1967 Cleveland mayoral election

1967 Cleveland mayoral election

November 7, 1967
 
Nominee Carl Stokes Seth Taft
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 129,318 127,467
Percentage 50.36% 49.64%

Mayor before election

Ralph S. Locher
Democratic

Elected mayor

Carl Stokes
Democratic

The Cleveland mayoral election of 1967 saw the election of Carl Stokes.

Stokes was the first elected African American mayor of a major American city (Cleveland was, at the time, the ninth largest city in the United States). His election came alongside the election of Richard G. Hatcher in the 1967 Gary, Indiana, mayoral election. Together, these were the first elections of African-Americans as mayors of cities over 100,000. Stoke's election came in a city which was, at the time, 68% white.