Michigan Is Home to The Longest Serving Mayor In The US

Turnover in politics isn't anything new. Congressional and presidential elections happen every four years, and congressional elections take place every two years. It's the backbone of how our country has worked for most of its history. But if there's anything us Michiganders know, it's that there is one place that functions quite differently from the rest.

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Mackinac Island is Michigan's premier travel destination and unique in a variety of ways - from its lack of cars to how it is governed. The island's small population is still run by a single mayor, the same one who has been in office for over 50 years. Margaret Doud's decades-long tenure as mayor is the longest in the United States.

Margaret Doud's Historic Run As Mayor

Margaret Doud never intended to run for mayor, yet after filling in for another council member who was retiring, she was persuaded to run. That fateful victory back in April 1975 marked the start of a decades-long mayoral term. She was 30 years old at the time and the first woman to be named mayor; she is now 80 and remains active on the island.

READ MORE: 66 Years Ago, A Man Flew An Airplane UNDER The Mackinac Bridge

What is truly remarkable about this feat is that, unlike the rest of the country, Mackinac Island holds an election every year. This means that the ~500 full-time residents on the island have voted to keep her in office ever since 1975, a 5-decade streak. Aside from a brief college stint in Mount Pleasant, Mayor Doud has lived on the island her whole life.

Even if Margaret hadn't been mayor for 50 years, she would still be a fixture on the island. The Doud family has lived on the island for generations and has run the iconic Windermere Hotel since 1904. She took over operations of the hotel in 1975, the same year she became mayor, and has done double-duty ever since.

Even today, it's common to find her behind the front desk of the hotel. While she isn't the longest-serving mayor in US history (that title goes to Hilmar Moore of Texas, who served 63 years), her enigma of a term is just another reason Mackinac Island is one of the