List of Governors of Hawaii

Standard of the Governor of Hawaii
Standard of the Governor before Statehood in 1959


Number of governors of Hawaii by party affiliation[1]
Party Governors
Democratic 4
Republican 2

The following is a list of the Governors of the State of Hawaii and Hawaii Territory. The governor is the chief executive of the state, and commander-in-chief of the state armed forces.

The governor is elected to a four-year term commencing on the first Monday in the December following the election. The lieutenant governor is elected for the same term and, since 1964, on the same ticket as the governor.[2] The 1978 constitutional convention established a term limit of two terms for both offices. If the office of governor is vacant, the lieutenant governor becomes governor; if the governor is out of the state or unable to fulfill their duties, the lieutenant governor acts as governor during such absence or disability.

Of the six governors of the state, two have been elected to three terms, and three have been elected to two terms. The only one-term governor was the first, William F. Quinn, though he also served a term as territorial governor. No state governor has yet resigned or died in office, nor did any territorial governor die in office. The sixth and current governor of Hawaii is Linda Lingle, elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. She is the first female and first Jewish governor of the state, and the first Republican to hold the office since 1962. The next election will be in 2010, with Lingle's term ending on December 4, 2010.

Contents

Governors

Sanford B. Dole, President of Hawaii and first Governor of Hawaii Territory
Oren E. Long, tenth Governor of Hawaii Territory, and one of the first two U.S. Senators from Hawaii
William F. Quinn, last territorial and first state Governor of Hawaii
Linda Lingle, sixth and current Governor of Hawaii

The Republic of Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898. It was organized into Hawaii Territory in 1900, and admitted as a state in 1959. The Republic had only one president, Sanford B. Dole, who later was the first territorial governor. Between 1893 and 1894, Hawaii was under the Provisional Government of Hawaii, with no formal leader. Before 1893, Hawaii was a monarchy; see list of monarchs of Hawaii.

Governors of Hawaii Territory

Hawaii Territory was organized on June 14, 1900. Twelve people served as territorial governor.

# Governor Took office Left office Party Appointed by Notes
1 Sanford B. Dole June 14, 1900 November 23, 1903 Republican William McKinley [3]
2 George R. Carter November 23, 1903[C] August 15, 1907 Republican Theodore Roosevelt [4]
3 Walter F. Frear August 15, 1907[E] November 30, 1913 Republican Theodore Roosevelt
4 Lucius E. Pinkham November 30, 1913[F] June 22, 1918 Democratic Woodrow Wilson
5 Charles J. McCarthy June 22, 1918[G] July 5, 1921 Democratic Woodrow Wilson
6 Wallace R. Farrington July 5, 1921[H] July 6, 1929 Republican Warren G. Harding
7 Lawrence M. Judd July 6, 1929[I] March 2, 1934 Republican Herbert Hoover
8 Joseph Poindexter March 2, 1934[J] August 24, 1942 Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt [5]
9 Ingram Stainback August 24, 1942[L] May 8, 1951 Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt [6]
10 Oren E. Long May 8, 1951[O] February 28, 1953 Democratic Harry S. Truman
11 Samuel Wilder King February 28, 1953[P] July 26, 1957 Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower [7]
12 William F. Quinn August 29, 1957[R] August 21, 1959 Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower

Governors of the State of Hawaii

Hawaii was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959. Since then, there have been six governors.

      Democratic       Republican

# Governor Took office Left office Party Lt. Governor Terms
1 William F. Quinn August 21, 1959 December 3, 1962 Republican James Kealoha 1
2 John A. Burns December 3, 1962 December 2, 1974 Democratic William S. Richardson 3
Thomas Gill
George Ariyoshi
3 George Ariyoshi December 2, 1974 December 1, 1986 Democratic Nelson Doi 3
Jean King
John D. Waihee III
4 John D. Waihee III December 1, 1986 December 5, 1994 Democratic Ben Cayetano 2
5 Ben Cayetano December 5, 1994 December 2, 2002 Democratic Mazie Hirono 2
6 Linda Lingle December 2, 2002 Incumbent Republican James "Duke" R. Aiona Jr. 2[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Table only includes state governors.
  2. ↑ Article V, Section 2 of the Hawaii Constitution provides that the lieutenant governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor, and it states that this section was amended in 1964. The Western Political Quarterly states that the 1966 election was the first one since the offices had been combined into a single ticket;[A] therefore it is assumed that the 1964 amendment created the ticket provision.
  3. ↑ Resigned to take seat on the United States District Court for Hawaii Territory.[B]
  4. ↑ Resigned; term was to have ended November 23, 1907.[D]
  5. ↑ Remained in office for several months after his term expired until his successor was confirmed.[K]
  6. ↑ Ingram Stainback had little power until October 24, 1944, as his predecessor Joseph Poindexter had declared martial law on December 7, 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, delegating executive authority to the military.[M] During the military rule, the territory was governed by Lieutenant Generals Walter Short, Delos Emmons, and Robert Richardson.[N]
  7. ↑ Resigned immediately when denied a second term by President Eisenhower.[Q]
  8. ↑ Governor Lingle's second term expires on December 4, 2010; she is term limited.

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other governorships, and highest foreign offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Hawaii.

Name Gubernatorial term Other offices held
Sanford B. Dole 1900–1903 (territorial) President of Hawaii[S]
Lawrence M. Judd 1929–1934 (territorial) Governor of American Samoa[T]
Oren E. Long 1951–1953 (territorial) U.S. Senator[U]
Samuel Wilder King 1953–1957 Territorial Delegate[V]
John A. Burns 1962–1974 Territorial Delegate[W]

Living former governors

As of December 2009, three former governors were alive, the oldest being George Ariyoshi (1974–1986, born 1926). The most recent governor to die was William F. Quinn (1957–1962), on August 28, 2006. The most recently-serving governor to die was John A. Burns (1962–1974), on April 5, 1975.

Name Gubernatorial term Date of birth
George Ariyoshi 1974–1986 March 12, 1926 (1926-03-12) (age 84)
John D. Waihee III 1986–1994 May 19, 1946 (1946-05-19) (age 64)
Ben Cayetano 1994–2002 November 14, 1939 (1939-11-14) (age 71)

See also

References

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Defunct
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