List of governors of Virginia

The following is a list of the governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor of Virginia is the state's head of government and commander-in-chief of the state's official national guard. 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.

The first Constitution of 1776 created the office of governor, to be elected annually by the Virginia 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. 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. This constitution also prevented governors from succeeding themselves, a prohibition that exists to the present day. The 1851 Constitution increased terms to four years and made the office elected by the people, rather than the legislature. The commencement of the Governor's term was moved to the first day in February by the 1902 Constitution, and then to the Saturday after the second Wednesday in January by the 1971 and current Constitution.

If the office of governor is vacant due to disqualification, death, or resignation, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia becomes Governor. The office of Lieutenant Governor was created in 1851. Prior to that a Council of State existed; it chose from among its members a President who would be "Lieutenant-Governor" and would act as governor when there was a vacancy in that office.

Officially, there have been 74 governors of Virginia; the acting governors are not counted.

Colonial governors

Main article: List of colonial governors of Virginia

President of the Committee for Public Safety

Parties:

  No party

#	Picture	President	Took office	Left office	Party
1		Edmund Pendleton	August 16, 1775	July 5, 1776	None

List of governors (1776-1852)

Parties:

  Democratic-Republican

  Democratic

  Federalist

  Whig

  Republican

  Re-adjuster

  Independent

#	Picture	Governor	Took office	Left office	Lieutenant Governor	Party	Notes
1		Patrick Henry	July 6, 1776	June 1, 1779	Office vacant 1776-1852	None	First under 1776 Constitution (limit of 3 one-year terms)
2		Thomas Jefferson	June 2, 1779	June 3, 1781		None	3rd President of the United States
3		William Fleming	June 4, 1781	June 12, 1781		None
4		Thomas Nelson Jr.	June 12, 1781	November 22, 1781		None
–		David Jameson	November 22, 1781	November 30, 1781		None	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
5		Benjamin Harrison V	December 1, 1781	November 30, 1784		None
6		Patrick Henry	November 30, 1784	November 30, 1786		None	Re-elected after 5-year hiatus (1 more than constitutional minimum)
7		Edmund Randolph	November 30, 1786	November 12, 1788		None	First under U.S. constitution
8		Beverley Randolph	November 12, 1788	December 1, 1791		None
9		Henry Lee III	December 1, 1791	December 1, 1794		Federalist
10		Robert Brooke	December 1, 1794	November 30, 1796		Democratic-Republican
11		James Wood	November 30, 1796	December 6, 1799		Federalist
–		Hardin Burnley	December 7, 1799	December 9, 1799
–		John Pendleton Jr.	December 11, 1799	December 19, 1799
12		James Monroe	December 19, 1799	December 24, 1802		Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1790–1794, fifth President of the United States
13		John Page	December 24, 1802	December 11, 1805		Democratic-Republican
14		William H. Cabell	December 11, 1805	December 12, 1808		Democratic-Republican
15		John Tyler Sr.	December 12, 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	U.S. Senator 1790–94, Fifth President of the United States
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 4, 1812		Democratic-Republican	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
18		James Barbour	January 4, 1812	December 11, 1814		Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1815–1825
19		Wilson Cary Nicholas	December 11, 1814	December 11, 1816		Democratic-Republican
20		James Patton Preston	December 11, 1816	December 11, 1819		Democratic-Republican
21		Thomas Mann Randolph Jr.	December 11, 1819	December 11, 1822		Democratic-Republican
22		James Pleasants	December 11, 1822	December 11, 1825		Democratic-Republican	Resigned U.S. Senate to assume Governorship
23		John Tyler	December 11, 1825	March 4, 1827		Democratic-Republican	Resigned to enter U.S. Senate 1827–1836, 10th United States President
24		William Branch Giles	March 4, 1827	March 4, 1830		Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1804–1815
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	March 30, 1836		Democratic	U.S. Senator 1824–1832
—		Wyndham Robertson	March 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 5, 1843		Whig	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)
29		James McDowell	January 5, 1843	January 1, 1846		Democratic
30		William Smith	January 1, 1846	January 1, 1849		Democratic
31		John B. Floyd	January 1, 1849	January 1, 1852		Democratic	U.S. Secretary of War 1857–60

Governors under the constitution of 1851

Governors are elected to one term of four years, which cannot be renewed.

Governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1851 - present)

No.	Governor			Party	Term in office	Time in Office	Election	Lieutenant Governor		Notes
32			Joseph Johnson	Democratic	January 1, 1852 – January 1, 1856 (Term Limited)	4 years	1851		Shelton Leake	First popularly elected
33			Henry A. Wise	Democratic	January 1, 1856 – January 1, 1860 (Term Limited)	4 years	1855		Elisha W. McComas
									William Lowther Jackson
34			John Letcher	Democratic	January 1, 1860 – May 15, 1861 (Overthrown)	1 year, 5 months	1859		Robert Latane Montague
State government dissolved
35			Francis Harrison Pierpont	Republican	May 15, 1861 – April 4, 1868	7 years	Elected by Wheeling Convention		Daniel Polsley
									Leopold Copeland Parker Cowper
-			Henry H. Wells	Republican	April 4, 1868 – September 21, 1869 (Acting)	1.5 years	Appointed by First Military District
36			Gilbert Carlton Walker	Republican	September 21, 1869 – January 1, 1870	1 year, 3 months	Appointed by First Military District		John F. Lewis
	State government reestablished with popular elections
			Gilbert Carlton Walker	Democratic	January 1, 1870 – January 1, 1874 (Term Limited)	4 years	1869		John Lawrence Marye, Jr.	Switched from Republican to Democratic party
37			James L. Kemper	Democratic	January 1, 1874 – January 1, 1878 (Term Limited)	4 years	1873		Robert E. Withers
									Henry Wirtz Thomas
38			Frederick Holiday	Democratic	January 1, 1878 – January 1, 1882 (Term Limited)	4 years	1877		James A. Walker
39			William E. Cameron	Readjuster	January 1, 1882 – January 1, 1886 (Term Limited)	4 years	1881		John F. Lewis
40			Fitzhugh Lee	Democratic	January 1, 1886 – January 1, 1890 (Term Limited)	4 years	1885		John E. Massey
41			Philip W. McKinney	Democratic	January 1, 1890 – January 1, 1894 (Term Limited)	4 years	1889		James H. Tyler
42			Charles Triplett O'Ferrall	Democratic	January 1, 1894 – January 1, 1898 (Term Limited)	4 years	1893		Robert C. Kent
43			James Hoge Tyler	Democratic	January 1, 1898 – January 1, 1902 (Term Limited)	4 years	1897		Edward Echols
44			Andrew Jackson Montague	Democratic	January 1, 1902 – February 1, 1906 (Term Limited)	4 years, 1 month	1901		Joseph Edward Willard
45			Claude A. Swanson	Democratic	February 1, 1906 – February 1, 1910 (Term Limited)	4 years	1905		James Taylor Ellyson
46			William Hodges Mann	Democratic	February 1, 1910 – February 1, 1914 (Term Limited)	4 years	1909
47			Henry Carter Stuart	Democratic	February 1, 1914 – February 1, 1918 (Term Limited)	4 years	1913
48			Westmoreland Davis	Democratic	February 1, 1918 – February 1, 1922 (Term Limited)	4 years	1917		Benjamin Franklin Buchanan
49			Elbert Lee Trinkle	Democratic	February 1, 1922 – February 1, 1926 (Term Limited)	4 years	1921		Junius Edgar West
50			Harry F. Byrd	Democratic	February 1, 1926 – January 15, 1930 (Term Limited)	4 years	1925
51			John Garland Pollard	Democratic	January 15, 1930 – January 16, 1934 (Term Limited)	4 years	1929		James Hubert Price
52			George C. Peery	Democratic	January 17, 1934 – January 18, 1938 (Term Limited)	4 years	1933
53			James Hubert Price	Democratic	January 19, 1938 – January 20, 1942 (Term Limited)	4 years	1937		Saxon W. Holt (Died)
									Vacant
54			Colgate Darden	Democratic	January 21, 1942 – January 15, 1946 (Term Limited)	4 years	1941		William M. Tuck
55			William M. Tuck	Democratic	January 16, 1946 – January 17, 1950 (Term Limited)	4 years	1945		Lewis Preston Collins II (Died)
56			John S. Battle	Democratic	January 18, 1950 – January 19, 1954 (Term Limited)	4 years	1949
									Vacant
									Allie Edward Stakes Stephens
57			Thomas B. Stanley	Democratic	January 20, 1954 – January 11, 1958 (Term Limited)	4 years	1953
58			J. Lindsay Almond	Democratic	January 11, 1958 – January 13, 1962 (Term Limited)	4 years	1957
59			Albertis Harrison	Democratic	January 13, 1962 – January 15, 1966 (Term Limited)	4 years	1961		Mills Godwin
60			Mills Godwin	Democratic	January 15, 1966 – January 17, 1970 (Term Limited)	4 years	1965		Fred G. Pollard
61			Linwood Holton	Republican	January 17, 1970 – January 12, 1974 (Term Limited)	4 years	1969		J. Sargeant Reynolds (Died)
									Vacant
									Henry Howell
62			Mills Godwin	Republican	January 12, 1974 – January 14, 1978 (Term Limited)	4 years	1973		John N. Dalton	2nd time Changed parties
63			John N. Dalton	Republican	January 14, 1978 – January 16, 1982 (Term Limited)	4 years	1977		Chuck Robb
64			Chuck Robb	Democratic	January 16, 1982 – January 11, 1986 (Term Limited)	4 years	1981		Gerald L. Baliles
65			Gerald Baliles	Democratic	January 11, 1986 – January 13, 1990 (Term Limited)	4 years	1985		Douglas Wilder
66			Douglas Wilder	Democratic	January 13, 1990 – January 15, 1994 (Term Limited)	4 years	1989		Don Beyer	First African American elected governor in U.S. history
67			George Allen	Republican	January 15, 1994 – January 17, 1998 (Term Limited)	4 years	1993
68			Jim Gilmore	Republican	January 17, 1998 – January 12, 2002 (Term Limited)	4 years	1997		John H. Hager
69			Mark Warner	Democratic	January 12, 2002 – January 14, 2006 (Term Limited)	4 years	2001		Tim Kaine
70			Tim Kaine	Democratic	January 14, 2006 – January 16, 2010 (Term Limited)	4 years	2005		Bill Bolling
71			Bob McDonnell	Republican	January 16, 2010 – January 11, 2014 (Term Limited)	4 years	2009
72			Terry McAuliffe	Democratic	January 11, 2014 – January 13, 2018 (Term Limited)	4 years	2013		Ralph Northam
73			Ralph Northam	Democratic	January 13, 2018 – January 15, 2022 (Term Limited)	4 years	2017		Justin Fairfax
74			Glenn Youngkin	Republican	January 15, 2022 – Incumbent	1 year, 212 days	2021		Winsome Sears

Living former governors of Virginia

As of January 2022, there are nine former governors of Virginia currently living, the oldest being Douglas Wilder (served 1990–1994, born 1931). The most recent governor of Virginia to die was Linwood Holton (served 1970–1974, born 1923), on October 28, 2021. The most recently serving governor of Virginia to die was Gerald Baliles (served 1986–1990, born 1940), on October 29, 2019.

• Living former governors
• 

  Chuck Robb
  served 1982–1986
  born June 26, 1939 (age 84)

• Wilder1.image.jpg

  Douglas Wilder
  served 1990–1994
  born January 17, 1931 (age 92)

• 

  George Allen
  served 1994–1998
  born March 8, 1952 (age 71)

• 

  Jim Gilmore
  served 1998–2002
  born October 6, 1949 (age 73)

• 

  Mark Warner
  served 2002–2006
  born December 15, 1954 (age 68)

• 

  Tim Kaine
  served 2006–2010
  born February 26, 1958 (age 65)

• 

  Bob McDonnell
  served 2010–2014
  born June 15, 1954 (age 69)

• 

  Terry McAuliffe
  served 2014–2018
  born February 9, 1957 (age 66)

• 

  Ralph Northam
  served 2018–2022
  born September 13, 1959 (age 63)

Other high offices held

* Denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

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

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
Thomas Jefferson	1779–1781			Delegate to the Second Continental Congress, (1775–1776); Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (1783–1784); U.S. Minister to France. (1785–1789); 1st U.S. Secretary of State, (1790–1793); 2nd Vice President of the United States, (1797–1801); 3rd President of the United States, (1801–1809)
Thomas Nelson, Jr.	1781			Delegate to the Second Continental Congress, (1775–1781)
Benjamin Harrison V	1781–1784			Delegate to the Second Continental Congress, (1775–1781)
Edmund Randolph	1786–1788			1st U.S. Attorney General, (1789–1794); 2nd U.S. Secretary of State, (1794–1795), Delegate to the Constitutional Convention (United States), (1787-1787)
Henry Lee III	1791–1794	H		Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (1786–1788)
James Monroe	1799–1802 1811		S	Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (1783–1786); U.S. Minister to France, (1794–1796); U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom, (1803–1808); 7th U.S. Secretary of State*, (1811–1817); 8th U.S. Secretary of War, (1814–1815); 5th President of the United States, (1817–1825)
John Page	1802–1805	H
James Barbour	1812–1814		S	U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom, (1828–1829); President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, (1819); 11th U.S. Secretary of War, (1825–1828)
Wilson Cary Nicholas	1814–1816	H	S
Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr.	1819–1822	H
James Pleasants	1822–1825	H	S
John Tyler	1825–1827	H	S*	President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, (1835); 10th Vice President of the United States, (1841); 10th President of the United States, (1841–1845); Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, (1861–1862)
William Branch Giles	1827–1830	H	S
John Floyd	1830–1834	H
Littleton Waller Tazewell	1834–1836	H	S
Thomas Walker Gilmer	1840–1841	H*		15th U.S. Secretary of the Navy, (1844)
John M. Patton	1841	H
James McDowell	1843–1846	H
William Smith	1846–1849 1864–1865	H		Confederate House of Representatives, (1862–1863)
John B. Floyd	1849–1852			24th U.S. Secretary of War, (1857–1860)
Joseph Johnson	1852–1856	H
Henry A. Wise	1852–1856	H		U. S. Minister to Brazil, (1844–1847)
John Letcher	1860–1861*	H
Francis Harrison Pierpont	1861–1865
Gilbert Carlton Walker	1869–1874	H
Frederick W. M. Holliday	1878–1882			Confederate House of Representatives, (1864–1865)
Charles Triplett O'Ferrall	1894–1898	H
Andrew Jackson Montague	1902–1906	H
Claude A. Swanson	1906–1910	H	S	45th U.S. Secretary of the Navy, (1933–1939)
Harry F. Byrd	1926–1930		S
George C. Peery	1934–1938	H
Colgate Darden	1942–1946	H
William M. Tuck	1946–1950	H
Thomas B. Stanley	1954–1958	H
James Lindsay Almond, Jr.	1958–1962	H
Chuck Robb	1982–1986		S
George Allen	1994–1998	H	S
Mark Warner	2002–2006		S
Tim Kaine	2006–2010		S

Birth places

Part of Virginia	# of Governors Elected
Central Virginia	17
Not from Virginia	12
Peninsula	10
Southwest Virginia	8
South Central Virginia	7
Northern Neck of Virginia	5
Northwest Virginia	4
West Central Virginia	4
Northern Central Virginia (NOVA)	2
Southeast	2
Eastern Shore of Virginia	2
Not from the United States	1
Total	74

• These numbers reflect place of residence when taking office, not birthplace

See also

• List of Virginia state legislatures

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)
• Thorpe, F.N. (1909). The Federal and State Constitutions: Virginia-Wyoming. Scholarly Press. p. 3852. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
• National Governors Association's list of Virginia Governors

Constitutions

• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". Virginia General Assembly. 1971. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1902. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1870. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1864. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scholarly Press. 1851. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. 1830. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• "Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia". Avalon Project. 1776. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.