This is a list of mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico's southern economic center, the island's second largest and second most important city.
Ponce's first mayor was Don Pedro Sánchez de Mathos, in 1692. Ponce elected its first mayor (as well as its first Municipal Assembly) on 20 September 1812. Its first elected mayor was José Ortiz de la Renta, who took office in 1812. Ortiz de la Renta occupied the post of mayor on eight different occasions from 1812 to 1846.
The current mayor of Ponce is María "Mayita" Meléndez Altieri, from the New Progressive Party, elected in 2008. She became the first woman elected to the office of mayor by the people of Ponce in its extensive political history. She is also the first mayor of a party other than the Popular Democratic Party in Ponce since 1989, when Rafael "Churumba" Cordero Santiago won the elections and took the oath of office that same year.
Source: Puerto Rico Encyclopedia
Source: Government of the Municipality of Ponce