Are Black Mayors Being Pushed Out of Office?

An article featured in Governing Magazine’s Inside Politics newsletter this week is highlighting a trend to track: three major city mayors stand to lose their jobs in primaries in the coming weeks. All of them are Black, likely to be replaced by white challengers.

“That might be a coincidence,” Alan Greenblatt writes for Governing. “It might also reflect the fact that their elections in 2021 came at a time, after the George Floyd-inspired protests and the nation’s so-called racial reckoning, that concerns about fairness for Black Americans was at a peak. Candidates of color scored historic gains that year; this may be a time of loss.”

The piece digs into nuances surrounding the mayorships, such as the fact that two of the three mayors ran under notably progressive platforms and that Democrats in general are currently retreating from progressive policies overall, especially on issues like public safety and policing. And of course there is the notable exception of Mayor Eric Adams in New York, who is more moderate, but whose mayorship has been plagued by bribery allegations.

“Although their circumstances differ, their races tell us something about the state of politics in 2025, while verifying some eternal truths when it comes to running cities,” Greenblatt writes. Read the full analysis in Governing below.