List of Governors of Rhode Island

Governor of Rhode Island
	Seal of the Governor
	Flag of the Governor
	Incumbent; Gina Raimondo ; since January 6, 2015
Style	Governor ; (informal); The Honorable ; (formal);
Status	Head of State ; Head of Government ;
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Nicholas Cooke
Formation	November 7, 1775; (243 years ago)
Deputy	Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
Salary	$128,210 (2013) [1]
Website	governor.ri.gov

Last updated May 04, 2019

The Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is the head of the executive branch of the Government of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the State's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Gina Raimondo.

The government of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is prescribed from a multitude of sources; the main sources are the Rhode Island Constitution, the General Laws, and executive orders. The governmental structure is modeled on the Government of the United States in having three branches: executive, legislative,and judicial.

The Rhode Island Army National Guard (RIARNG) is the land force militia for the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It operates under Title 10 and Title 32 of the United States Code and operates under the command of the state governor while not in federal service. National Guard units may function under arms in a state status, therefore they may be called up for active duty by the governor to help respond to domestic emergencies and disasters, such as those caused by hurricanes, floods, or civil unrest.

The Rhode Island Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Rhode Island, United States of America. It is, along with the Rhode Island Army National Guard, an element of the Rhode Island National Guard.

Party affiliation

Number of Governors of Rhode Island by party affiliation^[2]
Party	Governors
Republican	32
Democratic	21
Democratic-Republican	4
Independent	4
Whig	4
Country	3
Law and Order	2
Dorr Rebellion	1
Federalist	1
Know Nothing	1
Rhode Island Party	1

Colonial Rhode Island, 1640–1775

List of Governors of Rhode Island, 1775–present

Parties

Country Democratic Federalist Democratic-Republican Dorr Rebellion No party Whig Law and Order Republican Know Nothing Rhode Island Party

The Country Party was a political party in Rhode Island in the Confederation and early Federal periods, from about March 1781 until the death in office of its leader, Governor Arthur Fenner, in October 1805. At its peak of influence, it controlled the Rhode Island General Assembly and dominated state politics from 1785 to 1790. A stridently Anti-Federalist party, it was instrumental in resisting ratification of the Constitution and was the organized vehicle for political expression of popular views that led to Rhode Island both disrupting consensus among states under the Articles of Confederation and being the last of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution.

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.

The Federalist Party, referred to as the Pro-Administration party until the 3rd United States Congress as opposed to their opponents in the Anti-Administration party, was the first American political party. It existed from the early 1790s to the 1820s, with their last presidential candidate being fielded in 1816. They appealed to business and to conservatives who favored banks, national over state government, manufacturing, and preferred Britain and opposed the French Revolution.

#	Governor	Party	Took office	Left office	Lt. Governor	Notes
1	Nicholas Cooke	None	November 7, 1775	May 4, 1778	None	2 years 6 mos.
2	William Greene	None	May 4, 1778	May 3, 1786	None	8 years.
3	John Collins	None	May 3, 1786	May 5, 1790	None	4 years.
4	Arthur Fenner	Country Party	May 5, 1790	October 15, 1805	Samuel J. Potter	15 years. Rhode Island ratified the U.S. Constitution on May 29, 1790. Died in office.
5	Henry Smith	Country	October 15, 1805	May 7, 1806		7 months.
6	Isaac Wilbour	Country	May 7, 1806	May 6, 1807	Himself	1 year.
7	James Fenner	Democratic-Republican	May 6, 1807	May 1, 1811	Constant Taber Simeon Martin Isaac Wilbour	4 years.
8	William Jones	Federalist	May 1, 1811	May 7, 1817	Simeon Martin Jeremiah Thurston	6 years.
9	Nehemiah R. Knight	Democratic-Republican	May 7, 1817	May 2, 1821	Edward Wilcox	4 years.
10	William C. Gibbs	Democratic-Republican	May 2, 1821	May 5, 1824		3 years.
11	James Fenner	Democratic-Republican	May 5, 1824	May 4, 1831	Charles Collins	7 years.
12	Lemuel H. Arnold	National Republican	May 4, 1831	May 1, 1833	Charles Collins	2 years.
13	John B. Francis	Democratic	May 1, 1833	May 2, 1838	Jeffrey Hazard George Engs Jeffrey Hazard Benjamin B. Thurston	5 years.
14	William Sprague III	Whig	May 2, 1838	May 2, 1839	Joseph Childs	1 year.
15	Samuel Ward King	Rhode Island Party	May 2, 1839	May 2, 1843	Byron Diman	4 years.
16	Thomas Dorr	Extralegal Dorr Rebellion	May 1, 1842	January 23, 1843		9 mos.
17	James Fenner	Law and Order	May 2, 1843	May 6, 1845	Byron Diman	2 years.
18	Charles Jackson	Whig,^[3] Liberation Party^[4]	May 6, 1845	May 6, 1846	Byron Diman	1 year.
19	Byron Diman	Law and Order	May 6, 1846	May 4, 1847	Elisha Harris	1 year.
20	Elisha Harris	Whig	May 4, 1847	May 1, 1849	Edward W. Lawton	2 years.
21	Henry B. Anthony	Whig	May 1, 1849	May 6, 1851	Thomas Whipple	2 years.
22	Philip Allen	Democratic	May 6, 1851	July 20, 1853	William Beach Lawrence Samuel G. Arnold	2 years 2 mos.
23	Francis M. Dimond	Democratic	July 20, 1853	May 2, 1854	Francis M. Dimond	10 mos.
24	William W. Hoppin	Whig	May 2, 1854	May 26, 1857	John J. Reynolds Anderson C. Rose Nicholas Brown III	3 years.
25	Elisha Dyer	Republican	May 26, 1857	May 31, 1859	Thomas G. Turner	2 years.
26	Thomas G. Turner	Republican	May 31, 1859	May 29, 1860	Isaac Saunders	1 year.
27	William Sprague IV	Republican	May 29, 1860	March 3, 1863	J. Russell Bullock Samuel G. Arnold	2 years 10 mos. Resigned to become a U.S. Senator.
28	William C. Cozzens	Democratic	March 3, 1863	May 26, 1863	None.	2 months 23 days. Defeated for election.
29	James Y. Smith	Republican	May 26, 1863	May 29, 1866	Seth Padelford Duncan Pell	3 years.
30	Ambrose Everett Burnside	Republican	May 29, 1866	May 25, 1869	William Greene Pardon Stevens	3 years.
31	Seth Padelford	Republican	May 25, 1869	May 27, 1873	Pardon Stevens Charles Cutler	4 years.
32	Henry Howard	Republican	May 27, 1873	May 25, 1875	Charles C. Van Zandt	2 years.
33	Henry Lippitt	Republican	May 25, 1875	May 29, 1877	Henry Tillinghast Sisson	2 years.
34	Charles C. Van Zandt	Republican	May 29, 1877	May 25, 1880	Albert Howard	3 years.
35	Alfred H. Littlefield	Republican	May 25, 1880	May 29, 1883	Henry Fay	3 years.
36	Augustus O. Bourn	Republican	May 29, 1883	May 26, 1885	Oscar Rathbun	2 years.
37	George P. Wetmore	Republican	May 26, 1885	May 29, 1887	Lucius B. Darling	2 years.
38	John W. Davis	Democratic	May 29, 1887	May 29, 1888	Samuel R. Honey	1 year.
39	Royal C. Taft	Republican	May 29, 1888	May 28, 1889	Enos Lapham	1 year.
40	Herbert W. Ladd	Republican	May 28, 1889	May 27, 1890	Daniel Littlefield	1 year.
41	John W. Davis	Democratic	May 27, 1890	May 26, 1891	William T. C. Wardwell	1 year.
42	Herbert W. Ladd	Republican	May 26, 1891	May 31, 1892	Henry A. Stearns	1 year.
43	D. Russell Brown	Republican	May 31, 1892	May 29, 1895	Melville Bull Edwin Allen	3 years.
44	Charles W. Lippitt	Republican	May 29, 1895	May 25, 1897	Edwin Allen	2 years.
45	Elisha Dyer, Jr.	Republican	May 25, 1897	May 29, 1900	Aram J. Pothier William Gregory	3 years.
46	William Gregory	Republican	May 29, 1900	December 16, 1901	Charles D. Kimball	1 year 7 mos. Died in office.
47	Charles D. Kimball	Republican	December 16, 1901	January 3, 1903	vacant George L. Shepley	1 year 18 days.
48	Lucius F. C. Garvin	Democratic	January 3, 1903	January 3, 1905	Frederick H. Jackson	2 years.
49	George H. Utter	Republican	January 3, 1905	January 1, 1907	Frederick H. Jackson	2 years.
50	James H. Higgins	Democratic	January 1, 1907	January 5, 1909	Frederick H. Jackson Ralph Watrous	2 years.
51	Aram J. Pothier	Republican	January 5, 1909	January 5, 1915	Arthur W. Dennis Rosewell Burchard Emery J. San Souci Rosewell Burchard	6 years,
52	R. Livingston Beeckman	Republican	January 5, 1915	January 4, 1921	Emery J. San Souci	6 years.
53	Emery J. San Souci	Republican	January 4, 1921	January 2, 1923	Harold Gross	2 years.
54	William S. Flynn	Democratic	January 2, 1923	January 6, 1925	Felix A. Toupin	2 years.
55	Aram J. Pothier	Republican	January 6, 1925	February 4, 1928	Nathaniel W. Smith Norman S. Case	3 years 1 month.
56	Norman S. Case	Republican	February 4, 1928	January 3, 1933	James G. Connelly	4 years 11 months.
57	Theodore Francis Green	Democratic	January 3, 1933	January 5, 1937	Robert E. Quinn	4 years. Elected to U.S. Senate in 1936 and served from 1937 to 1961.
58	Robert E. Quinn	Democratic	January 5, 1937	January 3, 1939	Raymond E. Jordan	2 years.
59	William Henry Vanderbilt III	Republican	January 3, 1939	January 7, 1941	James O. McManus	Two years. Defeated for re-election.
60	J. Howard McGrath	Democratic	January 7, 1941	October 6, 1945	Louis W. Cappelli	4 years 9 months. Resigned to become United States Solicitor General.
61	John Pastore	Democratic	October 6, 1945	December 19, 1950	John S. McKiernan	5 years two months. Appointed to U.S. Senate and served from 1950 to 1976.
62	John S. McKiernan	Democratic	December 19, 1950	January 2, 1951	None	Two weeks.
63	Dennis J. Roberts	Democratic	January 2, 1951	January 6, 1959	John S. McKiernan Armand H. Cote	8 years.
64	Christopher Del Sesto	Republican	January 6, 1959	January 3, 1961	John A. Notte, Jr.	2 years. Defeated for re-election.
65	John A. Notte, Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1961	January 1, 1963	Edward P. Gallogly	2 years.
66	John Chafee	Republican	January 1, 1963	January 7, 1969	Edward P. Gallogly Giovanni Folcarelli Joseph O'Donnell, Jr.	6 years. Defeated for re-election. U.S. Senator 1976 to 1999.
67	Frank Licht	Democratic	January 7, 1969	January 2, 1973	J. Joseph Garrahy	4 years.
68	Philip W. Noel	Democratic	January 2, 1973	January 4, 1977	J. Joseph Garrahy
69	J. Joseph Garrahy	Democratic	January 4, 1977	January 1, 1985	Thomas R. DiLuglio	8 years.
70	Edward D. DiPrete	Republican	January 1, 1985	January 1, 1991	Richard A. Licht Roger N. Begin	6 years. Defeated for re-election. Imprisoned for corruption after leaving office.
71	Bruce Sundlun	Democratic	January 1, 1991	January 3, 1995	Roger N. Begin Robert Weygand	4 years. Defeated in Democratic primary in 1994.
72	Lincoln Almond	Republican	January 3, 1995	January 7, 2003	Robert Weygand Bernard Jackvony Charles J. Fogarty	8 years. First governor to serve a four-year term.
73	Donald Carcieri	Republican	January 7, 2003	January 4, 2011	Charles J. Fogarty Elizabeth H. Roberts
74	Lincoln Chafee	Independent^[a]	January 4, 2011	May 30, 2013	Elizabeth H. Roberts	4 years. Did not seek re-election.
74	Lincoln Chafee	Democratic^[a]	May 30, 2013	January 6, 2015	Elizabeth H. Roberts	4 years. Did not seek re-election.
75	Gina Raimondo	Democratic	January 6, 2015	Incumbent	Daniel McKee	^[5]

^a Chafee served in prior offices as a Republican, but ran for Governor as an independent. On May 30, 2013, while in office, he switched his party affiliation to Democratic.^[6]

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, and other governorships held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Rhode Island except where noted. * Denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
Governor	Gubernatorial term	House	Senate	Other offices held
Isaac Wilbour	1806–1807	H
James Fenner	1807–1811 1824–1831 1843–1845		S
Nehemiah R. Knight	1817–1821		S
Lemuel H. Arnold	1831–1833	H
John Brown Francis	1833–1838		S
William Sprague III	1838–1839	H	S
Henry B. Anthony	1849–1851		S
Philip Allen	1851–1853		S*
William Sprague IV	1860–1863		S
Ambrose Burnside	1866–1869		S	Commander of the Army of the Potomac
George P. Wetmore	1885–1887		S
George H. Utter	1905–1907	H
Theodore F. Green	1933–1937		S
J. Howard McGrath	1941–1945		S	United States Solicitor General*; United States Attorney General
John O. Pastore	1945–1950		S*	Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
John Chafee	1963–1969		S	United States Secretary of the Navy
Lincoln Chafee	2011–2015		S	Mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island

Living former governors of Rhode Island

As of January 2017^[update], there are five former governors of Rhode Island who are currently living at this time, the oldest governor of Rhode Island being Philip W. Noel (served 1973–1977, born 1931). The most recent governor of Rhode Island to die was J. Joseph Garrahy (served 1977–1985, born 1930) who died on January 24, 2012. The most recently serving governor of Rhode Island to die was Bruce Sundlun (served 1991–1995, born 1920), on July 21, 2011.

Philip William Noel is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 68th Governor of Rhode Island. He was elected in 1972, and re-elected in 1974.

John Joseph Garrahy, known to Rhode Islanders as J. Joseph Garrahy or just "Joe", was an American politician. He served as the 69th Governor of Rhode Island from 1977 to 1985.

Bruce Sundlun was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as 71st Governor of Rhode Island between 1991 and 1995.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
Philip W. Noel	1973–1977	(1931-01-06) January 6, 1931 (age 88)
Edward D. DiPrete	1985–1991	(1934-07-08) July 8, 1934 (age 84)
Lincoln C. Almond	1995–2003	(1936-06-16) June 16, 1936 (age 82)
Donald Carcieri	2003–2011	(1942-12-16) December 16, 1942 (age 76)
Lincoln Chafee	2011–2015	(1953-03-26) March 26, 1953 (age 66)

Related Research Articles

The Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is the head of the executive branch of the Government of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the State's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Gina Raimondo.

Lincoln Davenport Chafee is an American politician from the state of Rhode Island. He was mayor of Warwick from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He has been a member of the Democratic Party since 2013, having previously been a Republican until 2007 and an independent in the interim.

John Lester Hubbard Chafee was an American politician. He served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, as the Secretary of the Navy, and as a United States Senator.

The 2006 United States Senate election in Rhode Island was held November 7, 2006. The election was won by Sheldon Whitehouse whose term in the United States Senate ran from January 3, 2007, to January 3, 2013. He was reelected in 2012 and will serve until January 3, 2019. Republican Lincoln Chafee was seeking re-election to the seat he had held since 1999, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of his father John Chafee. Lincoln Chafee won election to the seat in 2000.

Charles Joseph Fogarty, Jr., also known as Charlie Fogarty was the 67th lieutenant governor of the U.S. State of Rhode Island. He is a Democrat. Fogarty served two full terms as lieutenant governor, first elected to the position in 1998 and leaving office on January 2, 2007.

William Smith Flynn of Providence, Rhode Island was the 54th Governor of Rhode Island from 1923 to 1925. He was a progressive Democrat.

The Rhode Island Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Rhode Island.

John Anthony Notte Jr. was an American politician, a Democrat, best known for serving as the 65th Governor of Rhode Island.

Christopher Del Sesto was a United States politician and a member of the Republican Party, who served as 64th Governor of Rhode Island. When he became governor in 1958, Del Sesto was the first Republican chief executive to be chosen by Rhode Island voters in 20 years.

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Rhode Island:

Since the Great Depression, Rhode Island politics have been dominated by the Rhode Island Democratic Party. However, the Rhode Island Republican Party, although virtually non-existent in the Rhode Island General Assembly, occasionally puts forward occasional statewide reform candidates. Former Governor Donald Carcieri of East Greenwich, and former Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci of Providence ran successfully as Republican reform candidates.

Gina Marie Raimondo is an American politician and venture capitalist serving as the 75th Governor of Rhode Island since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman to serve as Governor of Rhode Island. Prior to her election, she served as General Treasurer of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015 and was the second woman to hold the office. She was selected as the Democratic candidate for Rhode Island's governorship in the 2014 election. Raimondo won the election with 41% of the vote, in a three-way race, against the Mayor of Cranston, Republican Allan Fung, and businessman Robert Healey, on November 4, 2014.

The 2014 Rhode Island gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Rhode Island, concurrently with the election of Rhode Island's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Kenneth J. "Ken" Block is an American businessman, software engineer, and political reformer. He is the founder of the Moderate Party of Rhode Island, the state's third-largest political party, and ran as the Moderate candidate for Governor of Rhode Island in the 2010 election.

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Rhode Island on November 4, 2014. All of Rhode Island's executive officers went up for election as well as a United States Senate seat and both of Rhode Island's two seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections were held on September 9, 2014.

The 2016 presidential campaign of Lincoln Chafee, the 74th Governor of Rhode Island, and former United States Senator from Rhode Island, was formally launched on June 3, 2015. His campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election was his first campaign as a Democrat, after having previously been elected senator as a Republican, and governor as an independent. He received zero votes either formally or by write-in, meaning he got the fewest votes of any major party candidate in the Democratic or Republican Primaries 2016.

The 2018 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Governor of Rhode Island, concurrently with the election of Rhode Island's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

References

↑ "CSG Releases 2013 Governor Salaries". The Council of State Governments. June 25, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
↑ Table does not include governors from the colonial period, when there were no organized parties in Rhode Island, and governors were generally appointed rather than elected. It also does not include acting governors.
↑ "Rhode Island Governor Charles Jackson". National Governors Association. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
↑ "Rhode Island Governors 1640 – Present". Rhode Island Secretary of State. State of Rhode Island. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
↑ Raimondo's second term began January 6, 2019, and expires January 3, 2023; she is term limited.
↑ Burns, Alexander (May 29, 2013). "Lincoln Chafee switches affiliation to Democrat". Politico. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-30.

External Links

Governor of Rhode Island: Proclamations Issued from the Rhode Island State Archives
Guide to the Office of the Governor Executive Orders from the Rhode Island State Archives
Guide to the Tavares Collection from the Rhode Island State Archives

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "CSG Releases 2013 Governor Salaries". The Council of State Governments. June 25, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2014.

[2] Table does not include governors from the colonial period, when there were no organized parties in Rhode Island, and governors were generally appointed rather than elected. It also does not include acting governors.

[3] "Rhode Island Governor Charles Jackson". National Governors Association. Retrieved 25 March 2015.

[4] "Rhode Island Governors 1640 – Present". Rhode Island Secretary of State. State of Rhode Island. Retrieved 25 March 2015.

[5] Raimondo's second term began January 6, 2019, and expires January 3, 2023; she is term limited.

[6] Burns, Alexander (May 29, 2013). "Lincoln Chafee switches affiliation to Democrat". Politico. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-30.

[a]

v t e Chief executives of the United States
Federal	President of the United States
State governors (current list)	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California list Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii list Idaho Illinois list Indiana list Iowa list Kansas Kentucky list Louisiana Maine list Maryland list Massachusetts Michigan list Minnesota list Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska list Nevada New Hampshire list New Jersey list New Mexico list New York list North Carolina list North Dakota list Ohio Oklahoma list Oregon list Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina list South Dakota list Tennessee list Texas list Utah Vermont list Virginia list Washington West Virginia Wisconsin list Wyoming
Territorial (current list)	American Samoa District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico list United States Virgin Islands
Defunct	Pre-state territories Panama Canal Zone Cuba Santo Domingo Philippine Islands (until 1935) Philippine Commonwealth (until 1946) Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

v t e State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Providence (capital)
Topics	Index Buildings and structures Colonial Colleges Communications Delegations Geography Government History Images Narragansett people People State symbols Thirteen Colonies Visitor attractions Quahog
Society	Crime Culture Demographics Economy Education Politics
Regions	Counties Bristol Kent Newport Providence Washington Geographic Blackstone Valley Block Island Historic Regions Rhode Island Providence Plantations
Cities	Central Falls Cranston East Providence Newport Pawtucket Providence Warwick Woonsocket
Towns	Barrington Bristol Burrillville Charlestown Coventry Cumberland East Greenwich Exeter Foster Glocester Hopkinton Jamestown Johnston Lincoln Little Compton Middletown Narragansett New Shoreham (Block Island) North Kingstown North Providence North Smithfield Portsmouth Richmond Scituate Smithfield South Kingstown Tiverton Warren West Greenwich West Warwick Westerly