Elections in Vermont |
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The governor of Vermont is the head of government of the U.S. state of Vermont. Since 1994, Vermont is one of only two U.S. states (New Hampshire being the other) that elects governors for two-year terms. [1] Until 1870, Vermont elected its governors for one-year terms. [2] Isaac Tichenor, Jonas Galusha, Erastus Fairbanks, and Richard A. Snelling each served non-consecutive terms, while Thomas Chittenden served non consecutive terms as Governor of the Vermont Republic. [3]
From the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s until the 1960s, only Republicans won general elections for Vermont's statewide offices. One method that made this possible was the Republican Party's imposition of the "Mountain Rule," an informal mechanism which restricted the pool of candidates. [4]
Under the original provisions of the Mountain Rule, one U.S. senator was a resident of the east side of the Green Mountains and one resided on the west side. The expanded version of the rule called for the governorship and lieutenant governorship to alternate between residents of the east and west side. Nominees for governor and lieutenant governor were originally allowed two one-year terms, and later one two-year term. For nearly 100 years, likely Republican candidates for office in Vermont agreed to abide by the expanded Mountain Rule in the interests of party unity. Several factors led to the eventual weakening of the Mountain Rule, including the long political dispute between the Proctor (conservative) and Aiken–Gibson (progressive) wings of the party; primaries rather than conventions to select nominees; the direct election of U.S. Senators; and several active third parties, including the Progressives, the Prohibition Party, and the Local Option movement. In the 1960s, the rise of the Vermont Democratic Party and the construction of Interstate 89 also contributed to the end of the Mountain Rule. Although I-89 is a north–south route, it traverses Vermont from southeast to northwest for the majority of its length within the state and changed the way residents view how it is divided. [5] [6]
The Vermont Republic declared independence from Great Britain on January 15, 1777.
No. | Governor | Term in office | Party | Election | Lt. Governor | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Thomas Chittenden (1730–1797) [7] [8] | March 13, 1778 [9] – October 13, 1789 (lost election) [10] | No party | 1778 | Joseph Marsh | |
1779 | Benjamin Carpenter | |||||
1780 | ||||||
1781 | Elisha Payne | |||||
1782 | Paul Spooner | |||||
1783 | ||||||
1784 | ||||||
1785 | ||||||
1786 | Joseph Marsh | |||||
1787 | ||||||
1788 | ||||||
2 | Moses Robinson (1741–1813) [11] | October 13, 1789 [12] – October 20, 1790 (lost election) [10] | No party | 1789 | ||
3 | Thomas Chittenden (1730–1797) [7] [8] | October 20, 1790 [13] – March 4, 1791 (became state governor) [14] | No party | 1790 | Peter Olcott |
Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791.
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Vermont Technical College was a public technical college in Vermont. Its main residential campuses were located in Randolph Center and Williston. In addition, there were regional campuses distance sites, and nursing campuses in locations throughout the state.
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Harold John Arthur was the 68th governor of Vermont from 1950 to 1951. He also served as the 64th lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1949 to 1950.
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The 1844 Vermont gubernatorial election was held on September 3, 1844.
Bert Linus Stafford was an American attorney and politician from Vermont. A Republican, he was most notable for his service in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1906 to 1908, as State's Attorney of Rutland County from 1910 to 1915, and as mayor of Rutland from 1915 to 1917. He was the father of Vermont governor and U.S. Senator Robert Stafford.
Susanne Young is an American lawyer and public official who served as the Vermont Attorney General from July 5, 2022 to January 5, 2023. Young was appointed to the position by Governor Phil Scott following the resignation of T. J. Donovan and was the first woman to hold the position.
Charles N. Davenport was an American attorney, businessman, and political candidate from Vermont. A Democrat during the American Civil War and post-war era when Republicans won every election for statewide office, Davenport was an unsuccessful candidate for offices including governor and U.S. representative. He was a delegate to many local, state, and county Democratic conventions, and was the founder of the Brattleboro Reformer newspaper.