List of Governors of New York - Governors

Governors

New York was one of the original thirteen colonies, 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 lists of colonial governors and of directors-general of New Netherland for the pre-statehood period.

The office of governor was established by the first New York State Constitution in 1777. The governor was originally for a term of three years, though the constitution did not specify when the term began. A 1787 law set the start of the term at July 1. The New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821 amended the state constitution, reducing the term of office to two years, moving the election to November, and moving the beginning and the end of the term to coincide with the calendar year. An 1874 amendment extended the term of office back to three years, but the 1894 constitution again reduced it to two years. The most recent constitution of 1938 extended the term to the current four years. There is no limit to the amount of consecutive terms a governor may serve.

The state constitution has provided since 1777 for the election of a lieutenant governor, who is also ex officio president of the state 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. 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. Should the office of lieutenant governor become vacant, the president pro tempore of the state senate performs all the duties of the lieutenant governor until the vacancy is filled either at the next gubernatorial election or by appointment. 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 assembly is next in the line of succession. The lieutenant governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor, since 1954 with a single joint vote cast for both offices, but is nominated separately.

Democratic (26) Democratic-Republican (9) Federalist (1) Republican (18) Whig (5)

# Governor Took office Left office Party Lt. Governor Terms
1 George Clinton July 30, 1777 June 30, 1795 Democratic-
Republican		 Pierre Van Cortlandt 6
2 John Jay July 1, 1795 June 30, 1801 Federalist Stephen Van Rensselaer III 2
1 George Clinton July 1, 1801 June 30, 1804 Democratic-
Republican		 Jeremiah Van Rensselaer 1
3 Morgan Lewis July 1, 1804 June 30, 1807 Democratic-
Republican		 John Broome 1
4 Daniel D. Tompkins July 1, 1807 February 24, 1817 Democratic-
Republican		 John Broome 3 1⁄2
John Tayler (Acting)
DeWitt Clinton
John Tayler
5 John Tayler
(Acting)
 February 24, 1817 June 30, 1817 Democratic-
Republican		 Philetus Swift (Acting) 1⁄2
6 DeWitt Clinton July 1, 1817 December 31, 1822 Democratic-
Republican		 John Tayler 2
7 Joseph C. Yates January 1, 1823 December 31, 1824 Democratic-
Republican		 Erastus Root 1
6 DeWitt Clinton January 1, 1825 February 11, 1828 Democratic-
Republican		 James Tallmadge, Jr. 1 1⁄2
Nathaniel Pitcher
8 Nathaniel Pitcher February 11, 1828 December 31, 1828 Democratic-
Republican		 Peter R. Livingston (Acting) 1⁄2
Charles Dayan (Acting)
9 Martin Van Buren January 1, 1829 March 12, 1829 Democratic Enos T. Throop 1⁄2
10 Enos T. Throop March 12, 1829 December 31, 1832 Democratic Charles Stebbins (Acting) 1 1⁄2
William M. Oliver (Acting)
Edward Philip Livingston
11 William L. Marcy January 1, 1833 December 31, 1838 Democratic John Tracy 3
12 William H. Seward January 1, 1839 December 31, 1842 Whig Luther Bradish 2
13 William C. Bouck January 1, 1843 December 31, 1844 Democratic Daniel S. Dickinson 1
14 Silas Wright January 1, 1845 December 31, 1846 Democratic Addison Gardiner 1
15 John Young January 1, 1847 December 31, 1848 Whig Addison Gardiner 1
Albert Lester (Acting)
Hamilton Fish
16 Hamilton Fish January 1, 1849 December 31, 1850 Whig George Washington Patterson 1
17 Washington Hunt January 1, 1851 December 31, 1852 Whig Sanford E. Church 1
18 Horatio Seymour January 1, 1853 December 31, 1854 Democratic Sanford E. Church 1
19 Myron H. Clark January 1, 1855 December 31, 1856 Whig (fusion) Henry Jarvis Raymond 1
20 John Alsop King January 1, 1857 December 31, 1858 Republican Henry R. Selden 1
21 Edwin D. Morgan January 1, 1859 December 31, 1862 Republican Robert Campbell 2
18 Horatio Seymour January 1, 1863 December 31, 1864 Democratic David R. Floyd-Jones 1
22 Reuben Fenton January 1, 1865 December 31, 1868 Union Thomas G. Alvord 2
Stewart L. Woodford
23 John Thompson Hoffman January 1, 1869 December 31, 1872 Democratic Allen C. Beach 2
24 John Adams Dix January 1, 1873 December 31, 1874 Republican John C. Robinson 1
25 Samuel J. Tilden January 1, 1875 December 31, 1876 Democratic William Dorsheimer 1
26 Lucius Robinson January 1, 1877 December 31, 1879 Democratic William Dorsheimer 1
27 Alonzo B. Cornell January 1, 1880 December 31, 1882 Republican George Gilbert Hoskins 1
28 Grover Cleveland January 1, 1883 January 6, 1885 Democratic David B. Hill 1⁄2
29 David B. Hill January 6, 1885 December 31, 1891 Democratic Dennis McCarthy (Acting) 2 1⁄2
Edward F. Jones
30 Roswell P. Flower January 1, 1892 December 31, 1894 Democratic William F. Sheehan 1
31 Levi P. Morton January 1, 1895 December 31, 1896 Republican Charles T. Saxton 1
32 Frank S. Black January 1, 1897 December 31, 1898 Republican Timothy L. Woodruff 1
33 Theodore Roosevelt January 1, 1899 December 31, 1900 Republican Timothy L. Woodruff 1
34 Benjamin Barker Odell, Jr. January 1, 1901 December 31, 1904 Republican Timothy L. Woodruff 2
Frank W. Higgins
35 Frank W. Higgins January 1, 1905 December 31, 1906 Republican M. Linn Bruce 1
John Raines (Acting)
36 Charles Evans Hughes January 1, 1907 October 6, 1910 Republican Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler 1 1⁄2
Horace White
37 Horace White October 6, 1910 December 31, 1910 Republican George H. Cobb (Acting) 1⁄2
38 John Alden Dix January 1, 1911 December 31, 1912 Democratic Thomas F. Conway 1
39 William Sulzer January 1, 1913 October 17, 1913 Democratic Martin H. Glynn 1⁄2
40 Martin H. Glynn October 17, 1913 December 31, 1914 Democratic Robert F. Wagner (Acting) 1⁄2
41 Charles S. Whitman January 1, 1915 December 31, 1918 Republican Edward Schoeneck 2
42 Al Smith January 1, 1919 December 31, 1920 Democratic Harry C. Walker 1
43 Nathan Lewis Miller January 1, 1921 December 31, 1922 Republican Jeremiah Wood 1
Clayton R. Lusk (Acting)
42 Al Smith January 1, 1923 December 31, 1928 Democratic George R. Lunn 3
Seymour Lowman
Edwin Corning
44 Franklin D. Roosevelt January 1, 1929 December 31, 1932 Democratic Herbert H. Lehman 2
45 Herbert H. Lehman January 1, 1933 December 3, 1942 Democratic M. William Bray 3 1⁄2
Charles Poletti
46 Charles Poletti December 3, 1942 December 31, 1942 Democratic Joe R. Hanley (Acting) 1⁄2
47 Thomas Dewey January 1, 1943 December 31, 1954 Republican Thomas W. Wallace 3
Joe R. Hanley
Frank C. Moore
Arthur H. Wicks (Acting)
Walter J. Mahoney (Acting)
48 W. Averell Harriman January 1, 1955 December 31, 1958 Democratic George DeLuca 1
49 Nelson Rockefeller January 1, 1959 December 18, 1973 Republican Malcolm Wilson 3 1⁄2
50 Malcolm Wilson December 18, 1973 December 31, 1974 Republican Warren M. Anderson (Acting) 1⁄2
51 Hugh Carey January 1, 1975 December 31, 1982 Democratic Mary Anne Krupsak 2
Mario Cuomo
52 Mario Cuomo January 1, 1983 December 31, 1994 Democratic Alfred DelBello 3
Warren M. Anderson (Acting)
Stan Lundine
53 George Pataki January 1, 1995 December 31, 2006 Republican Betsy McCaughey Ross 3
Mary O. Donohue
54 Eliot Spitzer January 1, 2007 March 17, 2008 Democratic David Paterson 1⁄2
55 David Paterson March 17, 2008 December 31, 2010 Democratic Joseph Bruno (Acting) 1⁄2
Dean Skelos (Acting)
Malcolm Smith (Acting)
Pedro Espada (Acting)
Richard Ravitch (Contested)
Malcolm Smith (Acting)
Richard Ravitch
56 Andrew Cuomo January 1, 2011 Incumbent Democratic Robert Duffy 1

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