List of Governors of Virginia

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 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 becomes governor.^[9] The office of lieutenant governor was created in 1851^[10] Prior to then, a Council of State existed, which chose a president among its members who would be "Lieutenant-Governor", who would act as governor in a time of absence in the office.^[2][11]

Officially there have been 72 governors of Virginia; the acting governors are not counted.

Colonial Governors

President of the Committee for Public Safety

Parties

      No party

#	Picture	President	Took office	Left office	Party	Notes
1		Edmund Pendleton	16 August 1775	5 July 1776	No party

List of Governors

Parties

      Democratic       Federalist       Democratic-Republican       Whig       Republican

#	Image	Governor	Took office	Left office	Party	Notes
1		Patrick Henry	July 5, 1776	June 1, 1779	No party	First under 1776 constitution (limit of 3 one-year terms)
2		Thomas Jefferson	June 1, 1779	June 3, 1781	No party
3		William Fleming	June 3, 1781	June 12, 1781	No party
4		Thomas Nelson, Jr.	June 12, 1781	November 22, 1781	No party
—		David Jameson	November 22, 1781	December 1, 1781	No party	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
5		Benjamin Harrison V	December 1, 1781	December 1, 1784	No party
6		Patrick Henry	December 1, 1784	December 1, 1786	No party	Re-elected after 5-year hiatus (1 more than constitutional minimum)
7		Edmund Randolph	December 1, 1786	December 1, 1788	No party	First under U.S. statehood
8		Beverley Randolph	December 1, 1788	December 1, 1791	No party
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
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
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
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
23		John Tyler	December 10, 1825	March 4, 1827	Democratic-Republican	Resigned to enter U.S. Senate
24		William Branch Giles	March 4, 1827	March 4, 1830	Democratic
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	Whig
—		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
32		Joseph Johnson	January 16, 1852	January 1, 1856	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	Democratic
34		John Letcher	January 1, 1860	January 1, 1864	Democratic	(June 20, 1863 West Virginia was formed)
35		William Smith	January 1, 1864	May 9, 1865	Democratic
—		Francis Harrison Pierpont	May 9, 1865	April 4, 1868	Republican	Unelected military governor
—		Henry H. Wells	April 4, 1868	September 21, 1869	Republican	Unelected military governor
36		Gilbert Carlton Walker	September 21, 1869	January 1, 1874	Democratic	Unelected Republican military governor Later elected as a Democrat
37		James L. Kemper	January 1, 1874	January 1, 1878	Democratic
38		Frederick W. M. Holliday	January 1, 1878	January 1, 1882	Democratic
39		William E. Cameron	January 1, 1882	January 1, 1886	Re-adjuster
40		Fitzhugh Lee	January 1, 1886	January 1, 1890	Democratic
41		Philip W. McKinney	January 1, 1890	January 1, 1894	Democratic
42		Charles Triplett O'Ferrall	January 1, 1894	January 1, 1898	Democratic
43		James Hoge Tyler	January 1, 1898	January 1, 1902	Democratic
44		Andrew Jackson Montague	January 1, 1902	February 1, 1906	Democratic
45		Claude A. Swanson	February 1, 1906	February 10, 1910	Democratic
46		William Hodges Mann	February 10, 1910	February 1, 1914	Democratic
47		Henry Carter Stuart	February 1, 1914	February 1, 1918	Democratic
48		Westmoreland Davis	February 1, 1918	February 1, 1922	Democratic
49		Elbert Lee Trinkle	February 1, 1922	February 1, 1926	Democratic
50		Harry F. Byrd	February 1, 1926	January 15, 1930	Democratic
51		John Garland Pollard	January 15, 1930	January 17, 1934	Democratic
52		George C. Peery	January 17, 1934	January 15, 1938	Democratic
53		James H. Price	January 15, 1938	January 21, 1942	Democratic
54		Colgate Darden	January 21, 1942	January 16, 1946	Democratic
55		William M. Tuck	January 16, 1946	January 18, 1950	Democratic
56		John S. Battle	January 18, 1950	January 20, 1954	Democratic
57		Thomas Bahnson Stanley	January 20, 1954	January 11, 1958	Democratic
58		James Lindsay Almond, Jr.	January 11, 1958	January 13, 1962	Democratic
59		Albertis S. Harrison, Jr.	January 13, 1962	January 15, 1966	Democratic
60		Mills E. Godwin, Jr.	January 15, 1966	January 17, 1970	Democratic
61		A. Linwood Holton, Jr.	January 17, 1970	January 12, 1974	Republican
62		Mills E. Godwin, Jr.	January 12, 1974	January 14, 1978	Republican
63		John N. Dalton	January 14, 1978	January 16, 1982	Republican
64		Chuck Robb	January 16, 1982	January 18, 1986	Democratic
65		Gerald L. Baliles	January 18, 1986	January 13, 1990	Democratic
66		Douglas Wilder	January 13, 1990	January 15, 1994	Democratic	First African American
67		George Allen	January 15, 1994	January 17, 1998	Republican
68		Jim Gilmore	January 17, 1998	January 12, 2002	Republican
69		Mark Warner	January 12, 2002	January 14, 2006	Democratic
70		Tim Kaine	January 14, 2006	January 16, 2010	Democratic	First Catholic Governor
71		Bob McDonnell	January 16, 2010	January 11, 2014	Republican	Second Catholic Governor
72		Terry McAuliffe	January 11, 2014	Incumbent	Democratic	Third Catholic Governor

Notes

Living former governors

As of May 2015, nine former governors were alive, the oldest being A. Linwood Holton, Jr. (1970–1974, born 1923). The most recent governor to die was Mills E. Godwin, Jr. (1966–1970 and 1974–1978), on January 30, 1999. The most recently serving governor to die was John N. Dalton (1978–1982), on July 30, 1986.

References

General

• Virginia State Government Website
• 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)
• National Governors Association's list of Virginia Governors

Constitutions

• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". Virginia General Assembly. 1971. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1902. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1870. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1864. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1851. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. 1830. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". Avalon Project. 1776. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 

Specific

Commonwealth of Virginia Richmond (capital) Topics Administrative divisions Climate Colleges and universities Colony Congressional Districts Delegations Environment Furniture Geography Government History Historic Landmarks Law Homes Music People Rights Rivers Scouting Slogan Sports teams State Fair State parks Symbols Transportation Tribes Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Allegheny Mountains Atlantic Coastal Plain Blue Ridge Chesapeake Bay Cumberland Mountains Delmarva Peninsula Eastern Shore Hampton Roads Middle Peninsula Northern Neck Northern Virginia Piedmont Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians Shenandoah Valley South Hampton Roads Southside Southwest Virginia Tennessee Valley Tidewater Tri-Cities Virginia Peninsula Metro areas Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Bluefield Bristol Charlottesville Danville Harrisonburg Lynchburg Martinsville Richmond Roanoke Staunton-Waynesboro Norfolk-Virginia Beach Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Winchester Counties Accomack Albemarle Alleghany Amelia Amherst Appomattox Arlington Augusta Bath Bedford Bland Botetourt Brunswick Buchanan Buckingham Campbell Caroline Carroll Charles City Charlotte Chesterfield Clarke Craig Culpeper Cumberland Dickenson Dinwiddie Essex Fairfax Fauquier Floyd Fluvanna Franklin Frederick Giles Gloucester Goochland Grayson Greene Greensville Halifax Hanover Henrico Henry Highland Isle of Wight James City King and Queen King George King William Lancaster Lee Loudoun Louisa Lunenburg Madison Mathews Mecklenburg Middlesex Montgomery Nelson New Kent Northampton Northumberland Nottoway Orange Page Patrick Pittsylvania Powhatan Prince Edward Prince George Prince William Pulaski Rappahannock Richmond Roanoke Rockbridge Rockingham Russell Scott Shenandoah Smyth Southampton Spotsylvania Stafford Surry Sussex Tazewell Warren Washington Westmoreland Wise Wythe York Independent cities Alexandria Bristol Buena Vista Charlottesville Chesapeake Colonial Heights Covington Danville Emporia Fairfax Falls Church Franklin Fredericksburg Galax Hampton Harrisonburg Hopewell Lexington Lynchburg Manassas Manassas Park Martinsville Newport News Norfolk Norton Petersburg Poquoson Portsmouth Radford Richmond Roanoke Salem Staunton Suffolk Virginia Beach Waynesboro Williamsburg Winchester