Governor of Michigan | |
---|---|
Government of Michigan | |
Style | Her Excellency The Honorable [1] |
Status | |
Residence | Michigan Governor's Mansion |
Term length | Four years, renewable once |
Precursor | Governor of Michigan Territory |
Inaugural holder | Stevens T. Mason |
Formation | November 3, 1835 |
Deputy | Lieutenant Governor of Michigan |
Salary | $159,300 per year [2] |
Website | Official website |
The governor of Michigan is the head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-elected to serve a second term in 2022. [3] The governor is elected to a four-year term and is limited to two terms.
Governors of Michigan, as well as their lieutenant governors, must be United States citizens who have been qualified electors in Michigan for the four years preceding election and must be at least 30 years of age. [4] A constitutional amendment adopted at the 2010 general election provides that a person is ineligible for any elected office, including governor and lieutenant governor, if convicted of a felony involving dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of the public trust, and if the conviction were related to the person's official capacity while holding any elective office or position of employment in local, state, or federal government. [5]
From statehood until the election of 1966, governors were elected to two-year terms. Elections are held in November, and the governor assumes office the following January, except in the case of death or resignation. From statehood until 1851, elections were held in odd-numbered years. A new state constitution was drafted in 1850 and took effect in 1851. As part of the process bringing the constitution into effect, there was a single one-year term of governor in 1851. Thereafter elections were held in even years.
The constitution adopted in 1963 changed the governor's term to four years, starting in 1967. Since then, gubernatorial elections have been offset by two years between the U.S. presidential elections (e.g., presidential elections were in 2008 and 2012, while gubernatorial elections in that time period were in 2010 and 2014). Gubernatorial elections are held concurrently with state Senate elections. The winner of the gubernatorial election takes office at noon on January 1 of the year following the election.
In 1992, an amendment to the Michigan constitution imposed a lifetime term limit of two four-year terms for the office of governor. Before this, governors were not limited as to how many terms they could serve; John Engler, the governor at the time, served three terms as his first term occurred before the restriction. Engler was reelected in 1994 and 1998 before being term limited in 2002.
The governor has responsibilities to:
The governor appoints the members of the governing boards of 10 of the state's 13 public universities [lower-alpha 1] and department commissions.
Forty-seven people have been governor of the state over forty-nine distinct periods, with two, John S. Barry and Frank Fitzgerald, serving non-consecutive terms. Before statehood, there were five governors of the Michigan Territory. Stevens T. Mason, Michigan's first governor, also served as a territorial governor. He was elected governor at age 23 as a member of the Democratic Party in 1835 and served until 1840. Mason was the youngest state governor in United States history.
Jennifer Granholm became the first female governor of Michigan on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Engler; she served for 8 years, until January 1, 2011.
The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ex officio commander-in-chief of the Oklahoma National Guard when not called into federal use. Despite being an executive branch official, the governor also holds legislative and judicial powers. The governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the Oklahoma Legislature, submitting the annual state budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, and that the peace is preserved. The governor's term is four years in length.
The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the U.S. state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide executive officers, who manage other state government agencies. The governor works out of the Indiana Statehouse and holds official functions at the Indiana Governor's Residence in the state capital of Indianapolis.
The governor of North Dakota is the head of government of North Dakota and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.
The lieutenant governor of North Carolina is the second-highest elected official in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is the only elected official to have powers in both the legislative and executive branches of state government. A member of the North Carolina Council of State, the lieutenant governor serves a four-year term with a two consecutive term limit. The current lieutenant governor is Mark Robinson, a Republican, who has held the office since 2021. The Constitution of North Carolina designates the lieutenant governor the ex officio president of the State Senate and a member of the State Board of Education. They are also required to serve as acting governor of the state in the event of the governor's absence, and assume the governorship in the event it becomes vacant.
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments.
The lieutenant governor and speaker of the Senate of Tennessee is the presiding officer of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from office through impeachment and conviction of the governor of Tennessee.
The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government.
The lieutenant governor of Michigan is the second-ranking official in U.S. state of Michigan, behind the governor.
The lieutenant governor of Oklahoma is the second-highest executive official of the state government of Oklahoma. As first in the gubernatorial line of succession, the lieutenant governor becomes the new governor of Oklahoma upon the death, resignation, or removal of the governor. The lieutenant governor also serves as the president of the Oklahoma Senate, and may cast a vote to break ties in that chamber.
The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.
In the United States, a governor serves as the chief executive and commander-in-chief in each of the fifty states and in the five permanently inhabited territories, functioning as head of state and head of government therein. As such, governors are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. As state leaders, governors advance and pursue new and revised policies and programs using a variety of tools, among them executive orders, executive budgets, and legislative proposals and vetoes. Governors carry out their management and leadership responsibilities and objectives with the support and assistance of department and agency heads, many of whom they are empowered to appoint. A majority of governors have the authority to appoint state court judges as well, in most cases from a list of names submitted by a nominations committee.
The 2002 Michigan gubernatorial election was one of the 36 United States gubernatorial elections held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican Governor John Engler, after serving three terms, was term-limited and was ineligible to run for a fourth term; his lieutenant governor Dick Posthumus, also a Republican, ran in his place. Jennifer Granholm, then Attorney General of Michigan, ran on the Democratic Party ticket. Douglas Campbell ran on the Green Party ticket, and Joseph M. Pilchak ran on the Constitution Party ticket.
The 1986 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 4.
A lieutenant governor is an official in state governments of 45 out of 50 of the United States. In most cases, the lieutenant governor is the highest officer of state after the governor, standing in for that officer when they are absent from the state or temporarily incapacitated. In the event a governor dies, resigns or is removed from office, the lieutenant governor typically becomes governor.
The 2018 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Michigan, concurrently with the election of Michigan's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
Garlin Gilchrist II is an American politician and activist serving as the 64th lieutenant governor of Michigan since 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer ran for re-election to a second term and faced former political commentator Tudor Dixon in the general election. Whitmer defeated Dixon by a margin of 10.6 percentage points, a wider margin than polls indicated as well as a wider margin Whitmer's first victory four years prior. According to Ron Brownstein of CNN in 2023, Whitmer won independent voters by double-digit margins, which contributed to Dixon's defeat.
The 2022 Michigan elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 throughout Michigan. The Democratic Party made historic gains, taking full control of state government for the first time since 1983. Democrats won control of the Michigan House of Representatives for the first time since 2008, and the Michigan Senate for the first time since 1984. Additionally, incumbent Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer won reelection by a comfortable margin, with Democrats sweeping every statewide office. Furthermore, the Democrats maintained control of seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, while the Republican Party took a net loss of one seat. The elections in Michigan were widely characterized as a "blue wave".
The Michigan governor's salary is currently $159,300 per year, a figure set by the State Officers Compensation Commission.