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Term limits in the United States

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There are a number of term limits to offices in the United States, which restrict the number of terms an individual can hold a certain office.

Federal term limits

The Amendment XXII, United States Constitution says that no person can be elected President of the United States more than twice. Term limits are a particularly important issue in the United States.

President George Washington originally started the tradition of informal Presidential term limits by refusing to run for a third term. The short-lived Confederate States of America adopted a six-year term for their President and Vice-President, and barred the President from seeking re-election. This innovation was endorsed by many American politicians after the war, most notably by Rutherford B. Hayes in his inaugural address. Hayes' proposal did not come to fruition, but the government of Mexico adopted the Confederate term and limit for its federal President. Franklin Roosevelt was the first and only President to successfully break Washington's tradition, and he died in office while serving his fourth term.

Congressional term limits were featured prominently in the Republican Party's Contract with America in the United States House 1994 election campaign and may well have contributed to the Republicans gaining control of the United States House of Representatives from the Democratic Party for the first time since the United States 1952 elections. The Republican leadership brought to the floor of the House a constitutional amendment that would limit House members to six two-year terms and members of the Senate to two six-year terms. However, this amendment did not gain the approval of U.S. Term Limits, the largest private organization pushing for Congressional term limits. (U.S. Term Limits wanted House members to be limited to three two-year terms.) With the Republicans holding 230 seats in the House, the amendment did receive a simple majority in the House. However, a two-thirds majority (290 votes) is required to pass a constitutional amendment, and thus the bill failed. The concept subsequently lost momentum by the mid 1990s.

In May 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, that states cannot impose term limits upon their U.S. Representatives or U.S. Senators.

Term limits at the federal level are restricted to the executive branch and some agencies. The U.S. Congress, however, remains without electoral limits.

State term limits

Term limits for state governors or others within the state executive branch and other high constitutional offices have existed since the beginning of the United States. One of the first such limits of its kind, the Delaware Constitution of 1776, limited the Governor of Delaware to a single three-year term; the governor of Delaware can now serve two 4-year terms. As of present, 36 states have adopted term limits of various types for their governors. One variation allowed a governor to be re-elected, but only to non-consecutive terms. (To circumvent this provision, George Wallace, the governor of Alabama, announced in 1966 that voters should elect his wife, Lurleen Wallace, their next governor. It was clear during the campaign that Mrs. Wallace would be a governor in name only, and thus she was elected the first female governor of Alabama.)

Beginning in the 1990s, term limit laws were imposed on twenty state legislatures through either successful ballot measures, referenda, legislative acts, or state constitutional changes.

Since 1997, however, six state legislatures have either overturned their own limits or state supreme courts have ruled such limits unconstitutional. In 2002 the Idaho Legislature became the first legislature of its kind to repeal its own term limits, enacted by a public vote in 1994, ostensibly because it applied to local officials along with the legislature.

State legislatures with term limits

States with legislative limits
Legislature Limits in effect Year limits imposed Year limits took effect
Arizona Legislature H: 4 terms (8 years)
S: 4 terms (8 years) 		1992 H: 2000
S: 2000
Arkansas Legislature 12 consecutive years; can return after a four-year break 1992, 2014, modified 2020 H: 1998
S: 2000
California Legislature 12 year cumulative total, in either or both 1990, modified 2012 A: 1996
S: 1998
Colorado Legislature H: 4 terms (8 years)
S: 2 terms (8 years) 		1990 H: 1998
S: 1998
Florida Legislature H: 4 terms (8 years)
S: 2 terms (8 years) 		1992 H: 2000
S: 2000
Louisiana Legislature H: 3 terms (12 years)
S: 3 terms (12 years) 		1995 H: 2007
S: 2007
Maine Legislature H: 4 terms (8 years)
S: 4 terms (8 years) 		1993 H: 1996
S: 1996
Michigan Legislature 12 year cumulative total, in either or both 1992, modified 2022 H: 1998
S: 2002
Missouri Legislature H: 4 terms (8 years)
S: 2 terms (8 years) 		Amendment 13 (1992)
(also see: Amendment 3 (2002) 		H: 2002
S: 2002
Montana Legislature H: 4 terms (8 years)
S: 2 terms (8 years) 		1992 H: 2000
S: 2000
Nebraska Unicameral S: 2 terms (8 years) 2000 S: 2008
Nevada Legislature A: 6 terms (12 years)
S: 3 terms (12 years) 		Initiative passed in 1996, took effect with those elected in 1998 A: 2010
S: 2010
North Dakota Legislature H: 2 terms (8 years)
S: 2 terms (8 years) 		2022 H: 2023
S: 2023
Ohio Legislature H: 4 terms (8 years)
S: 2 terms (8 years) 		1992 H: 2000
S: 2000
Oklahoma Legislature 12 year cumulative total, in either or both 1990 H: 2004
S: 2004
South Dakota Legislature H: 4 terms (8 years)
S: 4 terms (8 years) 		1992 H: 2000
S: 2000

Overturned state legislative term limits

The following six legislatures have had their term limits nullified:

Municipal term limits


As of 2025, nine of the ten largest cities in the United States impose term limits on elected municipal officials, according to U.S. Term Limits, which, according to its website, "advocates for term limits at all levels of government."[1][2]

Ten largest U.S. cities with term limit provisions[1]
City Term limits on mayors Term limits for city council members
New York Two consecutive four-year terms, can return after a four-year break Two consecutive four-year terms, can return after a four-year break
Los Angeles Two consecutive four-year terms Three four-year terms
Houston Two four-year terms Two four-year terms
Phoenix Two consecutive four-year terms Three consecutive four-year terms
Philadelphia Two four-year terms None
San Antonio Two four-year terms Two four-year terms
San Diego Two consecutive four-year terms Two consecutive four-year terms
Dallas Two four-year terms Four two-year terms
San Jose Two consecutive four-year terms Two consecutive four-year terms


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. Term Limits, "Nine Of The Ten Largest U.S. Cities Have Term Limits," accessed March 11, 2025
  2. ↑ U.S. Term Limits, "About U.S. Term Limits," accessed March 13, 2023
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