LIST OF GOVERNORS OF VIRGINIA

This is a 'list of Governors of Virginia' since Virginia became a U.S. state following the American Revolutionary War. The Governor of Virginia is forbidden by
the Constitution of the Commonwealth from serving consecutive terms (making Virginia the only U.S. state in which gubernatorial incumbents are forbidden from running for governor); however, several governors have served two ''non-consecutive'' terms (but they are forbidden from serving more than two non-consecutive terms). In Virginia, governors and lieutenant governors are elected separately, so the two can be of different political parties and can be political rivals. Each new gubernatorial term begins on the Saturday after the second Wednesday in January.

Contents

Colonial Governors

Governors chosen by state legislature

Governors elected by popular vote

Sources

External links

Colonial Governors

Main articles: List of colonial governors of Virginia

Governors chosen by state legislature

#	Name	Party	Term	Previous Office
1	Patrick Henry	No party	July 5 1776–June 1 1779
2	Thomas Jefferson	No party	June 1 1779–June 3 1781
3	William Fleming	No party	June 3 1781–November 22 1781
4	Thomas Nelson, Jr.	No party	November 22 1781–December 1 1781
5	Benjamin Harrison	No party	December 1 1781–November 30 1784
6	Patrick Henry	No party	November 30 1784–December 1 1786
7	Edmund Randolph	No party	December 1 1786–December 1 1788
8	Beverley Randolph	No party	December 1 1788–December 1 1791
9	Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee	Federalist	December 1 1791–December 1 1794
10	Robert Brooke	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1794–December 1 1796
11	James Wood	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1796–December 1 1799
12	James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1799–December 1 1802
13	John Page	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1802–December 1 1805
14	William H. Cabell	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1805–December 1 1808
15	John Tyler, Sr.	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1808–January 15 1811
N/A	George William Smith	Democratic-Republican	January 15 1811–January 19 1811	Member of the Council of State acting as Governor
16	James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	January 19 1811–April 3 1811
N/A	George William Smith	Democratic-Republican	April 3 1811–December 27 1811	Member of the Council of State acting as Governor
17	George William Smith	Democratic-Republican	December 1811
N/A	Peyton Randolph	Democratic-Republican	December 27 1811–January 3 1812	Member of the Council of State acting as Governor
18	James Barbour	Democratic-Republican	January 3 1812–December 1 1814
19	Wilson Cary Nicholas	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1814–December 1 1816
20	James Patton Preston	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1816–December 1 1819
21	Thomas Mann Randolph	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1819–December 1 1822
22	James Pleasants	Democratic-Republican	December 1 1822–December 10 1825
23	John Tyler	Democratic-Republican	December 10 1825–March 4 1827
24	William Branch Giles	Democrat	March 4 1827–March 4 1830
25	John Floyd	Democrat	March 4 1830–March 31 1834
26	Littleton Waller Tazewell	Whig	March 31 1834–April 30 1836
N/A	Wyndham Robertson	Whig	April 30 1836–March 31 1837	Member of the Council of State acting as Governor
27	David Campbell	Democrat	March 31 1837–March 31 1840
28	Thomas Walker Gilmer	Whig	March 31 1840–March 20 1841
N/A	John Mercer Patton	Whig	March 20 1841–March 31 1841	Member of the Council of State acting as Governor
N/A	John Rutherford	Whig	March 31 1841–March 31 1842	Member of the Council of State acting as Governor
N/A	John Munford Gregory	Whig	March 31 1842–January 1 1843	Member of the Council of State acting as Governor
29	James McDowell	Democrat	January 1 1843–January 1 1846
30	William Smith	Democrat	January 1 1846–January 1 1849
31	John Buchanan Floyd	Democrat	January 1 1849–January 16 1852

Governors elected by popular vote

#	Name	Party	Term	Previous Office	Notes
32	Joseph Johnson	Democratic	January 16 1852–January 1 1856	US Congress
33	Henry A. Wise	Democratic	January 1 1856–January 1 1860	US Congress
34	John Letcher	Democratic	January 1 1860–January 1 1864	US Congress
35	William Smith	Democratic	January 1 1864–May 1865	US Congress
N/A	Francis H. Pierpont	Republican	May 1865–April 4 1868	Unelected Military Governor
N/A	Henry H. Wells	Republican	April 4 1868–September 21 1869	Unelected Military Governor
N/A	Gilbert C. Walker	Republican	September 21 1869–January 1 1870	Unelected Military Governor
36	Gilbert C. Walker	Democratic	January 1 1870–January 1 1874	Provisional Governor
37	James L. Kemper	Democratic	January 1 1874–January 1 1878	Confederate General
38	Frederick W. M. Holliday	Democratic	January 1 1878–January 1 1882	Confederate Colonel
39	William E. Cameron	Re-adjuster	January 1 1882–January 1 1886	Mayor of Petersburg, VA
40	Fitzhugh Lee	Democratic	January 1 1886–January 1 1890	Confederate General
41	Philip W. McKinney	Democratic	January 1 1890–January 1 1894
42	Charles T. O'Ferrall	Democratic	January 1 1894–January 1 1898	US Congress
43	James Hoge Tyler	Democratic	January 1 1898–January 1 1902	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
44	Andrew Jackson Montague	Democratic	January 1 1902–February 1 1906	Attorney General of Virginia
45	Claude A. Swanson	Democratic	February 1 1906–February 10 1910	US Congress
46	William H. Mann	Democratic	February 10 1910–February 1 1914
47	Henry Carter Stuart	Democratic	February 1 1914–February 1 1918
48	Westmoreland Davis	Democratic	February 1 1918–February 1 1922	Farmer and Magazine Editor
49	Elbert Lee Trinkle	Democratic	February 1 1922–February 1 1926	Virginia State Senate
50	Harry F. Byrd Sr.	Democratic	February 1 1926–January 15 1930	President of The Valley Turnpike Company
51	John Garland Pollard	Democratic	January 15 1930–January 17 1934	Attorney General of Virginia
52	George C. Peery	Democratic	January 17 1934–January 15 1938	US Congress
53	James H. Price	Democratic	January 15 1938–January 21 1942	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
54	Colgate W. Darden Jr.	Democratic	January 21 1942–January 16 1946	US Congress
55	William M. Tuck	Democratic	January 16 1946–January 18 1950	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
56	John S. Battle	Democratic	January 18 1950–January 20 1954	Virginia State Senate
57	Thomas B. Stanley	Democratic	January 20 1954–January 11 1958	US Congress
58	James Lindsay Almond, Jr.	Democratic	January 11 1958–January 13 1962	Attorney General of Virginia
59	Albertis S. Harrison Jr.	Democratic	January 13 1962–January 15 1966	Attorney General of Virginia
60	Mills E. Godwin Jr.	Democratic	January 15 1966–January 17 1970	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
61	A. Linwood Holton Jr.	Republican	January 17 1970–January 12 1974	US Senate Candidate
62	Mills E. Godwin Jr.	Republican	January 12 1974–January 14 1978	Governor of Virginia
63	John N. Dalton	Republican	January 14 1978–January 16 1982	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
64	Charles S. Robb	Democratic	January 16 1982–January 18 1986	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
65	Gerald L. Baliles	Democratic	January 18 1986–January 14 1990	Attorney General of Virginia
66	L. Douglas Wilder	Democratic	January 14 1990-January 15 1994	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
67	George Allen	Republican	January 15 1994–January 17 1998	US Congress
68	James S. Gilmore III	Republican	January 17 1998–January 12 2002	Attorney General of Virginia
69	Mark Warner	Democratic	January 12 2002–January 14 2006	US Senate Candidate
70	Tim Kaine	Democratic	January 14 2006–Present	Lieutenant Governor of Virginia

Sources

★ 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)

External links

★ Virginia State Government Website