Governors
- For the period before independence, see the list of colonial governors of New Jersey.
New Jersey was one of the original thirteen colonies and was admitted as a state on December 18, 1787. Prior to declaring its independence, New Jersey was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
The first New Jersey State Constitution, ratified in 1776, provided that a governor be elected annually by the state legislature, the members of which were selected by the several counties. Under this constitution, the governor was president of the upper house of the legislature, then called the Legislative Council. The 1844 constitution provided for a popular vote to elect the governor, who no longer presided over the upper house of the legislature, now called the Senate. The 1844 constitution also lengthened the governor's term to three years, set to start on the third Tuesday in January following an election, and barred governors from succeeding themselves. The 1947 constitution extended terms to four years, and limits governors from being elected to more than two consecutive terms, though they can run again after a third term has passed.
The 1776 constitution provided that the vice-president of the Legislative Council would act as governor (who was president of the Council) should that office be vacant. The 1844 constitution placed the president of the Senate first in the line of succession, as did the subsequent 1947 constitution. A constitutional amendment in 2006 created the office of lieutenant governor, to be elected on the same ticket for the same term as the governor, and if the office of governor is vacant, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. This office was first filled in 2010.
Federalist (4) Democratic-Republican (3) Democratic (27) Whig (4) Republican (17)
(official numbering, does not include repeat or acting governors)
| # |
Governor | Term start | Term end | Party | Lt. Governor |
Terms |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Livingston | August 31, 1776 | July 25, 1790 | Federalist | None | 13 1⁄2 |
|
| — | Elisha Lawrence | July 25, 1790 | October 29, 1790 | Federalist | 1⁄2 |
||
| 2 | William Paterson | October 29, 1790 | March 30, 1793 | Federalist | 2 1⁄2 |
||
| — | Thomas Henderson | March 30, 1793 | June 3, 1793 | Federalist | 1⁄2 |
||
| 3 | Richard Howell | June 3, 1793 | October 31, 1801 | Federalist | 8 |
||
| 4 | Joseph Bloomfield | October 31, 1801 | October 28, 1802 | Democratic- Republican |
1 | ||
| — | John Lambert | October 28, 1802 | October 29, 1803 | Democratic- Republican |
1 |
||
| 4 | Joseph Bloomfield | October 29, 1803 | October 29, 1812 | Democratic- Republican |
9 |
||
| 5 | Aaron Ogden | October 29, 1812 | October 29, 1813 | Federalist | 1 | ||
| 6 | William Sanford Pennington | October 29, 1813 | June 19, 1815 | Democratic- Republican |
1 1⁄2 |
||
| — | William Kennedy | June 19, 1815 | October 26, 1815 | Democratic- Republican |
1⁄2 |
||
| 7 | Mahlon Dickerson | October 26, 1815 | February 1, 1817 | Democratic- Republican |
1 1⁄2 |
||
| 8 | Isaac Halstead Williamson | February 6, 1817 | October 30, 1829 | Federalist | 12 1⁄2 |
||
| — | Garret D. Wall | — | — | Democratic | — |
||
| 9 | Peter Dumont Vroom | November 6, 1829 | October 26, 1832 | Democratic | 3 | ||
| 10 | Samuel L. Southard | October 26, 1832 | February 27, 1833 | Whig | 1⁄2 |
||
| 11 | Elias P. Seeley | February 27, 1833 | October 25, 1833 | Whig | 1⁄2 |
||
| 9 | Peter Dumont Vroom | October 25, 1833 | November 3, 1836 | Democratic | 3 | ||
| 12 | Philemon Dickerson | November 3, 1836 | October 27, 1837 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 13 | William Pennington | October 27, 1837 | October 27, 1843 | Whig | 6 | ||
| 14 | Daniel Haines | October 27, 1843 | January 21, 1845 | Democratic | 1 |
||
| 15 | Charles C. Stratton | January 21, 1845 | January 18, 1848 | Whig | 1 |
||
| 14 | Daniel Haines | January 18, 1848 | January 21, 1851 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 16 | George F. Fort | January 21, 1851 | January 17, 1854 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 17 | Rodman M. Price | January 17, 1854 | January 20, 1857 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 18 | William A. Newell | January 20, 1857 | January 17, 1860 | Republican | 1 | ||
| 19 | Charles Smith Olden | January 17, 1860 | January 20, 1863 | Republican | 1 | ||
| 20 | Joel Parker | January 20, 1863 | January 16, 1866 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 21 | Marcus Lawrence Ward | January 16, 1866 | January 19, 1869 | Republican | 1 | ||
| 22 | Theodore Fitz Randolph | January 19, 1869 | January 16, 1872 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 20 | Joel Parker | January 16, 1872 | January 19, 1875 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 23 | Joseph D. Bedle | January 19, 1875 | January 15, 1878 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 24 | George B. McClellan | January 15, 1878 | January 18, 1881 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 25 | George C. Ludlow | January 18, 1881 | January 15, 1884 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 26 | Leon Abbett | January 15, 1884 | January 18, 1887 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 27 | Robert Stockton Green | January 18, 1887 | January 21, 1890 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 26 | Leon Abbett | January 21, 1890 | January 17, 1893 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 28 | George Theodore Werts | January 17, 1893 | January 21, 1896 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 29 | John W. Griggs | January 21, 1896 | January 31, 1898 | Republican | 1⁄3 |
||
| — | Foster MacGowan Voorhees | January 31, 1898 | October 18, 1898 | Republican | 1⁄3 |
||
| — | David Ogden Watkins | October 18, 1898 | January 17, 1899 | Republican | 1⁄3 |
||
| 30 | Foster MacGowan Voorhees | January 17, 1899 | January 21, 1902 | Republican | 1 |
||
| 31 | Franklin Murphy | January 21, 1902 | January 17, 1905 | Republican | 1 |
||
| 32 | Edward C. Stokes | January 17, 1905 | January 21, 1908 | Republican | 1 | ||
| 33 | John Franklin Fort | January 21, 1908 | January 17, 1911 | Republican | 1 |
||
| 34 | Woodrow Wilson | January 17, 1911 | March 1, 1913 | Democratic | 1⁄3 |
||
| — | James Fairman Fielder | March 1, 1913 | October 28, 1913 | Democratic | 1⁄3 |
||
| — | Leon R. Taylor | October 28, 1913 | January 20, 1914 | Democratic | 1⁄3 |
||
| 35 | James Fairman Fielder | January 20, 1914 | January 16, 1917 | Democratic | 1 |
||
| 36 | Walter Evans Edge | January 16, 1917 | May 16, 1919 | Republican | 1⁄3 |
||
| — | William Nelson Runyon | May 16, 1919 | January 13, 1920 | Republican | 1⁄3 |
||
| — | Clarence E. Case | January 13, 1920 | January 20, 1920 | Republican | 1⁄3 |
||
| 37 | Edward I. Edwards | January 20, 1920 | January 15, 1923 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 38 | George Sebastian Silzer | January 15, 1923 | January 19, 1926 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 39 | A. Harry Moore | January 19, 1926 | January 15, 1929 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 40 | Morgan Foster Larson | January 15, 1929 | January 19, 1932 | Republican | 1 | ||
| 39 | A. Harry Moore | January 19, 1932 | January 3, 1935 | Democratic | 1⁄3 |
||
| — | Clifford Ross Powell | January 3, 1935 | January 8, 1935 | Republican | 1⁄3 |
||
| — | Horace Griggs Prall | January 8, 1935 | January 15, 1935 | Republican | 1⁄3 |
||
| 41 | Harold G. Hoffman | January 15, 1935 | January 18, 1938 | Republican | 1 | ||
| 39 | A. Harry Moore | January 18, 1938 | January 21, 1941 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 42 | Charles Edison | January 21, 1941 | January 18, 1944 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 36 | Walter Evans Edge | January 18, 1944 | January 21, 1947 | Republican | 1 | ||
| 43 | Alfred E. Driscoll | January 21, 1947 | January 19, 1954 | Republican | 2 |
||
| 44 | Robert B. Meyner | January 19, 1954 | January 16, 1962 | Democratic | 2 | ||
| 45 | Richard J. Hughes | January 16, 1962 | January 20, 1970 | Democratic | 2 | ||
| 46 | William T. Cahill | January 20, 1970 | January 15, 1974 | Republican | 1 | ||
| 47 | Brendan Byrne | January 15, 1974 | January 19, 1982 | Democratic | 2 | ||
| 48 | Thomas Kean | January 19, 1982 | January 16, 1990 | Republican | 2 | ||
| 49 | James Florio | January 16, 1990 | January 18, 1994 | Democratic | 1 | ||
| 50 | Christine Todd Whitman | January 18, 1994 | January 31, 2001 | Republican | 1 1⁄5 |
||
| 51 | Donald DiFrancesco | January 31, 2001 | January 8, 2002 | Republican | 1⁄5 |
||
| — | John Farmer, Jr. | January 8, 2002 | January 8, 2002 | Republican | 1⁄5 |
||
| — | John O. Bennett | January 8, 2002 | January 12, 2002 | Republican | 1⁄5 |
||
| — | Richard Codey | January 12, 2002 | January 15, 2002 | Democratic | 1⁄5 |
||
| 52 | Jim McGreevey | January 15, 2002 | November 15, 2004 | Democratic | 1⁄2 |
||
| 53 | Richard Codey | November 15, 2004 | January 17, 2006 | Democratic | 1⁄2 |
||
| 54 | Jon Corzine | January 17, 2006 | January 19, 2010 | Democratic | 1 |
||
| 55 | Chris Christie | January 19, 2010 | incumbent | Republican | Kim Guadagno | 1 | |
Read more about this topic: List Of Governors Of New Jersey
Famous quotes containing the word governors:
“I do love this people [the French] with all my heart, and think that with a better religion and a better form of government and their present governors their condition and country would be most enviable.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)