Nonpartisan elections are currently held every four years to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.
Elections before 1997
1997 (special)
The 1997 Madison mayoral special election was held February 17 and April 1, 1997, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It was held after the resignation of incumbent mayor Paul Soglin. It saw the election of Susan J. M. Bauman.
Candidates
Ray Allen, Madison School Board member
Richard H. Anderson
Susan J. M. Bauman, alderperson on the Madison Common Council
Wayne Bigelow, President of the Madison Common Council
John Hendrick, Supervisor on the Dane County Board since 1994
Mary Lang-Sollinger, community activist and political fundraiser
Tom Neale
David Travis, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Results
1999
The 1999 Madison mayoral election was held April 9, 1999, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Susan J. M. Bauman.
Since only two candidates ran, no primary was held.
Results
2003
The 2003 Madison mayoral election was held February 20 and April 4, 2003, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the election of Dave Cieslewicz. Incumbent mayor Susan J. M. Bauman was eliminated in the primary.
Candidates
Susan J. M. Bauman, incumbent mayor
Dave Cieslewicz, former member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors
Davy Mayer
Will Sandstrom
Paul R. Soglin, former mayor
Bert G. Zipperer
Results
2007
The 2007 Madison mayoral election was held February 22 and April 5, 2007, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Dave Cieslewicz.
Candidates
Ray Allen, Madison School Board member and 1997 mayoral candidate
Dave Cieslewicz, incumbent mayor
Peter Munoz
Will Sandstrom, 2003 mayoral candidate
Results
2011
The 2011 Madison mayoral election was held February 20 and April 4, 2003, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw former mayor Paul Soglin return to the mayoralty by unseating incumbent mayor Dave Cieslewicz.
Candidates
John Blotz
Dave Cieslewicz, incumbent mayor
Dennis Amadeus de Nure
Nick Hart
Paul R. Soglin, former mayor
Results
2015
The 2015 Madison mayoral election was held February 17 and April 7, 2015, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Paul Soglin.
Candidates
Richard V. Brown, Sr. Christopher Daly Bridget Maniaci former 2nd district member of the Madison Common Council (2009–2013) Scott Resnick, 8th district member of the Madison Common Council since 2011 and tech executive Paul Soglin, incumbent mayor
Results
2019
The 2019 Madison mayoral election was held February 19 and April 2, 2019, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the election of Satya Rhodes-Conway, who unseated incumbent mayor Paul Soglin. Conway became the second woman and the first openly-gay individual elected mayor in the city's history.
Candidates
Maurice "Mo" Cheeks, 10th district member of the Madison Common Council since 2013 and Vice President of Business Development at MIOsoft Satya Rhodes-Conway, former 12th district member of the Madison Common Council Nick Hart Raj Shukla Paul Soglin, incumbent mayor
Results
2023
The 2023 Madison mayoral election was held on April 4, 2023, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.
A primary election was held on February 21, 2023, to narrow down the candidates to two. It saw record turnout due to the concurrent primary for the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Satya Rhodes-Conway and Gloria Reyes qualified for the general election, while Scott Kerr was eliminated. Daniel Howell Jr., a write-in candidate, plans on running as a write-in candidate for the general election in addition to the primary.
Candidates
Daniel Howell Jr., caseworker and former Wisconsin Badgers football player (write-in) Scott Kerr, traffic engineer (endorsed Reyes in the runoff) Satya Rhodes-Conway, incumbent mayor Gloria Reyes, former deputy mayor and president of the Madison Board of Education