Governor

State Executive Offices

Governor • Lt. Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Schools • Insurance Commissioner • Controller • Agriculture Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Services Commissioner

Elections by Year

2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010

In the United States, the title "governor" refers to the chief executive of each state, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state. The governor may also assume additional roles, such as the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard (when not federalized), and the ability to commute or pardon a criminal sentence.

In all states, the governor is directly elected, and in most cases has considerable practical powers (notable exceptions with very weak governorships include Texas), though this may be moderated by the state legislature and in some cases by other elected executive officials. They can veto state bills. The specific duties and powers vary widely between states.

Quick facts about Governors
Of the 50 sitting governors, 19 are Democratic, 30 are Republican, and 1 is Independent- Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee. 36 states hold gubernatorial elections during midterm election years (e.g. 2010, 2014...) Rick Perry is the longest-current serving governor in the United States. He has been Governor of Texas since 2000. Salary Range: Maine $70,000 - Pennsylvania $183,255

Political parties

The chart below is a breakdown of the political parties pertaining to the state executive office of governor. For other state executive offices, click here.

Office	Democratic	Republican	Independent	Nonpartisan	Total seats
Governor	19	30	1	0	50
Counts current as of May 2013. If you see an error, please email us

Term limits

Main article: State executives with term limits and States with gubernatorial term limits

In 36 states, governors are subject to some type of term limits. Though many of these term limits are initially set by state constitutions, there are a growing number of ballot initiatives to change, and in some cases create, term limits.

Governors serve four-year terms except those in New Hampshire and Vermont, who serve two-year terms.

Fourteen states do not have any limits on the number of terms a governor may serve. These states include:

Connecticut Idaho

Illinois Iowa

Massachusetts Minnesota

New Hampshire New York

North Dakota Texas

Utah Vermont

Washington Wisconsin

Vacancies

Main article: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled

Each state has some constitutionally prescribed method for filling vacancies in the office of governor. In the 44 states with a distinct lieutenant governor, that individual is the first in the line of succession, with the notable exception of Arkansas. Whether additional offices in the line of succession are named in the constitution or by statute varies among states.

Among those states without a traditional lieutenant governor, the primary successor to the governor varies. Officers first in line to succeed the governor in case of a vacancy are:

• The president of the state senate in three states (Maine, West Virginia*, Arkansas, Tennessee*).
• The secretary of state in two other states (Arizona, Oregon, and Wyoming).

*In Tennessee and West Virginia, the lieutenant governor is also speaker of the State Senate. The officer serving in this dual role is first in the line of succession to the office of governor. Unlike most states, the lieutenant governors of Tennessee and West Virginia are not elected by voters but instead selected by the Tennessee General Assembly and West Virginia House of Representatives, respectively.

Overall, the constitutional rules for who comes second in line for the governor's seat are much more complex than that of first in line. Common second-in-lines include:

• The President of the Senate (Pro Tempore)
• The Speaker of the House
• The Secretary of State

However, 7 states leave the decision specifically law and another 7 states decline any mention. This map shows who is a generalized version of who is second in line to fill vacancies in the office of governor in each state according to state constitutions.

For more details regarding how gubernatorial vacancies are filled, click here.

Elected vs. Appointed

Governors are directly elected in all 50 states.

The office of the Governor is a constitutionally mandated office in all states. It is additionally statewide, directly elected, and part of the Executive branch in all 50 states.

There are limited cases when the position is filled by someone who was not elected:

• Acting Governor: This term, not used in all states, applies to someone serving as governor who was not elected. When used, it applies to someone, often the Lieutenant Governor, temporarily discharging the office due to the short-term inability of the Governor to do so. Usually, if the elected Governor's inability to serve is permanent, her replacement will simply be addressed as 'Governor'.

• Governor-designate: This term is rarely in use. It applies when there is a planned or anticipated vacancy in the governorship. For instance, in 2010, North Dakota's elected Governor, John Hoeven, won a U.S. Senate seat. As 2010 was not a gubernatorial election year for North Dakota, when Hoeven won his race and prepared to leave the Governor's office, he had to make an appointment to fulfill the gubernatorial term. Hoeven named his Lieutenant Governor, Jack Dalrymple, who had the title of Governor-designate from Election Night 2010 until he actually took the gubernatorial Oath of Office the following month.

• Governor-elect: This term applies to an elected governor who has not yet taken the oath of office. Governors-elect do not yet have any of the powers or duties of the office, though they may be accorded some of the privileges and honors in anticipation of their taking office.

Election history

2012

Main article: State executive official elections, 2012

Eleven states held regularly scheduled gubernatorial elections in the 2012 electoral cycle: Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) faced a recall election on June 5, 2012, which he won.

Heading into the November election, Democrats held 8 of the seats and the Republicans held 3 seats. Six incumbents sought re-election, 3 retired and 2 were term-limited. Of the 6 who ran, 4 were Democrats and 2 were Republicans.

The only party switch took place in North Carolina, where Lt. Governor Walter Dalton (D) lost to Pat McCrory (R). As of December 2012, the number of Democratic governors in the country was at its lowest since 2001. After the November 2012 election, there were 29 Republican governors and 20 Democratic, with one Independent.

2011

Main article: Gubernatorial elections, 2011

Three states, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, had regularly scheduled gubernatorial elections in the 2011 electoral cycle. A fourth state, West Virginia, held a special election following a court order.

In Kentucky and Louisiana, incumbents Steve Beshear (D - Kentucky) and Bobby Jindal (R - Louisiana) won re-election. Mississippi's Haley Barbour was prevented by term limits from running for re-election and his lieutenant governor, Republican Phil Bryant, won election as his successor. In West Virginia, acting Governor pro tem Earl Ray Tomblin won a special election to a 14-month term.

2010

Main article: Gubernatorial elections, 2010

Thirty-seven gubernatorial elections took place on November 2, 2010. That added up to the largest block of states to choose governors in a single election year. Leading immediately into the 2011 Congressional reapportionment, the gubernatorial races became intensely contested. Four states that make up almost one-fourth of the entire U.S. House of Representatives - California, Florida, Texas, and New York were all in play.

In 15 of the seats up for election, the incumbent could not run again because of term limits, leaving 22 seats guaranteed to be open to non-incumbents. Of the incumbent but limited-out governors, 8 were Democratic and 7, Republican. When incumbents did choose to run, the primaries were good to them. Only in Nevada did an incumbent seeing re-election lose his own party's primary. (One of the term-limited governors, Dave Freudenthal in Wyoming, at one point indicated he planned to challenge his state's term limits law; while he did win his legal battle to have the state's term limits invalidated, he eventually declined to run for a third term.)

1992-2013

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta". A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's voters elect the same party to the Office of Governor as they do to control of the state's two legislative chambers.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we are exploring these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

Part 1: Partisanship

The trifecta analysis over this period shows a notable trend toward one-party control of state governments. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 states had trifectas while 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas hold sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years we studied. The number of states with trifectas doubled between 1992 and 2013.

The trifecta analysis also allowed us to identify seven states that have experienced dramatic changes in partisan state government control from the first 11 years of the study to the last 11 years of the study. Studying the partisan composition of state governments as we do also allows a clean way to assess whether a state is "moving red" or "moving blue".

Visualizations

Legend for State government trifecta visualization -- Figures 10 and 11

Figure 10: Visualization of Trifectas from 1992-2013 -- Alabama-Missouri

Figure 11: Visualization of Trifectas from 1992-2013 -- Montana-Wyoming

Legend for State government visualization with Presidential Voting -- Figures 19 and 20

Figure 19: Visualization of State Partisanship (with Presidential voting) from 1992-2013 -- Alabama-Missouri

Figure 20: Visualization of State Partisanship (with Presidential voting) from 1992-2013 -- Montana-Wyoming

Infographic

Infographic of Partisanship Results
This infographic was created by Attwood Digital

See also

• State executive offices
• Gubernatorial elections, 2012
• Gubernatorial elections, 2014
• States with gubernatorial term limits

External links

• National Governors Association
• Democratic Governors Association
• Republican Governors Association