List of Governors of Virginia

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The following is a list of the Governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor is the head of the executive branch of Virginia's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Virginia General Assembly, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment. ^[1]

The first Constitution of 1776 created the office of Governor, to be elected annually by the Virginia State Legislature. The Governor could serve up to three years at a time, and once out of office, could not serve again for four years. ^[2] The 1830 constitution changed the thrice renewable one-year term length to a non-renewable three-year term, and set the start date at the first day in January following an election. ^[3] This constitution also prevented governors from succeeding themselves, a prohibition that exists to the present day. ^[4] The 1851 Constitution increased terms to four years ^[5] and made the office elected by the people, rather than the legislature. ^[6] The commencement of the Governor's term was moved to the first day in February by the 1902 Constitution, ^[7] and then to the Saturday after the second Wednesday in January by the 1971 and current Constitution. ^[8]

If the office of governor is vacant due to disqualification, death, or resignation, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia becomes Governor. ^[9] The office of Lieutenant Governor was created in 1851. ^[10] Prior to that a Council of State existed; it chose from among its members a President who would be "Lieutenant-Governor" and would act as governor when there was a vacancy in that office. ^{[2] [11]}

Officially, there have been 73 Governors of Virginia; the Acting Governors are not counted.

Colonial Governors

Main article: List of colonial governors of Virginia

President of the Committee for Public Safety

Parties

   No party

#	Picture	President	Took office	Left office	Party
1		Edmund Pendleton	August 16, 1775	July 5, 1776	None

List of Governors

Parties

   Democratic    Federalist    Democratic-Republican    Whig    Republican    Independent

#	Picture	Governor	Took office	Left office	Lieutenant Governor	Party	Notes
1		Patrick Henry	July 5, 1776	June 1, 1779	Office Blank 1776-1852	None	First under 1776 Constitution (limit of 3 one-year terms)
2		Thomas Jefferson	June 1, 1779	June 3, 1781		None	3rd President of the United States
3		William Fleming	June 3, 1781	June 12, 1781		None
4		Thomas Nelson, Jr.	June 12, 1781	November 22, 1781		None
–		David Jameson	November 22, 1781	December 1, 1781		None	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
5		Benjamin Harrison V	December 1, 1781	December 1, 1784		None
6		Patrick Henry	December 1, 1784	December 1, 1786		None	Re-elected after 5-year hiatus (1 more than constitutional minimum)
7		Edmund Randolph	December 1, 1786	December 1, 1788		None	First under U.S. statehood
8		Beverley Randolph	December 1, 1788	December 1, 1791		None
9		Henry Lee III	December 1, 1791	December 1, 1794		Federalist
10		Robert Brooke	December 1, 1794	December 1, 1796		Democratic-Republican
11		James Wood	December 1, 1796	December 1, 1799		Federalist
–		Hardin Burnley	December 7, 1799	December 11, 1799
–		John Pendleton, Jr.	December 11, 1799	December 19, 1799
12		James Monroe	December 19, 1799	December 1, 1802		Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1790–1794, fifth President of the United States
13		John Page	December 1, 1802	December 7, 1805		Democratic-Republican
14		William H. Cabell	December 7, 1805	December 1, 1808		Democratic-Republican
15		John Tyler, Sr.	December 1, 1808	January 15, 1811		Democratic-Republican
—		George William Smith	January 15, 1811	January 19, 1811		Democratic-Republican	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
16		James Monroe	January 19, 1811	April 3, 1811		Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1790–94, Fifth President of the United States
17		George William Smith	April 3, 1811	December 26, 1811		Democratic-Republican	Acting Governor (member of Council of State) Later elected in his own right Died in office
N/A		Peyton Randolph	December 27, 1811	January 3, 1812		Democratic-Republican	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
18		James Barbour	January 3, 1812	December 1, 1814		Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1815–1825
19		Wilson Cary Nicholas	December 1, 1814	December 1, 1816		Democratic-Republican
20		James Patton Preston	December 1, 1816	December 1, 1819		Democratic-Republican
21		Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr.	December 1, 1819	December 1, 1822		Democratic-Republican
22		James Pleasants	December 1, 1822	December 10, 1825		Democratic-Republican	Resigned U.S. Senate to assume Governorship
23		John Tyler	December 10, 1825	March 4, 1827		Democratic-Republican	Resigned to enter U.S. Senate 1827–1836, 10th United States President
24		William Branch Giles	March 4, 1827	March 4, 1830		Democratic	U.S. Senator 1804–1815
25		John Floyd	March 4, 1830	March 31, 1834		Democratic	First under 1830 constitution (limit of 1 four-year term)
26		Littleton Waller Tazewell	March 31, 1834	April 30, 1836		Democratic	U.S. Senator 1824–1832
—		Wyndham Robertson	April 30, 1836	March 31, 1837		Whig	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
27		David Campbell	March 31, 1837	March 31, 1840		Democratic
28		Thomas Walker Gilmer	March 31, 1840	March 20, 1841		Whig
—		John M. Patton	March 20, 1841	March 31, 1841		Whig	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
—		John Rutherfoord	March 31, 1841	March 31, 1842		Democratic	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
—		John Munford Gregory	March 31, 1842	January 1, 1843		Whig	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
29		James McDowell	January 1, 1843	January 1, 1846		Democratic
30		William Smith	January 1, 1846	January 1, 1849		Democratic
31		John B. Floyd	January 1, 1849	January 16, 1852		Democratic	U.S. Secretary of War 1857–60
32		Joseph Johnson	January 16, 1852	January 1, 1856	Shelton Leake	Democratic	First under 1851 constitution (limit of 1 four-year term) First popularly elected governor
33		Henry A. Wise	January 1, 1856	January 1, 1860	Elisha W. McComas William Lowther Jackson	Democratic
34		John Letcher	January 1, 1860	January 1, 1864	Robert Latane Montague	Democratic	(On June 20, 1863, the new U.S. state of West Virginia was formed)
35		William Smith	January 1, 1864	May 9, 1865	Samuel Price	Democratic
—		Francis Harrison Pierpont	May 9, 1865	April 4, 1868	None	Republican	Elected by Restored General Assembly (Union)
—		Henry H. Wells	April 4, 1868	September 21, 1869	None	Republican	Appointed Governor by U.S. military
36		Gilbert Carlton Walker	September 21, 1869	January 1, 1874	John F. Lewis John Lawrence Marye, Jr.	Republican	Appointed Governor by U.S. military then elected as a Republican Governor later served as a Democratic Congressman
37		James L. Kemper	January 1, 1874	January 1, 1878	Robert E. Withers Henry Wirtz Thomas	Democratic
38		Frederick W. M. Holliday	January 1, 1878	January 1, 1882	James A. Walker	Democratic
39		William E. Cameron	January 1, 1882	January 1, 1886	John F. Lewis	Re-adjuster
40		Fitzhugh Lee	January 1, 1886	January 1, 1890	John E. Massey	Democratic
41		Philip W. McKinney	January 1, 1890	January 1, 1894	James H. Tyler	Democratic
42		Charles Triplett O'Ferrall	January 1, 1894	January 1, 1898	Robert C. Kent	Democratic	Resigned U. S. House seat to assume Governorship
43		James Hoge Tyler	January 1, 1898	January 1, 1902	Edward Echols	Democratic
44		Andrew Jackson Montague	January 1, 1902	February 1, 1906	Joseph Edward Willard	Democratic
45		Claude A. Swanson	February 1, 1906	February 10, 1910	James T. Ellyson	Democratic	U.S. Senator 1910–33
46		William Hodges Mann	February 10, 1910	February 1, 1914	James T. Ellyson	Democratic
47		Henry Carter Stuart	February 1, 1914	February 1, 1918	James T. Ellyson	Democratic
48		Westmoreland Davis	February 1, 1918	February 1, 1922	Benjamin F. Buchanan	Democratic
49		Elbert Lee Trinkle	February 1, 1922	February 1, 1926	Junius E. West	Democratic
50		Harry F. Byrd	February 1, 1926	January 15, 1930	Junius E. West	Democratic	U.S. Senator 1933–65
51		John Garland Pollard	January 15, 1930	January 17, 1934	James H. Price	Democratic
52		George C. Peery	January 17, 1934	January 15, 1938	James H. Price	Democratic
53		James H. Price	January 15, 1938	January 21, 1942	Saxon W. Holt	Democratic
54		Colgate Darden	January 21, 1942	January 16, 1946	William M. Tuck	Democratic
55		William M. Tuck	January 16, 1946	January 18, 1950	Lewis Preston Collins II	Democratic
56		John S. Battle	January 18, 1950	January 20, 1954	Lewis Preston Collins II Allie Edward Stakes Stephens	Democratic
57		Thomas B. Stanley	January 20, 1954	January 11, 1958	Allie Edward Stakes Stephens	Democratic
58		J. Lindsay Almond	January 11, 1958	January 13, 1962	Allie Edward Stakes Stephens	Democratic
59		Albertis Harrison	January 13, 1962	January 15, 1966	Mills Godwin	Democratic
60		Mills Godwin	January 15, 1966	January 17, 1970	Fred G. Pollard	Democratic
61		Linwood Holton	January 17, 1970	January 12, 1974	J. Sargeant Reynolds (Democratic) Henry Howell (Democratic)	Republican
62		Mills Godwin	January 12, 1974	January 14, 1978	John N. Dalton	Republican
63		John Dalton	January 14, 1978	January 16, 1982	Chuck Robb (Democratic)	Republican
64		Chuck Robb	January 16, 1982	January 18, 1986	Dick Davis	Democratic	U.S. Senator 1989–2001
65		Gerald Baliles	January 18, 1986	January 13, 1990	Douglas Wilder	Democratic
66		Douglas Wilder	January 13, 1990	January 15, 1994	Don Beyer	Democratic	First African-American governor elected in American history
67		George Allen	January 15, 1994	January 17, 1998	Don Beyer (Democratic)	Republican	U.S. Senator 2001–2007
68		Jim Gilmore	January 17, 1998	January 12, 2002	John H. Hager	Republican
69		Mark Warner	January 12, 2002	January 14, 2006	Tim Kaine	Democratic	U.S. Senator 2009–present
70		Tim Kaine	January 14, 2006	January 16, 2010	Bill Bolling (Republican)	Democratic	First Catholic Governor, U.S. Senator 2013–present, nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2016
71		Bob McDonnell	January 16, 2010	January 11, 2014	Bill Bolling	Republican
72		Terry McAuliffe	January 11, 2014	January 13, 2018	Ralph Northam	Democratic
73		Ralph Northam	January 13, 2018	Incumbent	Justin Fairfax	Democratic

Living former Governors of Virginia

As of January 2018 ^[update] , there are ten former Governors of Virginia currently living, the oldest being A. Linwood Holton, Jr. (served 1970–1974, born 1923). The most recent Governor of Virginia to die was Mills E. Godwin, Jr. (served 1966–1970 and 1974–1978, born 1914), on January 30, 1999. The most recently serving Governor of Virginia to die was John N. Dalton (served 1978–1982, born 1931), on July 30, 1986.

• Living former Governors
• 
  A. Linwood Holton, Jr.
  served 1970–1974 born September 21, 1923 (age 95)
• 
  Chuck Robb
  served 1982–1986 born June 26, 1939 (age 79)
• 
  Gerald Baliles
  served 1986–1990 born July 8, 1940 (age 78)
• 
  Douglas Wilder
  served 1990–1994 born January 17, 1931 (age 88)
• 
  George Allen
  served 1994–1998 born March 8, 1952 (age 67)
• 
  Jim Gilmore
  served 1998–2002 born October 6, 1949 (age 69)
• 
  Mark Warner
  served 2002–2006 born December 15, 1954 (age 64)
• 
  Tim Kaine
  served 2006–2010 born February 26, 1958 (age 61)
• 
  Bob McDonnell
  served 2010–2014 born June 15, 1954 (age 64)
• 
  Terry McAuliffe
  served 2014–2018 born February 9, 1957 (age 62)

Other high offices held

* Denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

This is a table of congressional, confederate and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Virginia except where noted.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
Thomas Jefferson	1779–1781			Delegate to the Second Continental Congress, (1775–1776); Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (1783–1784); U.S. Minister to France. (1785–1789); 1st U.S. Secretary of State, (1790–1793); 2nd Vice President of the United States, (1797–1801); 3rd President of the United States, (1801–1809)
Thomas Nelson, Jr.	1781			Delegate to the Second Continental Congress, (1775–1781)
Benjamin Harrison V	1781–1784			Delegate to the Second Continental Congress, (1775–1781)
Edmund Randolph	1786–1788			1st U.S. Attorney General, (1789–1794); 2nd U.S. Secretary of State, (1794–1795), Delegate to the Constitutional Convention (United States), (1787-1787)
Henry Lee III	1791–1794	H		Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (1786–1788)
James Monroe	1799–1802 1811		S	Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (1783–1786); U.S. Minister to France, (1794–1796); U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom, (1803–1808); 7th U.S. Secretary of State*, (1811–1817); 8th U.S. Secretary of War, (1814–1815); 5th President of the United States, (1817–1825)
John Page	1802–1805	H
James Barbour	1812–1814		S	U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom, (1828–1829); President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, (1819); 11th U.S. Secretary of War, (1825–1828)
Wilson Cary Nicholas	1814–1816	H	S
Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr.	1819–1822	H
James Pleasants	1822–1825	H	S
John Tyler	1825–1827	H	S*	President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, (1835); 10th Vice President of the United States, (1841); 10th President of the United States, (1841–1845); Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, (1861–1862)
William Branch Giles	1827–1830	H	S
John Floyd	1830–1834	H
Littleton Waller Tazewell	1834–1836	H	S
Thomas Walker Gilmer	1840–1841	H*		15th U.S. Secretary of the Navy, (1844)
John M. Patton	1841	H
James McDowell	1843–1846	H
William Smith	1846–1849 1864–1865	H		Confederate House of Representatives, (1862–1863)
John B. Floyd	1849–1852			24th U.S. Secretary of War, (1857–1860)
Joseph Johnson	1852–1856	H
Henry A. Wise	1852–1856	H		U. S. Minister to Brazil, (1844–1847)
John Letcher	1860–1864	H
Gilbert Carlton Walker	1869–1874	H
Frederick W. M. Holliday	1878–1882			Confederate House of Representatives, (1864–1865)
Charles Triplett O'Ferrall	1894–1898	H
Andrew Jackson Montague	1902–1906	H
Claude A. Swanson	1906–1910	H	S	45th U.S. Secretary of the Navy, (1933–1939)
Harry F. Byrd	1926–1930		S
George C. Peery	1934–1938	H
Colgate Darden	1942–1946	H
William M. Tuck	1946–1950	H
Thomas B. Stanley	1954–1958	H
James Lindsay Almond, Jr.	1958–1962	H
Chuck Robb	1982–1986		S
George Allen	1994–1998	H	S
Mark Warner	2002–2006		S
Tim Kaine	2006–2010		S

Birth places

Part of Virginia	# of Governors Elected
Central Virginia	16
Not from Virginia	12
Peninsula	10
Southwest Virginia	8
South Central Virginia	7
Northern Neck of Virginia	5
Northwest Virginia	4
West Central Virginia	4
Northern Central Virginia (NOVA)	2
Southeast	2
Eastern Shore of Virginia	1
Not from Virginia or United States	1
Total	72

• • These numbers reflect place of residence when taking office, not birthplace

See also

• List of Virginia state legislatures

References

1. VA Const. art. V
2. 1776 Const.
3. 1830 Const. Art IV section 1.
4. VA Const. Art V sec 1
5. 1851 Const. art V section 1.
6. 1851 Const. Art V section 2.
7. 1902 Const. Art V section 69.
8. VA Const. art V section 1.
9. VA Const. Art V section 16.
10. 1851 Const. art V section 8.
11. 1830 Const. art IV section 5.

General

• Virginia State Government Website ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
• Congressional Quarterly
  • Virginia governors. (2000). In Congressional Quarterly (Ed.), American political leaders 1789–2000. Washington: CQ Press. Retrieved January 10, 2006, from CQ Electronic Library, CQ Voting and Elections Collection, . Document ID: amldrs-147-7136-390228. (Requires Subscription)
• Thorpe, F.N. (1909). The Federal and State Constitutions: Virginia-Wyoming. Scholarly Press. p. 3852. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
• National Governors Association's list of Virginia Governors

Constitutions

• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". Virginia General Assembly. 1971. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1902. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1870. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1864. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1851. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. 1830. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". Avalon Project. 1776. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.

Specific