In the United States, the titlegovernor refers to the chief executive of each state. The governor is not directly subordinate to the federal authorities but is the political and ceremonial head of the state. The governor may also assume additional roles, such as the commander-in-chief of the National Guard when the role is not federalized. The governor may also have the ability to commute or pardon a criminal sentence.
In all states, the governor is directly elected and, in most cases, has considerable practical powers. Notable exceptions with weak governorships include the office of the governor inTexas, though this may be moderated by thestate legislature and, in some cases, by other elected executive officials. Governors can veto state bills. The specific duties and powers vary widely between states.
HIGHLIGHTS
36 states hold gubernatorial elections during midterm election years (e.g. 2014, 2018, 2022 ...)
Salary range (as of 2023): Maine $70,000 - New York $250,000
Political parties
The chart below shows the party affiliations of U.S. governors. For other state executive offices,click here.
According to compensation figures for 2023 compiled by the Council of State Governments in theBook of the States, the highest salary for a governor was $250,000 inNew York while the lowest was $70,000 inMaine. To view the compensation of a particular governor, hover your mouse over the state.[1]
According to figures for 2022 compiled by the Council of State Governments in theBook of the States, gubernatorial offices range in size from 9 staffers inNebraska to 277 staffers inTexas.[2]
Although all governors have some involvement in the process of developing a state budget, the specific level of involvement differs from state to state. According to information published in the 2022Book of the States, 24 governors share responsibility for developing a budget proposal, while 11 governors have full responsibility for developing an initial budget proposal and the remaining 15 have full responsibility for developing a budget.[3]
Most states impose some form of term limits on governors; of those that do, all butVirginia limit a governor to two four-year terms or to eight years in office. Although most states' term limit laws allow a governor who has served two terms to be elected once again after time has elapsed, some states impose a lifetime term limit like that on the presidency. AlthoughVermont andNew Hampshire do not have term limit laws, they are the only states whose governors serve two-year terms rather than four-year terms.
The termline-item veto refers to the ability of a governor or other chief executive to veto specific parts of a bill while signing the rest of the bill into law. Currently, 44 states grant their governors line-item veto powers.[3]
Republicans led in governorships from 1994 until 2006, after which there were 28 Democratic governors to the Republicans' 22. Republicans regained their national majority in the 2010 midterm elections. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of Republican governors continued to increase, reaching a high point of 33 followingWest VirginiaGov.Jim Justice's switch to the Republican Party in August 2017.[4] From 2017 to 2019, Democrats won Republican-held governorships inIllinois,Kansas,Kentucky,Maine,Michigan,Nevada,New Jersey,New Mexico, andWisconsin. Republicans, meanwhile, gained a governorship inAlaska previously held by independentBill Walker. In 2020 and 2021, Republicans won Democratic-held governorships inMontana andVirginia. Four gubernatorial offices changed partisan control in 2022, with Democrats winning three previously Republican-held seats inArizona,Maryland, andMassachusetts, and Republicans defeating the Democratic incumbent inNevada. These changes brought Republicans to 26 governorships and Democrats to 24.[5]
Each state has some constitutionally prescribed method for filling vacancies in the office of governor. In the 44 states with a distinctlieutenant governor, that individual is the first in the line of succession, with the exception ofArkansas. Whether additional offices in the line of succession are named in the constitution or by statute varies among states.
Among those states without a traditional lieutenant governor, the primary successor to the governor varies. Officers first in line to succeed the governor in case of a vacancy are:
Overall, the constitutional rules for offices that are second in line for the governor's seat are more complex than rules for offices that are first in line. Common second-in-line offices include:
The president of the Senate (pro tempore)
The speaker of the House
The secretary of state
However, seven states leave the decision open-ended, and another seven states do not mention rules for second-in-line successors.
For more details regarding how gubernatorial vacancies are filled,click here.
Elected vs. appointed
Governors are directly elected in all 50 states.
The office of the governor is a constitutionally mandated office in all states. It is additionally statewide, directly elected, and part of the Executive branch in all 50 states.
An individual who was elected governor but has not yet taken the oath of office is referred to as thegovernor-elect. Governors-elect do not yet have any of the powers or duties of the office, though they may be accorded some of the privileges and honors in anticipation of their taking office.
There are limited cases when the position is filled by someone who was not elected:
Acting Governor: This term, not used in all states, applies to someone serving as governor who was not elected. When used, it applies to someone, often the lieutenant governor, temporarily discharging the office due to the short-term inability of the governor to do so. Usually, if the elected governor's inability to serve is permanent, her replacement will simply be addressed as 'governor'.
Governor-designate: This term is rarely in use. It applies when there is a planned or anticipated vacancy in the governorship. For instance, in 2010, North Dakota's elected governor,John Hoeven, won a U.S. Senate seat. As 2010 was not a gubernatorial election year forNorth Dakota, when Hoeven won his race and prepared to leave the governor's office, he had to make an appointment to fulfill the gubernatorial term. Hoeven named his lieutenant governor,Jack Dalrymple, who had the title of governor-designate from Election Night 2010 until he actually took the gubernatorial oath of office the following month.
Governors who became presidents
President Rutherford B. Hayes, former Republicangovernor of Ohio, was the first sitting governor to be elected as president of the United States. That year, 1876, the Democrats also nominated a governor, Samuel Tilden of New York, to run for the office.[6] Seventeen presidents have previously served as governors. Those 17 candidates come from only 10 states. Four presidents have come from the gubernatorial office of New York, three from Virginia, and two each from Ohio and Tennessee. The others were from Arkansas, California, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas.[7]
Approximately twice as many presidents have been governors at some point than have been senators. This is substantial since there are only half as many governors as senators at any given time.[8] 2008 marked the first year since 1972 that neither major party candidate had served as governor.[6] The following table shows governors who have advanced to the presidency.[7]
Twelve states held elections for governor in 2016, including eleven regularly scheduled elections plus a special election in Oregon due to theFebruary 2015 resignation of formerGov. John Kitzhaber (D):
Heading into the November election, Democrats held eight of the seats and the Republicans held three seats. Six incumbents sought re-election, three retired and two wereterm-limited. Of the six who ran, four were Democrats and two were Republicans.
The only party switch took place inNorth Carolina, where Lt. GovernorWalter Dalton (D) lost toPat McCrory (R). As of December 2012, the number of Democratic governors in the country was at its lowest since 2001. After the November 2012 election, there were 29 Republican governors and 20 Democratic, with one Independent.[9]
Three states,Kentucky,Louisiana andMississippi, had regularly scheduled gubernatorial elections in the 2011 electoral cycle. A fourth state,West Virginia, held a special election following a court order.
Thirty-seven gubernatorial elections took place onNovember 2, 2010. That added up to the largest block of states to choose governors in a single election year.[10] Leading immediately into the 2011 congressional reapportionment, the gubernatorial races became intensely contested. Four states that make up almost one-fourth of the entire U.S. House of Representatives -California,Florida,Texas andNew York - were all in play.
In 15 of the seats up for election, the incumbent could not run again because ofterm limits, leaving 22 seats guaranteed to be open to non-incumbents. Of the incumbent butlimited-out governors, eight were Democratic and seven Republican. When incumbents did choose to run, the primaries were good to them. Only in Nevada did an incumbent seeking re-election lose his own party's primary. (One of the term-limited governors,Dave Freudenthal inWyoming, at one point indicated he planned to challenge his state's term limits law; while he did win his legal battle to have the state's term limits invalidated, he eventually declined to run for a third term.)
1992-2013
Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisantrifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.
The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?
At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study,Who Runs the States.
We identified the party holding each state's governorship for the majority of time in each year from 1992 through 2013. Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%).
The trifecta analysis over this period shows a notable trend toward one-party control of state governments. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 states had trifectas while 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas hold sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years we studied. The number of states with trifectas doubled between 1992 and 2013.
The trifecta analysis also allowed us to identify seven states that have experienced dramatic changes in partisan state government control from the first 11 years of the study to the last 11 years of the study. Studying the partisan composition of state governments as we do also allows a clean way to assess whether a state is "moving red" or "moving blue."
Visualizations
Legend for State government trifecta visualization -- Figures 10 and 11
Figure 10: Visualization of Trifectas from 1992-2013 -- Alabama-Missouri
Figure 11: Visualization of Trifectas from 1992-2013 -- Montana-Wyoming
Legend for State government visualization with Presidential Voting -- Figures 19 and 20
Figure 19: Visualization of State Partisanship (with Presidential voting) from 1992-2013 -- Alabama-Missouri
Figure 20: Visualization of State Partisanship (with Presidential voting) from 1992-2013 -- Montana-Wyoming
↑Council of State Governments'Book of the States 2022 Table 4.3: The Governors: Compensation, Staff, Travel and Residence provided to Ballotpedia by CSG personnel
↑3.03.1Council of State Governments'Book of the States 2022 Table 4.4: The Governors: Powers provided to Ballotpedia by CSG personnel
↑Because Justice switched his registration more than halfway through the year, he was counted as a Democrat in 2017 for the purposes of the chart.
↑Because Justice switched his registration more than halfway through the year, he is considered to be a Democrat in 2017 for the purposes of this chart.
Democratic
Republican
Independent
