About the Mayor
The mayor is elected by constituents for a four-year term. The primary role of the mayor is to serve as the head of the municipality and act as a leader within the community. The mayor works with municipal officials and other leaders to provide vision and direction for the community, ensure the municipality's financial security, and maintain essential services.
Duluth has a Mayor-Council, or strong mayor form of government, with the city administration making policy proposals to a nine-member city council. The mayor’s duties are both administrative and legislative under this system.
The mayor is Roger J. Reinert. His term began in January 2024. His office is located in City Hall, Room 422.
Roger Reinert took office as the 40th Mayor of the City of Duluth in January 2024. He brought to the office relevant experience from the private, public, and military sectors.
Mayor Reinert is a licensed attorney; prior to taking office he provided legal and consulting work focused on local units of government and local elected leaders. He also spent 18 years teaching undergraduate political science and legal courses, and graduate public policy classes. He most recently taught at the College of St. Scholastica where he was adjunct faculty for both the Stender School of Business and Department of Political Science at the College of St. Scholastica. In addition to his Juris Doctorate, he holds Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees.
Prior to being elected mayor, Roger also served six years in the Minnesota Senate representing District 7, which covered nearly all of Duluth. Before that he served two years in the Minnesota House of Representatives for the House district representing the western half of the city. He also served five years on the Duluth City Council and was twice elected City Council President.
Reinert is also an actively serving Navy Reservist and holds the rank of Commander. He is currently assigned as the Executive Officer for the Chief of Naval Information’s reserve unit. He completed a one-year combat deployment to Afghanistan in 2019 in support of Operation Resolute Support and was deployed again in 2020 to Italy where he led a COVID Crisis Action Team. Reinert recently earned a Masters in Strategic Studies through the Army War College.
Upon his return home, Reinert was asked to serve as the Interim Executive Director at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center for 2020 and 2021. In the role, he provided strategic direction, management, and fiscal oversight to an organization with a $12M budget, and 500 employees. Under his leadership this significant regional asset survived the COVID pandemic.
Roger makes his home in Duluth's Observation Hill neighborhood. He is a sailor, avid runner, and licensed pilot.
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