Nonpartisan elections are currently held every four years, in the year preceding a United States presidential election, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 7, 1874
Silas U. Pinney was re-elected in 1875.
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 4, 1876
William Dyke was elected in both 1969 and 1971
Paul Soglin (a member of the Madison Common Council) won an upset victory over incumbent mayor William Dyke.
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| Primary Election, March 6, 1973
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 3, 1973
Paul Soglin won re-election.
Former mayor Paul Soglin was returned to office in 1989, and was re-elected twice consecutively thereafter.
The 1997 Madison mayoral special election was held February 17 and April 1, 1997, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It was held after the resignation of incumbent mayor Paul Soglin. It saw the election of Susan J. M. Bauman.
The February county and city primaries saw 42,483 ballots cast in Madison, reported as a turnout of 26% (compared to election-eve voter registration).
The April county and city general elections saw 52,619 ballots cast in Madison, reported as a turnout of 32% (compared to election-eve voter registration).
The 1999 Madison mayoral election was held April 9, 1999, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Susan J. M. Bauman.
Since only two candidates ran, no primary was held.
The April county and city general saw 45,248 ballots cast in Madison, reported as a turnout of 31% (compared to election-eve voter registration).
The 2003 Madison mayoral election was held February 20 and April 4, 2003, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the election of Dave Cieslewicz. Incumbent mayor Susan J. M. Bauman was eliminated in the primary.
The 2007 Madison mayoral election was held February 22 and April 5, 2007, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Dave Cieslewicz.
The 2011 Madison mayoral election was held April 4, 2003, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw former mayor Paul Soglin return to the mayoralty by unseating incumbent mayor Dave Cieslewicz.
The primary and general election both coincided with those for a high-profile state supreme court race.
The 2015 Madison mayoral election was held February 17 and April 7, 2015, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Paul Soglin.
The 2019 Madison mayoral election was held February 19 and April 2, 2019, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the election of Satya Rhodes-Conway, who unseated incumbent mayor Paul Soglin. Conway became the second woman and the first openly-gay individual elected mayor in the city's history.
The 2023 Madison mayoral election was held on April 4, 2023, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.
A primary election was held on February 21, 2023, to narrow down the candidates to two. It saw record turnout due to the concurrent primary for the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Satya Rhodes-Conway and Gloria Reyes qualified for the general election, while Scott Kerr was eliminated. Daniel Howell Jr., a write-in candidate, planned on running as a write-in candidate for the general election in addition to the primary.