While the electoral fireworks boomed in 2024, voters will have much less campaigning to listen to until the 2026 midterm elections.
Yet there remain several large cities with mayoral races to be run in 2025. Whoever wins those races will influence the lives of millions of people through their policies.
Many of those cities have little doubt about which party they will elect come voting time, but not all races have the same significance. Variations in how cities operate mean some mayors will have vastly more power and larger budgets to wield than others.
Some cities, such as New York, give their mayor significant power to veto city council actions and appoint personnel.
Other cities, such as Phoenix, use a “council-manager” type of government. Mayors are elected normally and represent the city at the local, state, and national levels but often serve as regular members of the city council.
That means cities with a “strong mayoral” government have to consider closely who their mayors will be because they will have significant sway over the city’s strategy and personnel.
Here are five races to watch next year:
1. New York
Incumbent: Eric Adams, running
The largest city in the United States happens to have one of the most polarizing mayoral races in the country. Eric Adams, a Democrat, is looking to grab a second term as the city’s mayor while facing a federal indictment in his bribery scandal, not to mention the city’s problems with crime, immigration, and housing that had already damaged his approval rating.
As a result, New York politicians smell blood in the water. A variety of progressives are looking to challenge Adams from his left, including New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sens. Jessica Ramos and Zellnor Myrie, and former Comptroller Scott Stringer.
If Adams can make it to the Democratic primary in June 2025 without being convicted of crimes — his trial is set to begin in April — he will still face heavy competition. Only 12% of New Yorkers said they would support his reelection in an October poll. It is likely Adams’s odds would become stiffer if former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined the race.
Reports indicate Cuomo would be hesitant to enter such a race with Adams still present, but if the mayor resigns, it will trigger a 90-day special election that Cuomo’s circle believes he would win.
2. Boston
Incumbent: Michelle Wu, running
Unlike New York, Boston’s mayoral race looks to be much more straightforward. Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu has faced similar problems with migrants as Adams, but it has not been enough to damage her approval rating deeply. A May poll showed 57% of registered voters believed she was doing a good job while 25% rated her negatively.
And with a positive approval rating for Wu, no Democrats have come forward to challenge her. There has been speculation that former City Council President Ed Flynn could be interested in the job, but Wu would far outpace him and likely any other challenger in campaign money.
Wu is sitting on a $1.6 million war chest as an already popular incumbent mayor. The odds favor her overwhelmingly, even if some competitors come out of the woodwork. Only one could be able to blow her out of water in campaign finance.
Josh Kraft, son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, has been rumored to be a dark horse candidate to challenge Wu. A July report indicated that Kraft said he would announce his campaign in the fall, though it is unclear whether he would run as a Democrat or Republican as he has voted in both parties’ primaries. That announcement has yet to happen.
With a massive cash infusion from his family business, Kraft would likely be able to outspend Wu if he chose to run, but winning against her is still another story.
3. Detroit
Incumbent: Mike Duggan, declined to run for reelection
Popular Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat, is leaving the party to run for governor of Michigan as an independent, leaving a thriving Detroit with a wide-open mayoral race.
The only declared candidates are former businessman Joel Haashiim and City Council President Mary Sheffield, who is an early front-runner. The 37-year-old announced her campaign on Dec. 10 and drew a large crowd at her announcement party held at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 58 in Detroit.
She also had some star power there, too — Judge Mathis star and former Michigan District Judge Greg Mathis made an appearance supporting her candidacy. Nevertheless, several candidates have yet to announce their plans.
That includes Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate, who has formed an exploratory committee, and former City Council President Saunteel Jenkins. Tate is a powerful voice in Michigan politics and was born in Detroit. He played college football at Michigan State University before stints in the NFL and Marine Corps led him to the University of Michigan for his postgraduate plans.
The Detroit mayoral race still has plenty of developments to come, including who Duggan backs.
4. Seattle
Incumbent: Bruce Harrell, running
Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell is not expected to have much opposition to his bid for a second term. Only one candidate, Alexander Barickman, has filed to run against him.
Harrell only recently announced his reelection bid, which will stay on his “One Seattle” platform that won him the mayor’s office by 17 points in 2021. He will continue to work on the homelessness and police staffing problems that Seattle faces, with both having marginally improved since his election.
Harrell managed pay raises that increased applicants for the city’s police department and has made homelessness less visible, though numbers have not gone down.
Though candidates still have until May 2025 to file to run against Harrell, he is expected to win easily with the backing of Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson (D-WA), Attorney General-elect Nick Brown, and progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
5. Omaha, Nebraska
Incumbent: Jean Stothert, running
One of the few large cities with a Republican mayor, Omaha could elect Jean Stothert to a fourth term resoundingly. But Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell, a Democrat-turned-Republican who made headlines this year for denying an attempt from President-elect Donald Trump to change Nebraska to a winner-take-all Electoral College state, can throw a wrench into those plans.
McDonnell is wielding the endorsements of former Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and Senate candidate Dan Osborn, who nearly upset Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) in the Republican-dominated state. He compared Nebraska to a 6-5 football team that really should be competing for championships.
He will aim to triumph over Stothert by convincing voters he will fix the city’s infrastructure, including allowing voters to decide whether the city should enact a streetcar project. He also said he wants Omaha to get back to the basics of city governance, which includes providing better streets, reliable trash pickup, and economic development that works for all parts of the city.
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McDonnell and Stothert will compete in a nonpartisan blanket primary on April 1, 2025, with the possibility that they will again face each other in the November general election.
Other declared candidates for the mayor’s office in Omaha include Democrats Jasmine Harris and Douglas County Treasurer John Ewing.