List of governors of New York
The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York, the head of the executive branch of New York's state government, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.[1] The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws, to convene the New York State Legislature,[1] the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the legislature,[2] as well as to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.[3]

Fifty-seven people have served as state governor, four of whom served non-consecutive terms (George Clinton, DeWitt Clinton, Horatio Seymour, and Al Smith); the official numbering lists each governor only once. There has only been one female governor so far: Kathy Hochul. This numbering includes one acting governor: the lieutenant governor who filled the vacancy after the resignation of the governor, under the 1777 Constitution.[4] The list does not include the prior colonial governors nor those who have acted as governor when the governor was out of state, such as Lieutenant Governor Timothy L. Woodruff during Theodore Roosevelt's vice presidential campaign in 1900, or Acting Speaker of the New York State Assembly Moses M. Weinstein, who acted as governor for 10 days in 1968 while the governor, the lieutenant governor and the senate majority leader were out of the state, attending the Republican National Convention in Miami.[5]
Four men have become president of the United States after serving as governor of New York: Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and six were vice president. Van Buren and Theodore Roosevelt held both offices. Numerous Governors have also sought the Presidency, and won their party's respective nomination, but lost the General Election, such as Al Smith, Samuel J. Tilden, Horatio Seymour, Thomas E. Dewey, and Charles Evans Hughes Two governors have been chief justice: John Jay held that position when he was elected governor in 1795, and Charles Evans Hughes became chief justice in 1930, two decades after leaving the governorship.
The longest-serving governor was the first, George Clinton, who first took office on July 30, 1777, and served seven terms in two different periods, totaling just under 21 years in office. As 18 of those years were consecutive, Clinton also served the longest consecutive period in office for a New York governor. Charles Poletti had the shortest term, serving 29 days following the resignation of the previous governor, Herbert H. Lehman in 1942. David Paterson was the first African American governor of New York, and the first legally blind governor as well. Paterson is only the fourth African American to hold the office of governor in the United States. The current governor is Democrat Kathy Hochul, the state's first female governor, who assumed the office on August 24, 2021 upon the resignation of Andrew Cuomo.[6] Hochul went on to be elected as governor for a full term, after beating Republican Lee Zeldin in the 2022 election.
Governors
New York was one of the original Thirteen Colonies on the east coast of North America, and was admitted as a state on July 26, 1788. Prior to declaring its independence, New York was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain, which it in turn obtained from the Dutch as the colony of New Netherland; see the list of colonial governors and the list of directors-general of New Netherland for the pre-statehood period.
The office of the governor was established by the first New York Constitution in 1777. The governor originally served for a term of three years,[7] though the constitution did not specify when the term began. A 1787 law set the start of the term at July 1.[8] The New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821 amended the state constitution, reducing the term of office to two years,[9] moving the election to November,[10] and moving the beginning and the end of the term to coincide with the calendar year.[11] An 1874 amendment extended the term of office back to three years,[12] but the 1894 constitution again reduced it to two years.[13] The most recent New York Constitution of 1938 extended the term to the current four years.[14] There is no limit to the number of consecutive terms a governor may serve.
The Constitution has provided since 1777 for the election of a lieutenant governor of New York, who is ex officio President of the Senate, to the same term (keeping the same term lengths as the governor throughout all the constitutional revisions). Originally, in the event of the death, resignation or impeachment of the governor, the lieutenant governor would become acting governor until the end of the yearly legislative term, the office being filled in a special election, if there was a remainder of the term.[15] Since the 1821 Constitution, the lieutenant governor explicitly becomes governor upon such vacancy in the office and serves for the entire remainder of the term.[16] Should the office of lieutenant governor become vacant, the president pro tempore of the State Senate[lower-alpha 1] performs all the duties of the lieutenant governor until the vacancy is filled either at the next gubernatorial election or by appointment.[lower-alpha 2] Likewise, should both offices become vacant at the same time, the president pro tempore acts as governor, with the office of lieutenant governor remaining vacant. Should the presidency pro tempore be vacant too, or the incumbent unable to fulfill the duties, the Speaker of the State Assembly is next in the line of succession.[17] The lieutenant governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor, since the 1954 election with a single joint vote cast for both offices, but is nominated separately.[18]
See also
Notes
- The state constitutions refer to this position as the "temporary president of the senate".
- On September 22, 2009, the New York Court of Appeals upheld the right of the governor to appoint a lieutenant governor to fill the vacancy.
- The 1846 constitution specified that the governor holds their office "until and including the thirty-first day of December"; this has been interpreted in modern times as the changeover occurring at midnight. Governors on this list are only marked as having left office on December 31 if an early or midnight swearing-in of their successor was documented.
- Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
- Clinton instead ran successfully for Vice President of the United States.[19]
- Tompkins resigned to be Vice President of the United States.[29]
- At the time, the position of president pro-tempore of the Senate was only filled during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor, so Tayler was not elected to fill the position until January 29, 1811.
- Tayler instead ran successfully for re-election to lieutenant governor.
- Van Buren resigned to be United States Secretary of State.[42]
- Bouck lost the Democratic nomination to Silas Wright.[53]
- Represented the Democratic Party
- Clark lost the Republican nomination to John A. King.[70]
- All modern sources say Fenton was inaugurated on January 1, and this is found in sources at least as old as 1910;[82] however, all contemporary coverage says he was inaugurated at noon on Monday, January 2.[83][84][85]
- Fenton instead ran successfully for United States Senate.[80]
- Tilden instead ran unsuccessfully for President of the United States.[92]
- Cornell lost the Republican nomination to Charles J. Folger.[98]
- Cleveland resigned to be President of the United States.[101]
- Hill was elected to the United States Senate for a term starting March 4, 1891, but did not take office until his gubernatorial term expired.[107]
- Represented the Republican Party
- Black lost the Republican nomination to Theodore Roosevelt.[113]
- Roosevelt instead ran successfully for Vice President of the United States.[116]
- Hughes resigned to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.[125]
- Dix lost the Democratic nomination to William Sulzer.[134]
- Sulzer was impeached and removed from office for campaign contribution fraud.[135]
- Smith instead ran unsuccessfully for President of the United States.[144]
- Roosevelt instead ran successfully for President of the United States.[151]
- Lehman resigned to be director of the Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations at the United States Department of State.[154]
- Rockefeller resigned to devote himself to his Commission on Critical Choices for Americans.[169]
- Elected as Betsy McCaughey, but married and changed name in 1995.
- Spitzer resigned due to a prostitution scandal.[179]
- Espada was a Democrat, but combined with the Republicans in a change of leadership which triggered the 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis.
- Ravitch was appointed on July 8, 2009, but the appointment was contested in the courts. On August 20, the Appellate Division rejected the appointment; Ravitch vacated the office.
- Smith succeeded Espada on July 9 as temporary President of the New York State Senate and claimed to be Acting Lieutenant Governor under the provisions of the New York State Constitution while the appointment of Ravitch was contested.
- On September 22, the New York Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division's ruling, thus re-instating Ravitch to the lieutenant governorship, beginning on July 8.
- Cuomo resigned due to allegations of sexual harassment.[6]
- Hochul's first full term began at midnight on January 1, 2023 and will expire at midnight January 1, 2027.
References
- General
- "Governors of New York". State of New York. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- "Former New York Governors". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Sobel, Robert (1978). Biographical directory of the governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. III. Meckler Books. ISBN 9780930466008. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Jenkins, John Stilwell (1851). Lives of the Governors of the State of New York. Auburn N.Y.: Derby and Miller. p. 862.
- Specific
- New York Constitution article IV, § 3.
- New York Constitution article IV, § 7.
- New York Constitution article IV, § 4.
- "Governors of New York". State of New York. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- McFadden, Robert D. (December 3, 2007). "Moses Weinstein, 95, Legislator and Judge, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
- "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns". NBC News. August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
- 1777 New York Constitution, article XVIII.
- "Governors of New York". New York Department of State. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- 1821 New York Constitution article III, § 1.
- 1821 New York Constitution article I, § 15.
- 1821 New York Constitution article I, § 16.
- John Joseph Lalor, ed. (1883). "New York". Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States. Vol. II. Chicago: Melbert B. Cary & Company. p. 1017. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- 1894 New York Constitution article IV, § 1
- New York Constitution article IV, § 1.
- 1777 New York Constitution, article X.
- New York Constitution, article IV § 5.
- New York Constitution, article IV § 6.
- "Executive Branch of the Several States". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- Sobel pp. 1069–1070
- "George Clinton". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Faber, Harold (1989-09-25). "Remembering a Governor Almost Forgotten". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
- Sobel pp. 1070–1071
- "John Jay". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Senate, New York (State) Legislature (1901). Documents of the Senate of the State of New York. E. Croswell. p. 303.
- Williams, Edwin (1831). The New York Annual Register. J. Leavitt. p. 35.
- Sobel p. 1071
- "Morgan Lewis". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Sobel p. 1072
- "Daniel D. Tompkins". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Sobel pp. 1072–1073
- "John Tayler". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Tompkins resigns, Tayler acts, February 24". Retrieved 2023-05-12.
- Sobel pp. 1073–1074
- "Dewitt Clinton". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Clinton inaugurated, July 1". Retrieved 2023-05-12.
- Sobel p. 1074
- "Joseph Christopher Yates". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Yates inaugurated, January 1". Retrieved 2023-05-12.
- "New Governor". Retrieved 2023-05-12.
- Sobel pp. 1074–1075
- "Nathaniel Pitcher". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Sobel pp. 1075–1076
- "Martin Van Buren". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Van Buren inaugurated January 1". Retrieved 2023-05-12.
- Sobel p. 1076
- "Enos Thompson Throop". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate of the State of New York, 1829. 307. Accessed May 12, 2023.
- Sobel pp. 1076–1077
- "William Learned Marcy". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Sobel pp. 1077–1078
- "William Henry Seward". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Seward inaugurated January 1". Retrieved 2023-05-13.
- Sobel pp. 1078–1079
- "William C. Bouck". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Sobel p. 1079
- "Silas Wright". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Wright inaugurated January 1". Retrieved 2023-05-13.
- Sobel p. 1080
- "John Young". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "The Inauguration of John Young As Governor of New York". Retrieved 2023-05-13.
- Sobel pp. 1080–1081
- "Hamilton Fish". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Affairs in Albany". Retrieved 2023-05-13.
- Sobel p. 1081
- "Washington Hunt". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Inauguration of Governor Hunt, Interesting Proceedings". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- Sobel p. 1082
- "Horatio Seymour". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "The Inauguration of Gov. Seymour - The Opening of the Legislature, etc". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- Sobel pp. 1082–1083
- "Myron Holley Clark". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Inauguration of the New Governor". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- Sobel p. 1083
- "John Alsop King". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Inauguration of Gov. King". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- Sobel p. 1084
- "Edwin Denison Morgan". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Affairs in Albany". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- "Inauguration of Governor Horatio Seymour". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- Sobel p. 1085
- "Reuben Eaton Fenton". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Manning, James Hilton (1910). Albany Zouave Cadets ...: Fifty Years Young, July Twenty-third, MDCCCLX-MDCCCCX ... Weed-Parsons Printing Company. p. 39.
- "Inauguration of Gov. Fenton". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- "Inauguration of Governor Fenton". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- "The State Legislature". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- Sobel pp. 1085–1086
- "John Thompson Hoffman". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Inauguration of the New State Government". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- Sobel pp. 1086–1087
- "John Adams Dix". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "State Inaugurations". Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- Sobel pp. 1087–1088
- "Samuel Jones Tilden". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "The New Governor Sworn". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel p. 1088
- "Lucius Robinson". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "The New Governor Installed". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel p. 1089
- "Alonzo Barton Cornell". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "A New Governor in Office". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel pp. 1089–1090
- "Steven Grover Cleveland". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Governor Cleveland". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel pp. 1090–1091
- "David Bennett Hill". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "The New Regime". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- United States Congress. "David Bennett Hill (id: H000590)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Sobel p. 1091
- "Roswell Pettibone Flower". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Governor Flower Inaugurated With Elaborate Ceremonies". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel p. 1092
- "Levi P. Morton, Governor". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel pp. 1092–1093
- "Frank Swett Black". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Black Is Now Governor". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel pp. 1093–1094
- "Theodore Roosevelt". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Col. Roosevelt Takes the Oath of Office". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel p. 1094
- "Benjamin Baker Odell". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Gov. Odell Inaugurated". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel pp. 1094–1095
- "Francis Wayland Higgins". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "It Is Gov. Higgins Now". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel pp. 1095–1096
- "Charles Evans Hughes". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Crowds Gather at Albany for Inauguration". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel p. 1096
- "Horace White". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Horace White Is Governor of New York". Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- Sobel pp. 1096–1097
- "John Alden Dix". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Dix Sworn In As Governor". Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "SULZER WINS ON FOURTH PHASE DIX WITHDRAWS; Murphy Declines to the Candidate at Syracuse Dependents Support Suit". The New York Times. 1912-10-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
- Sobel p. 1097
- "William Sulzer". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Sulzer inaugurated at noon January 1". Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel p. 1098
- "Martin Henry Glynn". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Glynn Is Sworn In". Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel pp. 1098–1099
- "Charles Seymour Whitman". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Midnight Appointments Made by New Governor". 1915-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel pp. 1099–1100
- "Alfred Emanuel Smith". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Democratic Weather for Smith's Inauguration". 1919-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel p. 1100
- "Nathan Lewis Miller". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Brilliance to Mark Miller's Inaugural Day". 1921-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "Article clipped from Poughkeepsie Eagle-News". 1923-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel p. 1101
- "Franklin Delano Roosevelt". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Roosevelt Takes First Oath Of Office as State Governor". 1929-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel pp. 1101–1102
- "Herbert Henry Lehman". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "O'Brien Sworn As Mayor; Lehman Now Governor". 1933-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel pp. 1102–1103
- "Charles Poletti". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Poletti Assumes Governorship; Lehman Resigns". 1942-12-03. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel pp. 1103–1104
- "Thomas Edmund Dewey". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Dewey Sworn In; 20-Year Republican Drout Ends". 1943-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel pp. 1104–1105
- "William Averell Harriman". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Gov. Harriman Sworn; Hungry Dems Swarm". 1955-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Sobel pp. 1105–1106
- "Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Rockefeller Sworn In As 49th Governor". 1959-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "Wilson Becomes 50th Governor in Quiet Ceremony". Retrieved 2023-05-11.
- Sobel pp. 1106–1107
- "Malcolm Wilson". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Sobel p. 1107
- "Hugh Leo Carey". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Carey Takes Oath as Governor". 1975-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "Mario Matthew Cuomo". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Cuomo Takes Oath, Becomes 52nd Governor". 1983-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "George E. Pataki". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "New governor in control of New York". 1995-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "Eliot Spitzer". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Glut of troubles awaits Spitzer". 2007-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "David A. Paterson". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Trust is Paterson's mission". 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "Andrew Cuomo". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- "Cuomo is 56th leader of New York". 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- "Kathy Hochul". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- Solomon, Joshua (2021-08-24). "Kathy Hochul sworn in after midnight, becoming New York's first female governor". Retrieved 2023-05-16.
External links
