List of Governors of Oregon

This article lists the individuals who have served as Governor of Oregon from the establishment of the Provisional Government in 1843 to the present day.

Governors

Provisional Government

Meetings at Champoeg led up to the first constitution of the Oregon Country and several petitions for U.S. territorial status. The resulting acts also created this body as a provisional government for the region. The first executives of this government were a three-person, elected committee known as the Executive Committee. In 1845, elections for a chief executive were held. The first person in Oregon to hold the title of governor was George Abernethy, a prominent businessman.

#	Name	Picture	Term
1	First Executive Committee		1843–1844
2	Second Executive Committee		1844–1845
3	George Abernethy		1845–1848

Governors of the Territory of Oregon

Oregon became a U.S. Territory in 1848. Like most other U.S. territorial governments, Oregon's territorial governor was appointed by the President of the United States. As transportation and communications were not as reliable or as fast as 21st-century methods, there were times when a departing governor left office and a new governor could not yet take over. This resulted in several local individuals acting as territorial governor until the new executive was appointed and arrived to take office.

President Polk initially appointed Brigadier General James Shields to be Oregon's first territorial governor and Shields was confirmed by the Senate, but he declined the position and Joseph Lane was appointed in his place.

#	Governor			Took office	Left office	Appointed by	Party
1			Joseph Lane	March 3, 1849	June 18, 1850	James Polk	Democratic
–			Kintzing Prichette	June 18, 1850	August 18, 1850	Acting Governor	Democratic
2			John P. Gaines	August 18, 1850	May 16, 1853	Zachary Taylor	Whig
–			Joseph Lane	May 16, 1853	May 19, 1853	Acting Governor	Democratic
–			George Law Curry	May 19, 1853	December 2, 1853	Acting Governor	Democratic
3			John W. Davis	December 2, 1853	August 1, 1854	Franklin Pierce	Democratic
4			George Law Curry	August 1, 1854	March 3, 1859	Franklin Pierce	Democratic

Governors of the State of Oregon

Parties

      Democratic       Republican

#	Governor			Took office	Left office	Party	Terms [note 1]
1			John Whiteaker	March 3, 1859	September 10, 1862	Democratic	1
2			A. C. Gibbs	September 10, 1862	September 12, 1866	Republican	1
3			George L. Woods	September 12, 1866	September 14, 1870	Republican	1
4			La Fayette Grover	September 14, 1870	February 1, 1877	Democratic	1 1⁄2 [note 2]
5			Stephen F. Chadwick	February 1, 1877	September 11, 1878	Democratic	1⁄2
6			W. W. Thayer	September 11, 1878	September 13, 1882	Democratic	1
7			Z. F. Moody	September 13, 1882	January 12, 1887	Republican	1
8			Sylvester Pennoyer	January 12, 1887	January 14, 1895	Democratic	2
9			William Paine Lord	January 14, 1895	January 9, 1899	Republican	1
10			T. T. Geer	January 9, 1899	January 15, 1903	Republican	1
11			George Chamberlain	January 15, 1903	March 1, 1909	Democratic	1 1⁄3 [note 2]
12			Frank W. Benson	March 1, 1909	June 17, 1910	Republican	1⁄3 [note 3]
13			Jay Bowerman	June 17, 1910	January 11, 1911	Republican	1⁄3
14			Oswald West	January 11, 1911	January 12, 1915	Democratic	1
15			James Withycombe	January 12, 1915	March 3, 1919	Republican	1 1⁄2 [note 4]
16			Ben W. Olcott	March 3, 1919	January 8, 1923	Republican	1⁄2
17			Walter M. Pierce	January 8, 1923	January 10, 1927	Democratic	1
18			I. L. Patterson	January 10, 1927	December 22, 1929	Republican	1⁄2 [note 4]
19			A. W. Norblad	December 22, 1929	January 12, 1931	Republican	1⁄2
20			Julius L. Meier	January 12, 1931	January 14, 1935	Independent	1
21			Charles H. Martin	January 14, 1935	January 9, 1939	Democratic	1
22			Charles A. Sprague	January 9, 1939	January 11, 1943	Republican	1
23			Earl Snell	January 11, 1943	October 30, 1947	Republican	1 1⁄3 [note 4]
24			John H. Hall	October 30, 1947	January 10, 1949	Republican	1⁄3
25			Douglas McKay	January 10, 1949	December 17, 1952	Republican	1⁄3 + 1⁄2 [note 5]
26			Paul L. Patterson	December 27, 1952	February 1, 1956	Republican	1⁄2 + 1⁄3 [note 4]
27			Elmo Smith	February 1, 1956	January 14, 1957	Republican	1⁄3
28			Robert D. Holmes	January 14, 1957	January 12, 1959	Democratic	1⁄3
29			Mark Hatfield	January 12, 1959	January 9, 1967	Republican	2
30			Tom McCall	January 9, 1967	January 13, 1975	Republican	2
31			Robert W. Straub	January 13, 1975	January 8, 1979	Democratic	1
32			Victor G. Atiyeh	January 8, 1979	January 12, 1987	Republican	2
33			Neil Goldschmidt	January 12, 1987	January 14, 1991	Democratic	1
34			Barbara Roberts	January 14, 1991	January 9, 1995	Democratic	1
35			John Kitzhaber	January 9, 1995	January 13, 2003	Democratic	2
36			Ted Kulongoski	January 13, 2003	January 10, 2011	Democratic	2
37			John Kitzhaber	January 10, 2011	February 18, 2015	Democratic	1 1⁄2 [note 6] [note 7]
38			Kate Brown	February 18, 2015	Incumbent	Democratic	1⁄2

Other high offices held

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

* Denotes those offices that the governor resigned to take.

Living former U.S. governors of Oregon

As of May 2015, there are four former U.S. governors of Oregon who are currently living at this time, the oldest U.S. governor of Oregon being Barbara Roberts (1991–1995, born 1936). The most recent death of a former U.S. governor of Oregon and also the death of a former U.S. governor of Oregon who served most recently was of Victor Atiyeh, who left office on January 12, 1987 and died on July 20, 2014.^[14]

Notes

References

General

Constitution

Specific

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of Oregon.

• Office of the Governor of Oregon

Governors of Oregon Provisional (1843–49) Executive Committee Abernethy Territorial (1849–59) Lane Prichette Gaines Davis Curry State (since 1859) Whiteaker Gibbs Woods Grover Chadwick Thayer Moody Pennoyer Lord Geer Chamberlain Benson Bowerman West Withycombe Olcott Pierce I. Patterson Norblad Meier Martin Sprague Snell Hall McKay P. Patterson Smith Holmes Hatfield McCall Straub Atiyeh Goldschmidt Roberts Kitzhaber Kulongoski Kitzhaber Brown

Years in Oregon (1859–present) 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

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Modern history of Oregon (1890–present) Topics Tax revolt Governors Bottle Bill Centennial Tokens "Roll On, Columbia, Roll On" Meier & Frank Willamette Industries Direct Legislation League Events USS Oregon Lewis & Clark Expo Oregon land fraud scandal Lookout Air Raids Columbus Day Storm Exploding whale 1977 NBA Finals 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens Rajneeshee bioterror attack Rajneeshee assassination plot New Carissa oil spill Willamette Valley Flood Places Bonneville Dam Celilo Falls Copperfield Fort Stevens Harbor Drive Kaiser Shipyards Shanghai tunnels Vanport Politicians Victor G. Atiyeh George Chamberlain David B. Frohnmayer Neil Goldschmidt Mark Hatfield Nan Wood Honeyman Tom McCall Douglas McKay Charles McNary Wayne Morse Maurine Neuberger Norma Paulus Barbara Roberts James H. Weaver Other Oregonians Terry Baker Pietro Belluschi Gert Boyle Abigail Scott Duniway James A. Fee Matt Groening Ken Kesey Phil Knight Ursula K. Le Guin Hall S. Lusk Brian McMenamin Bill Naito Steve Prefontaine Jack Ramsay Henry Weinhard History of Oregon's native peoples of Oregon to 1806 of pioneers in Oregon of Oregon in modern times