List of governors of Virginia
The following is a list of the governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
List of governors
- Parties
Democratic Federalist Democratic-Republican Whig Republican Independent
# | Picture | Governor | Took office | Left office | Lieutenant Governor | Party | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Patrick Henry | July 5, 1776 | June 1, 1779 | Office vacant
1776-1852 |
None | First under 1776 Constitution (limit of 3 one-year terms) | |
2 | Thomas Jefferson | June 1, 1779 | June 3, 1781 | None | 3rd President of the United States | ||
3 | William Fleming | June 3, 1781 | June 12, 1781 | None | |||
4 | Thomas Nelson, Jr. | June 12, 1781 | November 22, 1781 | None | |||
– | David Jameson | November 22, 1781 | December 1, 1781 | None | Acting Governor (member of Council of State) | ||
5 | Benjamin Harrison V | December 1, 1781 | December 1, 1784 | None | |||
6 | Patrick Henry | December 1, 1784 | December 1, 1786 | None | Re-elected after 5-year hiatus (1 more than constitutional minimum) | ||
7 | Edmund Randolph | December 1, 1786 | December 1, 1788 | None | First under U.S. statehood | ||
8 | Beverley Randolph | December 1, 1788 | December 1, 1791 | None | |||
9 | Henry Lee III | December 1, 1791 | December 1, 1794 | Federalist | |||
10 | Robert Brooke | December 1, 1794 | December 1, 1796 | Democratic-Republican | |||
11 | James Wood | December 1, 1796 | December 1, 1799 | Federalist | |||
– | Hardin Burnley | December 7, 1799 | December 11, 1799 | ||||
– | John Pendleton, Jr. | December 11, 1799 | December 19, 1799 | ||||
12 | James Monroe | December 19, 1799 | December 1, 1802 | Democratic-Republican | U.S. Senator 1790–1794, fifth President of the United States | ||
13 | John Page | December 1, 1802 | December 7, 1805 | Democratic-Republican | |||
14 | William H. Cabell | December 7, 1805 | December 1, 1808 | Democratic-Republican | |||
15 | John Tyler, Sr. | December 1, 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 3, 1812 | Democratic-Republican | Acting Governor (member of Council of State) | ||
18 | James Barbour | January 3, 1812 | December 1, 1814 | Democratic-Republican | U.S. Senator 1815–1825 | ||
19 | Wilson Cary Nicholas | December 1, 1814 | December 1, 1816 | Democratic-Republican | |||
20 | James Patton Preston | December 1, 1816 | December 1, 1819 | Democratic-Republican | |||
21 | Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. | December 1, 1819 | December 1, 1822 | Democratic-Republican | |||
22 | James Pleasants | December 1, 1822 | December 10, 1825 | Democratic-Republican | Resigned U.S. Senate to assume Governorship | ||
23 | John Tyler | December 10, 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 | 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 | April 30, 1836 | Democratic | U.S. Senator 1824–1832 | ||
— | Wyndham Robertson | April 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 1, 1843 | Whig | Acting Governor (member of Council of State) | ||
29 | James McDowell | January 1, 1843 | January 1, 1846 | Democratic | |||
30 | William Smith | January 1, 1846 | January 1, 1849 | Democratic | |||
31 | John B. Floyd | January 1, 1849 | January 16, 1852 | Democratic | U.S. Secretary of War 1857–60 | ||
32 | Joseph Johnson | January 16, 1852 | January 1, 1856 | Shelton Leake | Democratic | First under 1851 constitution (limit of 1 four-year term) First popularly elected governor | |
33 | Henry A. Wise | January 1, 1856 | January 1, 1860 | Elisha W. McComas William Lowther Jackson |
Democratic | ||
34 | John Letcher | January 1, 1860 | January 1, 1864 | Robert Latane Montague | Democratic | (On June 20, 1863, the new U.S. state of West Virginia was formed) | |
35 | William Smith | January 1, 1864 | May 9, 1865 | Samuel Price | Democratic | ||
— | Francis Harrison Pierpont | May 9, 1865 | April 4, 1868 | None | Republican | Elected by Restored General Assembly (Union) | |
— | Henry H. Wells | April 4, 1868 | September 21, 1869 | None | Republican | Appointed Governor by U.S. military | |
36 | Gilbert Carlton Walker | September 21, 1869 | January 1, 1874 | John F. Lewis John Lawrence Marye, Jr. |
Republican | Appointed Governor by U.S. military then elected as a Republican Governor later served as a Democratic Congressman | |
37 | James L. Kemper | January 1, 1874 | January 1, 1878 | Robert E. Withers Henry Wirtz Thomas |
Democratic | ||
38 | Frederick W. M. Holliday | January 1, 1878 | January 1, 1882 | James A. Walker | Democratic | ||
39 | William E. Cameron | January 1, 1882 | January 1, 1886 | John F. Lewis | Re-adjuster | ||
40 | Fitzhugh Lee | January 1, 1886 | January 1, 1890 | John E. Massey | Democratic | ||
41 | Philip W. McKinney | January 1, 1890 | January 1, 1894 | James H. Tyler | Democratic | ||
42 | Charles Triplett O'Ferrall | January 1, 1894 | January 1, 1898 | Robert C. Kent | Democratic | Resigned U. S. House seat to assume Governorship | |
43 | James Hoge Tyler | January 1, 1898 | January 1, 1902 | Edward Echols | Democratic | ||
44 | Andrew Jackson Montague | January 1, 1902 | February 1, 1906 | Joseph Edward Willard | Democratic | ||
45 | Claude A. Swanson | February 1, 1906 | February 10, 1910 | James T. Ellyson | Democratic | U.S. Senator 1910–33 | |
46 | William Hodges Mann | February 10, 1910 | February 1, 1914 | James T. Ellyson | Democratic | ||
47 | Henry Carter Stuart | February 1, 1914 | February 1, 1918 | James T. Ellyson | Democratic | ||
48 | Westmoreland Davis | February 1, 1918 | February 1, 1922 | Benjamin F. Buchanan | Democratic | ||
49 | Elbert Lee Trinkle | February 1, 1922 | February 1, 1926 | Junius E. West | Democratic | ||
50 | Harry F. Byrd | February 1, 1926 | January 15, 1930 | Junius E. West | Democratic | U.S. Senator 1933–65 | |
51 | John Garland Pollard | January 15, 1930 | January 17, 1934 | James H. Price | Democratic | ||
52 | George C. Peery | January 17, 1934 | January 15, 1938 | James H. Price | Democratic | ||
53 | James H. Price | January 15, 1938 | January 21, 1942 | Saxon W. Holt | Democratic | ||
54 | Colgate Darden | January 21, 1942 | January 16, 1946 | William M. Tuck | Democratic | ||
55 | William M. Tuck | January 16, 1946 | January 18, 1950 | Lewis Preston Collins II | Democratic | ||
56 | John S. Battle | January 18, 1950 | January 20, 1954 | Lewis Preston Collins II Allie Edward Stakes Stephens |
Democratic | ||
57 | Thomas B. Stanley | January 20, 1954 | January 11, 1958 | Allie Edward Stakes Stephens | Democratic | ||
58 | J. Lindsay Almond | January 11, 1958 | January 13, 1962 | Allie Edward Stakes Stephens | Democratic | ||
59 | Albertis Harrison | January 13, 1962 | January 15, 1966 | Mills Godwin | Democratic | ||
60 | Mills Godwin | January 15, 1966 | January 17, 1970 | Fred G. Pollard | Democratic | ||
61 | Linwood Holton | January 17, 1970 | January 12, 1974 | J. Sargeant Reynolds (Democratic) Henry Howell (Democratic) |
Republican | ||
62 | Mills Godwin | January 12, 1974 | January 14, 1978 | John N. Dalton | Republican | ||
63 | John Dalton | January 14, 1978 | January 16, 1982 | Chuck Robb (Democratic) | Republican | ||
64 | Chuck Robb | January 16, 1982 | January 18, 1986 | Dick Davis | Democratic | U.S. Senator 1989–2001 | |
65 | Gerald Baliles | January 18, 1986 | January 13, 1990 | Douglas Wilder | Democratic | ||
66 | Douglas Wilder | January 13, 1990 | January 15, 1994 | Don Beyer | Democratic | First African-American governor elected in American history | |
67 | George Allen | January 15, 1994 | January 17, 1998 | Don Beyer (Democratic) | Republican | U.S. Senator 2001–2007 | |
68 | Jim Gilmore | January 17, 1998 | January 12, 2002 | John H. Hager | Republican | ||
69 | Mark Warner | January 12, 2002 | January 14, 2006 | Tim Kaine | Democratic | U.S. Senator 2009–present | |
70 | Tim Kaine | January 14, 2006 | January 16, 2010 | Bill Bolling (Republican) | Democratic | First Catholic Governor, U.S. Senator 2013–present, nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2016 | |
71 | Bob McDonnell | January 16, 2010 | January 11, 2014 | Bill Bolling | Republican | ||
72 | Terry McAuliffe | January 11, 2014 | January 13, 2018 | Ralph Northam | Democratic | ||
73 | Ralph Northam | January 13, 2018 | January 15, 2022 | Justin Fairfax | Democratic | ||
74 | Glenn Youngkin | January 15, 2022 | Incumbent | Winsome Sears | Republican |