he did not like Commissioner Gordon. Krol also disliked Batman until the "Knightfall" series during which Batman saved his life. After this, he turned increasingly to Batman rather than Gotham's police to tackle crime in the city. He demoted James Gordon and replaced him as Commissioner with Gordon's wife Sarah Essen-Gordon. After years of self-serving incompetence, Krol lost an election against Marion Grange in Shadow of the Bat #46. During the "lame duck" period of his Mayoralty, Gotham finally descended into complete anarchy after Ra's al Ghul unleashed the "Clench" virus during the "Contagion" story arc. Krol himself died of the virus during its second release in the "Legacy" story arc (Detective Comics #699, July 1996).

• Mayor Marion Grange — Formerly a District Attorney, Grange was elected after winning Batman's endorsement. Grange was sworn-in early by the state Governor in the midst of the crisis caused by the Clench virus and Krol's inept handling of matters. Her first act as mayor was to forcibly eject Krol from the mayor's office and her second was to re-appoint James Gordon as Police Commissioner (Robin #28, April 1996). She remained mayor until Gotham was devastated by an earthquake in the "No Man's Land" story arc during which she failed to prevent the Federal government from cutting off Gotham. Agents of Nick Scratch assassinated her shortly afterwards.

• Mayor Marion Grange appeared as a male in The Batman voiced by Adam West (who played Batman in the first television series). He is depicted as a friend of the Wayne Family even when Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne were still alive. By season five, Marion Grange was succeeded by Hamilton Hill.
• An African-American version of Marion Grange is featured in Beware the Batman, voiced by C.C.H. Pounder. In "Broken", Grange is held hostage by Humpty Dumpty in his revenge plot against the city's law enforcers due to her role as District Attorney during his court case. In "Nexus", she was nearly killed by a bomb planted by Anarky in a plot to frame Batman. In "Games", she is one of Humpty Dumpty's unwilling participants in his Murder Mystery game due to her involvement where an innocent man was sent to prison after being framed by Tobias Whale. After the trauma of the incident, Grange takes a leave of absence and steps down in "Hero" leading Harvey Dent to start his own campaign for mayor. She is eventually replaced by Deputy Mayor David Hull in "Epitaph."

• Mayor Charles Chesterfield - Killed by a biological anomaly that removes fat cells from the human body.^[6]

• Mayor Daniel Danforth Dickerson III — His term ran from the end of No Man’s Land through the early 2000s. A corrupt mayor, his term ended with his assassination at the hands of Joker in 2003's Gotham Central #12.

• Mayor David Hull — His term ran through the mid-2000s following the death of Mayor Daniel Danforth Dickerson III.

• In Beware the Batman, David Hull (voiced by James Patrick Stuart) is mentioned several times as the Deputy Mayor, standing in for Marion Grange after the Humpty Dumpty incident. In "Animal," Hull gives Harvey Dent authorization to deny Gordon's SWAT team to break up a riot at Blackgate Penitentiary. At the end of "Epitaph," Hull is revealed to have been sworn in the new Mayor of Gotham City after Grange resigns and Dent is hospitalized.

• An unnamed female mayor was mentioned in the pages of 52. We know of her existence because a year after the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, a telephone conversation between Commissioner Gordon and the current mayor (Sebastian Hady) indicates a change in the mayoral office. Beyond a reference to the mayor as "she," the identity of the new mayor is unknown. Details of her tenure are largely unrevealed.

• Mayor Sebastian Hady — The incumbent mayor of Gotham in the current comics continuity. Hady was introduced in Batman as an immensely corrupt and ruthless politician and has publicly admitted to cheating on his wife. He was taken hostage by Azrael (Michael Lane) during the events of "Judgement on Gotham", but was rescued by Red Robin. He also tried to frame Commissioner Gordon for murder during the early days of Batman Incorporated, but Batman easily exposed the allegations as false. In "The New 52" continuity, Hady has been mayor for about five years and was backed by the criminal Carmine Falcone.^[7]

• In 1914 as seen during the Forever Evil storyline, the unnamed Mayor of Gotham City at the time had his encounter with the Court of Owls and was later murdered in their labyrinth by a Talon.^[8]

Alternate universes

• While Thomas Wayne (the father of Bruce Wayne) was still living, the mayor of Gotham City is named Aubrey James. He is mentioned in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #204 (June 2006).

• A version of Mayor Aubrey James appears in the TV series Gotham, portrayed by Richard Kind. A mayor around the time of the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, James is in Carmine Falcone's pocket alongside Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb. Superficially congenial, he is indifferent and contemptuous of most of Gotham's citizens and ruthless towards anyone who would endanger his political and criminal associations. In Season Two, he is kidnapped by Theo Galavan and Tabitha Galavan as part of Theo's plot to run for mayor. Even though Aubrey was later rescued, he mentioned in court that Oswald Cobblepot was the one who captured him and made him lie about Galavan's involvement presumably out of fear that Galavan would take revenge on him. In the episode "Mad City: Better to Reign in Hell..." Aubrey James was with Nathaniel Barnes when he held a press conference about the Indian Hill escapees. When Valerie Vale asked if Wayne Enterprises had any connection to Indian Hill, Aubrey James and Nathaniel Barnes had no knowledge of it. In the episode "Mad City: Look Into My Eyes," Aubrey James mentions at a press conference stating that the elected Gotham City officials have run Gothan City since Theo Galavan's death and want him to be reinstated. Oswald Cobblepot crashes the press conference and challenges him to an election since he was the one who drove away the monsters that plagued Gotham City. In the episode "Mad City: New Day Rising," Oswald successfully wins the election against Aubrey James and becomes the new Mayor of Gotham City.

• In the alternate future of The Dark Knight Returns, Gotham City is run by an unnamed mayor who makes his opinions over Batman's return as seen in the first part. After the Mutant Leader had been apprehended by the police, the Mayor visits him and tries to make a peace deal with him. It didn't go well as the Mutant Leader killed the Mayor by ripping out part of his throat. Following the death of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor Stevenson is sworn in as the new Mayor of Gotham City. In the fourth part, Mayor Stevenson's opinion over Batman differs from the opinion of Governor Mahoney. Mayor Stevenson states that Commissioner Ellen Yindel will make the decision of how to act with Batman.

• Both the unnamed mayor and Stevenson appear the two-part film adaptation of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, with the unnamed mayor voiced by Richard Doyle and Deputy Mayor Stevenson voiced by Frank Welker.

• In the sequel to The Dark Knight Returns called The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Mayor Giordano is mentioned as calling in military help.

• In the alternate 1891 of Master of the Future, former Police Commissioner Tolliver is elected mayor after Batman captures Jack the Ripper and Tolliver takes credit. Tolliver is killed by Alexandre LeRoi and replaced in a special election by Gotham City Council member Thorne.

• In The Dark Knight III: The Master Race which follows The Dark Knight Returns and the The Dark Knight Strikes Again, there was a mentioning that the current unnamed Mayor of Gotham City is manipulating opinions when it came to the lack of protestors following the apprehension of Carrie Kelley.^[9]

• In the alternate 1941 of DC Comics Bombshells, issue 13 establishes that Harvey Dent is the newly-elected Mayor of Gotham. Despite having supported World War II refugees from Europe, Hugo Strange mind-controls Mayor Dent to turn him into an anti-immigrant isolationist whose slogan is "Make Gotham Golden Once More." Tim Drake acknowledges this as a "heavy-handed-but-uncomfortably-timely political allegory" of Donald Trump, who Dent is drawn to resemble.

Mayors of Gotham City in other media

Besides the media appearances of some of the mayors listed above, some media appearances have their own Mayors of Gotham City:

Television

• The 1960s TV series Batman featured Mayor Linseed (portrayed by Byron Keith). At one point in the series, the Penguin mounts a political challenge to Mayor Linseed who turns in desperation to Batman for help. Batman agrees to run for mayor with Linseed as his deputy mayor to prevent Penguin from winning the office. Batman defeats the Penguin which allows Linseed to retake his position. Mayor Linseed's name was a play on John Lindsay who was the Mayor of New York City at the time.

Film

• The 1989 film Batman featured Mayor William Borg (portrayed by Lee Wallace).

• The 1992 sequel Batman Returns features Roscoe Jenkins (portrayed by Michael Murphy). Max Schreck attempts to unseat Jenkins in a recall election, using the Penguin both to unleash chaos on the city with help from the Red Triangle Circus Gang and to run for the office as the mayor's challenger. Batman thwarts the Penguin's political campaign by exposing his plots and Roscoe Jenkins presumably remains in office.

• Batman Forever featured an unnamed mayor (portrayed by George Wallace).

• Batman: Gotham Knight featured a Mayor Manning who was assassinated by Deadshot.

• The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises feature Anthony Garcia (portrayed by Nestor Carbonell). In his first appearance, he is the mayor when the Joker attacks Gotham. At one point, Garcia is almost assassinated when the Joker infiltrates Commissioner Gilliab B. Loeb's funeral procession disguised as an honor guard member and fires a rifle at him. The mayor survives because Gordon notices the Joker in a split second and tackles the mayor to the ground just as the Joker pulls the trigger. Because of his efforts in both situations, Garcia promotes Gordon to succeed Gillian B. Loeb as police commissioner after Loeb was poisoned by a tainted liquor left by Joker with the help of corrupt cops. After the death of Harvey Dent, he signs the controversial "Dent Act" giving Commissioner Gordon enough police power to arrest and detain every criminal in Gotham with no chance of parole. The Dent Act ends up making the city crime-free. Eight years later in The Dark Knight Rises, Garcia is still in office where he is at a party at Wayne Manor which is dedicated in memory of Harvey Dent. Garcia proposes to depose Gordon from the post of police commissioner because he feels that his efforts are not needed during a period of peacetime, unaware that Bane and his men are hiding in the sewers of Gotham City. One of the last things he does in the movie is agree to Gordon's request to cover up a mass police search of the sewers for Bane under the pretense of a training exercise. Anthony Garcia is one of the first victims of Bane's takeover of Gotham where he is killed while attending a Gotham Rogues football game with some of his aides when Bane sets off a bomb planted in his viewing box with the explosives also imploding the field by rigging the foundation's concrete with explosive charges. It is not said who succeeds Anthony Garcia after Bane is defeated.

• The upcoming film The Lego Batman Movie (a spin-off of The Lego Movie) will feature Mayor McCaskill^[10] (voiced by Mariah Carey).^[11]

Video games

• In Batman: Arkham Asylum, there was a reference to an unnamed Mayor of Gotham City who was referenced to have been held hostage by Joker before the start of the video game.

• Batman: Arkham City features Quincy Sharp (voiced by Tom Kane) who was the former Warden of Arkham Asylum as seen in Batman: Arkham Asylum. He has claimed to be the Spirit of Amadeus Arkham. Upon becoming Mayor of Gotham City, Quincy Sharp creates Arkham City one year after the Titan attacks at both Arkham Asylum and at City Hall. Sharp took credit for stopping Joker's Titan plot. He was later deposed out of office and thrown into Arkham City due to an act of betrayal by Hugo Strange himself. Batman manages to save Quincy Sharp from the Arkham City inmates and is placed in a safe place with Vicki Vale. After Arkham City was shut down, it's possible that Quincy Sharp was removed from office after his involvement with Arkham City and Hugo Strange. It is later implied through an unlockable story in Batman: Arkham Knight that Sharp hanged himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial after seeing a hallucination of the late Hugo Strange.

• In Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, there is an unnamed Mayor of Gotham City who attends the Man of the Year award ceremony along with several other prominent figures like Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor. When Joker leads his fellow villains to crash the ceremony, the Mayor of Gotham City is robbed of his money by Riddler and then flees along with everyone else. It was suggested that he had been elected a year before the events of the video game as when Vicki Vale mentions the local law against mind-control gas due to "last year's disastrous mayoral campaign." Vicki also mentioned in another news report that the Mayor of Gotham City had a plan to replace Arkham Asylum with a "...vast, walled off area in the heart of the city" which was put on hold.

• In Batman: Arkham Knight, After the event's of the game, James Gordon becomes the Mayor of Gotham City.

References