Governor of Florida |
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Official seal |
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Residence | Florida Governor's Mansion |
Term length | Four years, can succeed self once |
Inaugural holder | William Dunn Moseley |
Formation | 1845 |
Deputy | Jennifer Carroll |
Salary | $132,932 (2009)[1] |
Website | www.flgov.com |
The Governor of Florida is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Florida, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.[2] The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida Legislature,[3] to convene the legislature,[4] and to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment.[5]
When Florida was first acquired by the United States, future president Andrew Jackson served as its military governor. Florida Territory was established in 1822, and five people served as governor over six distinct terms. The first territorial governor, William Pope Duval, served 12 years, the longest of any governor to date. Since statehood in 1845 there have been 43 people who have served as governor, one of whom served two distinct terms. Three state governors have served two full four-year terms: William D. Bloxham, in two stints; and Reubin Askew and Jeb Bush, who each served their terms consecutively. Bob Graham almost served two terms, as he resigned with only three days left. The shortest term in office belongs to Wayne Mixson, who served three days following the resignation of his predecessor.
The current governor is Rick Scott, who took office on January 4, 2011.
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Spanish Florida was acquired from Spain in the Adams–Onís Treaty, which took effect July 10, 1821.[6] Parts of West Florida had already been assigned to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi; the remainder and East Florida were governed by the commander of the military force that had helped secure American influence in the region.
Picture | Governor | Took office | Left office | Appointed by | Notes |
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Andrew Jackson | March 10, 1821 | December 31, 1821 | James Monroe | [lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] |
Florida Territory was organized on March 30, 1822, combining East and West Florida.[11]
Picture | Governor | Took office | Left office | Appointed by |
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William Pope Duval | April 17, 1822 | April 24, 1834 | James Monroe | |
John Quincy Adams | ||||
Andrew Jackson | ||||
John Eaton | April 24, 1834 | March 16, 1836 | Andrew Jackson | |
Richard K. Call | March 16, 1836 | December 2, 1839 | Andrew Jackson | |
Robert R. Reid | December 2, 1839 | March 19, 1841 | Martin Van Buren | |
Richard K. Call | March 19, 1841 | August 11, 1844 | William Henry Harrison | |
John Tyler | ||||
John Branch | August 11, 1844 | June 25, 1845 | John Tyler |
The State of Florida was admitted to the Union on March 3, 1845. It seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861,[12] and joined the Confederate States of America on February 8, 1861,[13] as a founding member; there was no Union government in exile, so there was a single line of governors. Following the end of the American Civil War, it was part of the Third Military District.[14] Florida was readmitted to the Union on June 25, 1868.[15]
The first Florida Constitution, ratified in 1838, provided that a governor be elected every four years, who was not allowed to serve consecutive terms.[16] The secessionist constitution of 1861 would have reduced this to two years and removed the term limit,[17] but the state fell to the Union before the first election under that constitution. The rejected constitution of 1865 and the ratified constitution of 1868 maintained the four-year term,[18][19] though without the earlier term limit, which was reintroduced in the 1885 constitution.[20] The current constitution of 1968 states that should the governor serve, or would have served had they not resigned, more than six years in two consecutive terms, he cannot be elected to the succeeding term.[21] The start of a term was set in 1885 at the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the January following the election,[20] where it has remained.[22]
Originally, the president of the state senate acted as governor should that office be vacant.[23] The 1865 and 1868 constitutions created the office of lieutenant governor,[24][25] who would similarly act as governor. This office was abolished in 1885, with the president of the senate again taking on that duty.[26] The 1968 constitution recreated the office of lieutenant governor, who now becomes governor in the absence of the governor.[27] The governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket.[21]
Florida was a strongly Democratic state before the Civil War, electing only candidates from the Democratic and Whig parties. It elected three Republican governors following Reconstruction, but after the Democratic Party re-established control, 89 years passed before voters chose another Republican.
Democratic (34) Independent (1)[lower-alpha 3] Prohibition (1) Provisional (1) Republican (8)[lower-alpha 3] Whig (1)
#[lower-alpha 4] | Governor | Term start | Term end | Party | Lt. Governor[lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 6] | Terms[lower-alpha 7] | ||
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1 | William Dunn Moseley | June 25, 1845 | October 1, 1849 | Democratic | None | 1 | ||
2 | Thomas Brown | October 1, 1849 | October 3, 1853 | Whig | 1 | |||
3 | James E. Broome | October 3, 1853 | October 5, 1857 | Democratic | 1 | |||
4 | Madison S. Perry | October 5, 1857 | October 7, 1861 | Democratic | 1 | |||
5 | John Milton | October 7, 1861 | April 1, 1865 | Democratic | 1⁄2[lower-alpha 8] | |||
6 | Abraham K. Allison | April 1, 1865 | May 19, 1865 | Democratic | 1⁄2[lower-alpha 9][lower-alpha 10] | |||
7 | William Marvin | July 13, 1865 | December 20, 1865 | Provisional | —[lower-alpha 11][lower-alpha 12] | |||
8 | David S. Walker | December 20, 1865 | July 4, 1868 | Democratic | William W. J. Kelly[lower-alpha 13] | —[lower-alpha 11][lower-alpha 14] | ||
9 | Harrison Reed | July 4, 1868 | January 7, 1873 | Republican | William Henry Gleason[lower-alpha 15] | 1[lower-alpha 16] | ||
Edmund C. Weeks[lower-alpha 17] | ||||||||
Samuel T. Day | ||||||||
10 | Ossian B. Hart | January 7, 1873 | March 18, 1874 | Republican | Marcellus Stearns | 1⁄2[lower-alpha 18] | ||
11 | Marcellus Stearns | March 18, 1874 | January 2, 1877 | Republican | Vacant | 1⁄2[lower-alpha 19] | ||
12 | George Franklin Drew | January 2, 1877 | January 4, 1881 | Democratic | Noble A. Hull[lower-alpha 20] | 1 | ||
13 | William D. Bloxham | January 4, 1881 | January 7, 1885 | Democratic | Livingston W. Bethel | 1 | ||
14 | Edward A. Perry | January 7, 1885 | January 8, 1889 | Democratic | Milton H. Mabry | 1 | ||
15 | Francis P. Fleming | January 8, 1889 | January 3, 1893 | Democratic | None | 1 | ||
16 | Henry L. Mitchell | January 3, 1893 | January 5, 1897 | Democratic | 1 | |||
17 | William D. Bloxham | January 5, 1897 | January 8, 1901 | Democratic | 1 | |||
18 | William Sherman Jennings | January 8, 1901 | January 3, 1905 | Democratic | 1 | |||
19 | Napoleon B. Broward | January 3, 1905 | January 5, 1909 | Democratic | 1 | |||
20 | Albert W. Gilchrist | January 5, 1909 | January 7, 1913 | Democratic | 1 | |||
21 | Park Trammell | January 7, 1913 | January 2, 1917 | Democratic | 1 | |||
22 | Sidney Johnston Catts | January 2, 1917 | January 4, 1921 | Prohibition | 1 | |||
23 | Cary A. Hardee | January 4, 1921 | January 6, 1925 | Democratic | 1 | |||
24 | John W. Martin | January 6, 1925 | January 8, 1929 | Democratic | 1 | |||
25 | Doyle E. Carlton | January 8, 1929 | January 3, 1933 | Democratic | 1 | |||
26 | David Sholtz | January 3, 1933 | January 5, 1937 | Democratic | 1 | |||
27 | Fred P. Cone | January 5, 1937 | January 7, 1941 | Democratic | 1 | |||
28 | Spessard Holland | January 7, 1941 | January 2, 1945 | Democratic | 1 | |||
29 | Millard F. Caldwell | January 2, 1945 | January 4, 1949 | Democratic | 1 | |||
30 | Fuller Warren | January 4, 1949 | January 6, 1953 | Democratic | 1 | |||
31 | Daniel T. McCarty | January 6, 1953 | September 28, 1953 | Democratic | 1⁄3[lower-alpha 18] | |||
32 | Charley Eugene Johns | September 28, 1953 | January 4, 1955 | Democratic | 1⁄3[lower-alpha 21] | |||
33 | LeRoy Collins | January 4, 1955 | January 3, 1961 | Democratic | 1⁄3+1[lower-alpha 22] | |||
34 | C. Farris Bryant | January 3, 1961 | January 5, 1965 | Democratic | 1 | |||
35 | W. Haydon Burns | January 5, 1965 | January 3, 1967 | Democratic | 1[lower-alpha 23] | |||
36 | Claude R. Kirk, Jr. | January 3, 1967 | January 5, 1971 | Republican | None | 1 | ||
Ray C. Osborne | ||||||||
37 | Reubin Askew | January 5, 1971 | January 2, 1979 | Democratic | Thomas Burton Adams, Jr. | 2 | ||
Jim Williams | ||||||||
38 | Bob Graham | January 2, 1979 | January 3, 1987 | Democratic | Wayne Mixson | 11⁄2[lower-alpha 24] | ||
39 | Wayne Mixson | January 3, 1987 | January 6, 1987 | Democratic | Vacant | 1⁄2[lower-alpha 25] | ||
40 | Bob Martinez | January 6, 1987 | January 8, 1991 | Republican | Bobby Brantley | 1 | ||
41 | Lawton Chiles | January 8, 1991 | December 12, 1998 | Democratic | Buddy MacKay | 11⁄2[lower-alpha 18] | ||
42 | Buddy MacKay | December 12, 1998 | January 5, 1999 | Democratic | Vacant | 1⁄2[lower-alpha 25] | ||
43 | Jeb Bush | January 5, 1999 | January 2, 2007 | Republican | Frank Brogan[lower-alpha 26] | 2 | ||
Toni Jennings | ||||||||
44 | Charlie Crist | January 2, 2007 | January 4, 2011 | Republican | Jeff Kottkamp[lower-alpha 13] | 1[lower-alpha 27] | ||
Independent | ||||||||
45 | Rick Scott | January 4, 2011 | Incumbent | Republican | Jennifer Carroll | 1[lower-alpha 28] |
Fourteen of Florida's governors have served higher federal offices, including one President of the United States, two Cabinet secretaries, and one ambassador. One served as Governor of North Carolina, and all fourteen were elected to the U.S. Congress, though only nine represented Florida, and only seven actually took their seats. One died before taking office, and the other was refused his seat by the U.S. Senate shortly after the American Civil War, because Florida had not yet been reconstructed. One governor (marked with *) resigned to take his seat in the Senate.
Governor | Gubernatorial term | Other offices held | Source |
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Andrew Jackson | 1821 | Representative and Senator from Tennessee, President of the United States | [39] |
William Pope Duval | 1822–1834 | Representative from Kentucky | [40] |
John Eaton | 1834–1836 | Senator from Tennessee, Minister to Spain, Secretary of War | [41] |
Richard K. Call | 1836–1839, 1841–1844 | Territorial Delegate from Florida Territory | [42] |
Robert R. Reid | 1839–1841 | Representative from Florida, Representative from Georgia | [43] |
John Branch | 1844–1845 | Representative and Senator from North Carolina, Governor of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy | [44] |
William Marvin | 1865 | Elected to the Senate from Florida but was refused seat | [45] |
Napoleon B. Broward | 1905–1909 | Elected to the Senate from Florida but died before taking office | [46] |
Park Trammell | 1913–1917 | Senator from Florida | [47] |
Spessard Holland | 1941–1945 | Senator from Florida | [48] |
Millard F. Caldwell | 1945–1949 | Representative from Florida | [49] |
Bob Graham | 1979–1987 | Senator from Florida* | [50] |
Lawton Chiles | 1991–1998 | Senator from Florida | [51] |
Buddy MacKay | 1998–1999 | Representative from Florida | [52] |
As of September 2011[update], seven former governors are alive. The most recent death of a former governor was that of Claude R. Kirk, Jr. (1967–1971), on September 28, 2011.
Governor | Gubernatorial term | Date of birth |
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Reubin Askew | 1971–1979 | September 11, 1928 |
Bob Graham | 1979–1987 | November 9, 1936 |
Wayne Mixson | 1987 | June 16, 1922 |
Bob Martinez | 1987–1991 | December 25, 1934 |
Buddy MacKay | 1998–1999 | March 22, 1933 |
Jeb Bush | 1999–2007 | February 11, 1953 |
Charlie Crist | 2007–2011 | July 24, 1956 |
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