First elected in 2006, he served as the mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas, from January 2007 through December 2018.

Stodola won re-election to a second, four-year term in November 2010 by a landslide 84.73 percent of the vote.

Stodola graduated from the Leadership Greater Little Rock, and has also served as Chair of Class 16 for the same program.

He is also a member of the Heights Neighborhood Association and serves as Co-Chair of the Downtown Partnership's Main Street Task Force.

Stodola has made time to serve on the Board of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre and is Past-President of the Quapaw Quarter Association and the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas.