In the
United States, the title
governor refers to the
chief executive of each
state or
insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.
Role and powers
The
United States Constitution preserves the notion that the country is a federation of semi-sovereign states and that powers not specifically granted to the federal government are retained by the states. States, therefore, are not merely provinces or subdivisions of federal administration. State governments in the U.S. are relatively powerful; each state has its own independent criminal and civil law codes, and each state manages its internal government.
The governor thus heads the executive branch in each state or territory and, depending on the individual jurisdiction, may have considerable control over government budgeting, the power of appointment of many officials (including many judges), and a considerable role in legislation. The governor may also have additional roles, such as that of
commander-in-chief of the state's
National Guard (when not federalized), and in many states and territories the governor has partial or absolute power to
commute or
pardon a
criminal sentence. All U.S. governors serve four-year terms except those in
New Hampshire and
Vermont, who serve two-year terms.
In all states, the governor is directly elected, and in most cases has considerable practical powers, though this may be moderated by the
state legislature and in some cases by other elected executive officials. In the five U.S. territories, all governors are now directly elected as well, though in the past many territorial governors were historically appointed by the President of the United States. Governors can
veto state bills, and in all but seven states they have the power of the
line item veto on appropriations bills (a power the President does not have). In some cases legislatures can override a gubernatorial veto by a two-thirds vote, in others by three-fifths. In
Alabama,
Kentucky, and
Tennessee, the governor's veto can be overridden by a
simple majority vote, making it virtually useless. In
Arkansas, a gubernatorial veto may be overridden by an
absolute majority. The
Governor of North Carolina had no veto power until a 1996 referendum. In 47 states, whenever there is a vacancy of one of the state's
U.S. Senate seats, that state's governor has the power to appoint someone to fill the vacancy until a
special election is held; the governors of
Oregon,
Alaska, and
Wisconsin do not have this power.
A state governor may give an annual
State of the State Address in order to satisfy a constitutional stipulation that a governor must report annually (or in older constitutions described as being "from time to time") on the state or condition of the state. Governors of states may also perform ceremonial roles, such as greeting dignitaries, conferring state decorations, issuing symbolic proclamations or attending the
state fair. The governor may also have an
official residence (see
Governor's Mansion).
History
In colonial America, when the governor was the representative of the monarch who exercised executive power, many colonies originally
indirectly elected their governors, choosing them through the colonial legislatures, but in the years leading up to the
American Revolutionary War,
the Crown began to appoint them directly. During the
American Revolution, all royal governors except for
Jonathan Trumbull fled or were expelled, but the title of governor was retained to denote the new elected official.
Before achieving statehood, many of the 50 states were
territories. Administered by the federal government, they had governors who were appointed by the
President and confirmed by the
Senate rather than elected by the resident population.
Demographics
Party
thumb|250px|right|State Governors by political party.
Key: There are currently 28
Democrats and 22
Republicans serving as state governors, though the Democratic governor of
Virginia is retiring in January 2010 and will be replaced by a Republican, while the Democratic governor of
New Jersey has lost his bid for reelection and will be replaced with a Republican. Two Democrats and two Republicans also occupy territorial governorships, while the governor of the
U.S. territory of the
Northern Mariana Islands belongs to the local
Covenant Party. No other "third" parties hold a Governorship.
Tenure
The longest-serving current governor is
John Hoeven, who has served as
North Dakota's governor since December 15, 2000. The second-longest tenure, that of
Texas Governor
Rick Perry, is six days shorter. The newest governor is
Gary Herbert of
Utah, who was sworn in on August 11, 2009.
Age
The oldest current governor is
Ted Kulongoski, 68, of
Oregon. The youngest currently serving governor is
Bobby Jindal of
Louisiana, age 37. The youngest person to ever serve as governor was
Stevens T. Mason of
Michigan, elected in 1835 having just turned 24. However Michigan was not admitted to the Union until January 1837, when Stevens was 25. Stevens was re-elected in November 1837, then age 26 The second youngest governor ever elected was
J. Neely Johnson of
California, when he was elected in 1855 at the age of 30, and the third youngest governor was
Harold Stassen of
Minnesota, when he was elected in 1938 at age 31. When future President
Bill Clinton was elected
governor of Arkansas in 1978 at age 32, he became the youngest governor since Stassen.
Gender
thumb|250px|right|State Governors by gender.
Key: There are currently 44 men and 6 women governors. All five territorial governors are men.
Thirty-one women have been or are currently serving as the governor, including two in an acting capacity.
The first female governor was
Nellie Tayloe Ross of
Wyoming who was elected on November 4, 1924 and sworn in on January 5, 1925. She was preceded in office by her late husband
William B. Ross. Also elected on November 4 was
Miriam A. Ferguson of
Texas, succeeding her impeached husband
James Edward Ferguson, but she was not sworn in until January 21, 1925. The first female governor elected without being the wife or widow of a past state governor was
Ella T. Grasso of
Connecticut, elected in 1974 and sworn in on January 8, 1975.
Connecticut and
Arizona are the only two states to have elected female governors from both major parties.
New Hampshire has also had female governors from two parties, but Republican
Vesta M. Roy served only in the acting capacity for a short time.
Arizona was the first state where a woman followed another woman as governor (they were from different parties).
Arizona also has had the most female governors with a total of four, and is the first state to have three women in a row serve as governor.
Six women are currently serving as governors of U.S. states. Previously, there were a record nine women serving as chief executive of their states on two different occasions: first, between December 6, 2006, when
Sarah Palin was inaugurated as the first female governor of
Alaska, and January 14, 2008, when
Kathleen Blanco left office as governor of
Louisiana; and second, between January 10, 2009, when
Beverly Perdue was inaugurated as governor of
North Carolina, and January 20, 2009, when
Ruth Ann Minner retired as governor of
Delaware.
Race and ethnicity
Among the 50 states, there are 45 whites, two African Americans (
Deval Patrick of
Massachusetts and
David Paterson of
New York), one Hispanic American (
Bill Richardson of
New Mexico), one Asian American of Indian descent (
Bobby Jindal of
Louisiana), and one Arab (
John Baldacci of
Maine) currently serving as governor.
Among the five U.S. territories, one Hispanic American (
Luis G. Fortuño of
Puerto Rico), one African American (
John de Jongh of the
U.S. Virgin Islands), and three
Pacific Islander Americans (
Benigno R. Fitial of the
Northern Mariana Islands,
Felix Perez Camacho of
Guam, and
Togiola Tulafono of
American Samoa) currently serve as governor.
Religion of US Governors.
Faith denomination
Details :
List of current United States governors by denomination47 of the 50 governors are
Christians with
Roman Catholicism Being the main faith among governors. The other three are Jewish.
There are :
- 2 Members of United Church of Christ
- 3 non-denomination Christians
Physical Disability
Governor
David Paterson of
New York is the second legally blind governor in U.S. history after Bob C. Riley, who was Governor of Arkansas for eleven days in January 1975.
Personal Wealth
Three governors,
Jon Corzine of
New Jersey,
Arnold Schwarzenegger of
California, and
Phil Bredesen of
Tennessee, have declined to accept their salaries because of their personal wealth.
Gubernatorial election timeline schedule
All states hold gubernatorial elections on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. The earliest possible date for the election is therefore November 2 (if that date falls on a Tuesday), and the latest possible date is November 8 (if November 1 falls on a Tuesday).
- 2 states hold their gubernatorial elections every even numbered year. Recent years are 2006, 2008, and 2010.
New Hampshire and Vermont
The other 48 states hold gubernatorial elections every four years.
- 34 states hold their gubernatorial elections in even numbered years which are not divisible by four (i.e. concurrent with congressional, but not presidential elections). Recent years are 2002, 2006, and 2010.
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
- 9 States and a territory hold their gubernatorial elections in years divisible by four (i.e. concurrent with presidential elections). Recent years are 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.
Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Puerto Rico
- 3 States hold their gubernatorial elections in the year before a year divisible by four. Recent years are 2003, 2007, and 2011.
Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi
- 2 States hold their gubernatorial elections in the year following a year divisible by four. Recent years are 2001, 2005, and 2009.
New Jersey and Virginia
Term limits
Relationship with lieutenant governor
Thre type of relationship between the governor and the lieutenant governor greatly varies by state. In some states the the governor and lieutenant governor are completely independent of each other, while in others the governor gets to choose (prior to the election) who would be his/her lieutenant governor.
- 5 states do not have a lieutenant governor. In those states, a different constitutional officer assumes the office of the governor should there be a vacancy in the office. Those states are:
Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Wyoming
- 18 states have separate elections for the governor and the lieutenant governor, which often leads to the governor and the lieutenant governor being from different parties. Those states are
Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virgina, and Washington.
- 2 state have the State Senate appoint the lieutenant governor, which may mean that the governor and the lieutenant governor are from different parties. Those states are
Tennessee and West Virginia
- 4 states have the governor and lieutenant governor run together on the same ticket, but the governor does not get to choose his/her runningmate. In those states, the winners of the governor primaries and the winners of the lieutenant governor primaries run together as joint tickets in the general election. The governor and lieutenant governor would therefore be from the same party, but may not necessarily be political allies. Those states are
Alaska, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania
- 21 states have the governor and lieutenant governor run together on the same ticket similar to the President and Vice President of the United States. Those states are
Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin
See also
