State Governors
From statehood until the election of 1966, governors were elected to two-year terms. Elections are held in November and the governor assumes office the following January, except in the case of death or resignation. From statehood until 1851, elections were held in odd-numbered years. A new state constitution was drafted in 1850 and took effect in 1851. As part of the process bringing the constitution into effect, there was a single one-year term of governor in 1851. Thereafter elections were held on even years.
The constitution adopted in 1963 changed the governor's term to four years, starting in 1967. Since then, gubernatorial elections have been offset by two years from U.S. Presidential elections (e.g., Presidential elections were in 2000 and 2004, gubernatorial elections were in 1998 and 2002). The winner of the gubernatorial election takes office at noon on January 1 of the year following the election.
In 1992, an amendment to the Constitution of Michigan imposed a lifetime term limit of two four-year terms for the office of governor. Prior to this, they were not limited as to how many terms they could serve. John Engler, who was in the midst of his first term as Governor when the amendment was adopted, was allowed to run for two more terms in 1994 and 1998 before being prevented from running again in 2002.
| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Lt. Governor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stevens T. Mason | October 6, 1835 | January 7, 1840 | Democratic | Edward Mundy | |
| 2 | William Woodbridge | January 7, 1840 | February 23, 1841 | Whig | J. Wright Gordon | |
| 3 | J. Wright Gordon | February 23, 1841 | January 3, 1842 | Whig | Thomas J. Drake | |
| 4 | John S. Barry | January 3, 1842 | January 5, 1846 | Democratic | Origen D. Richardson | |
| 5 | Alpheus Felch | January 5, 1846 | March 3, 1847 | Democratic | William L. Greenly | |
| 6 | William L. Greenly | March 4, 1847 | January 3, 1848 | Democratic | Charles P. Bush | |
| 7 | Epaphroditus Ransom | January 3, 1848 | January 7, 1850 | Democratic | William M. Fenton | |
| 8 | John S. Barry | January 7, 1850 | January 1, 1852 | Democratic | William M. Fenton | |
| 9 | Robert McClelland | January 1, 1852 | March 7, 1853 | Democratic | Calvin Britain | |
| Andrew Parsons | ||||||
| 10 | Andrew Parsons | March 8, 1853 | January 3, 1855 | Democratic | George Griswold | |
| 11 | Kinsley S. Bingham | January 3, 1855 | January 5, 1859 | Republican | George Coe | |
| 12 | Moses Wisner | January 5, 1859 | January 2, 1861 | Republican | Edmund B. Fairfield | |
| 13 | Austin Blair | January 2, 1861 | January 3, 1865 | Republican | James M. Birney | |
| Joseph R. Williams | ||||||
| Henry T. Backus | ||||||
| Charles S. May | ||||||
| 14 | Henry H. Crapo | January 3, 1865 | January 6, 1869 | Republican | Ebenezer Grosvenor | |
| Dwight May | ||||||
| 15 | Henry P. Baldwin | January 6, 1869 | January 1, 1873 | Republican | Morgan Bates | |
| 16 | John J. Bagley | January 1, 1873 | January 3, 1877 | Republican | Henry H. Holt | |
| 17 | Charles Croswell | January 3, 1877 | January 1, 1881 | Republican | Alonzo Sessions | |
| 18 | David Jerome | January 1, 1881 | January 1, 1883 | Republican | Moreau S. Crosby | |
| 19 | Josiah Begole | January 1, 1883 | January 1, 1885 | Democratic | Moreau S. Crosby | |
| 20 | Russell Alger | January 1, 1885 | January 1, 1887 | Republican | Archibald Buttars | |
| 21 | Cyrus G. Luce | January 1, 1887 | January 1, 1891 | Republican | James H. MacDonald | |
| William Ball | ||||||
| 22 | Edwin B. Winans | January 1, 1891 | January 1, 1893 | Democratic | John Strong | |
| 23 | John T. Rich | January 1, 1893 | January 1, 1897 | Republican | J. Wight Giddings | |
| Alfred Milnes | ||||||
| Joseph R. McLaughlin | ||||||
| 24 | Hazen S. Pingree | January 1, 1897 | January 1, 1901 | Republican | Thomas B. Dunstan | |
| Orrin W. Robinson | ||||||
| 25 | Aaron T. Bliss | January 1, 1901 | January 1, 1905 | Republican | Orrin W. Robinson | |
| Alexander Maitland | ||||||
| 26 | Fred M. Warner | January 1, 1905 | January 2, 1911 | Republican | Alexander Maitland | |
| Patrick H. Kelley | ||||||
| 27 | Chase Osborn | January 2, 1911 | January 1, 1913 | Republican | John Q. Ross | |
| 28 | Woodbridge Nathan Ferris | January 1, 1913 | January 1, 1917 | Democratic | John Q. Ross | |
| Luren Dickinson | ||||||
| 29 | Albert Sleeper | January 1, 1917 | January 1, 1921 | Republican | Luren Dickinson | |
| 30 | Alex Groesbeck | January 1, 1921 | January 1, 1927 | Republican | Thomas Read | |
| George W. Welsh | ||||||
| 31 | Fred Green | January 1, 1927 | January 1, 1931 | Republican | Luren Dickinson | |
| 32 | Wilber Marion Brucker | January 1, 1931 | January 1, 1933 | Republican | Luren Dickinson | |
| 33 | William Comstock | January 1, 1933 | January 1, 1935 | Democratic | Allen E. Stebbins | |
| 34 | Frank Fitzgerald | January 1, 1935 | January 1, 1937 | Republican | Thomas Read | |
| 35 | Frank Murphy | January 1, 1937 | January 1, 1939 | Democratic | Leo J. Nowicki | |
| 36 | Frank Fitzgerald | January 1, 1939 | March 16, 1939 | Republican | Luren Dickinson | |
| 37 | Luren Dickinson | March 16, 1939 | January 1, 1941 | Republican | Matilda Dodge Wilson | |
| 38 | Murray Van Wagoner | January 1, 1941 | January 1, 1943 | Democratic | Frank Murphy | |
| 39 | Harry Kelly | January 1, 1943 | January 1, 1947 | Republican | Eugene C. Keyes | |
| Vernon J. Brown | ||||||
| 40 | Kim Sigler | January 1, 1947 | January 1, 1949 | Republican | Eugene C. Keyes | |
| 41 | G. Mennen Williams | January 1, 1949 | January 1, 1961 | Democratic | John W. Connolly | |
| William C. Vandenberg | ||||||
| Clarence A. Reid | ||||||
| Philip A. Hart | ||||||
| John B. Swainson | ||||||
| 42 | John Swainson | January 1, 1961 | January 1, 1963 | Democratic | T. John Lesinski | |
| 43 | George W. Romney | January 1, 1963 | January 22, 1969 | Republican | T. John Lesinski | |
| William Milliken | ||||||
| 44 | William Milliken | January 22, 1969 | January 1, 1983 | Republican | Thomas F. Schweigert | |
| James H. Brickley | ||||||
| James Damman | ||||||
| James H. Brickley | ||||||
| 45 | James Blanchard | January 1, 1983 | January 1, 1991 | Democratic | Martha Griffiths | |
| 46 | John Engler | January 1, 1991 | January 1, 2003 | Republican | Connie Binsfeld | |
| Dick Posthumus | ||||||
| 47 | Jennifer Granholm | January 1, 2003 | January 1, 2011 | Democratic | John D. Cherry, Jr. | |
| 48 | Rick Snyder | January 1, 2011 | Incumbent | Republican | Brian Calley |
Read more about this topic: List Of Governors Of Michigan
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