List of governors of Florida (Redirected from List of Governors of Florida)

Governor of Florida
Seal of the State of Florida
Flag of the State of Florida
Incumbent
Ron DeSantis
since January 8, 2019
Government of Florida
Style
TypeHead of state
Head of government
Member ofFlorida Executive Branch
Florida Cabinet
ResidenceFlorida Governor's Mansion
AppointerPopular vote
Term lengthFour years, renewable once consecutively
Constituting instrumentConstitution of Florida
PrecursorGovernor of the Florida Territory
Inaugural holderWilliam Dunn Moseley
FormationJune 25, 1845
DeputyLieutenant Governor of Florida
Salary$130,273 (2013)
Websitewww.flgov.com

The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida Legislature, to convene the legislature and grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment.

When Florida was first acquired by the United States, future president Andrew Jackson served as its military governor. Florida Territory was established in 1822 and five people served as governor over 6 distinct terms. The first territorial governor, William Pope Duval, served 12 years, the longest of any Florida governor to date.

Since statehood in 1845, there have been 45 people who have served as governor, one of whom served two distinct terms. Four state governors have served two full four-year terms: William D. Bloxham, in two stints, as well as Reubin Askew, Jeb Bush and Rick Scott who each served their terms consecutively. Bob Graham almost served two full terms but resigned with three days left in his term in order to take a seat in the United States Senate. The shortest term in office belongs to Wayne Mixson, who served three days following Graham's resignation.

The current officeholder is Ron DeSantis, a member of the Republican Party who took office on January 8, 2019.

List of governors

Federal military commissioner

Spanish Florida was acquired from Spain in the Adams–Onís Treaty, which took effect July 10, 1821. Parts of West Florida had already been assigned to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi; the remainder and East Florida were governed by a military commissioner with the powers of governor until the territory was organized and incorporated.

Federal Military Commissioner of Florida
No. Commissioner Term in office Appointed by
1 Andrew Jackson
(1767–1845)
March 10, 1821

December 31, 1821
(resigned)
James Monroe

Territory of Florida

Florida Territory was organized on March 30, 1822, combining East and West Florida.

Governors of the Territory of Florida
No. Governor Term in office Appointed by
1 William Pope Duval
(1784–1854)
April 17, 1822

April 17, 1834
(successor appointed)
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
2 John Eaton
(1790–1856)
April 24, 1834

March 16, 1836
(successor appointed)
Andrew Jackson
3 Richard K. Call
(1792–1862)
March 16, 1836

December 2, 1839
(successor appointed)
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
4 Robert R. Reid
(1789–1841)
December 12, 1839

March 19, 1841
(successor appointed)
Martin Van Buren
5 Richard K. Call
(1792–1862)
March 19, 1841

August 11, 1844
(successor appointed)
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
6 John Branch
(1782–1863)
August 11, 1844

June 25, 1845
(statehood)
John Tyler

State of Florida

The State of Florida was admitted to the Union on March 3, 1845. It seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, and joined the Confederate States of America on February 8, 1861, as a founding member. Following the end of the American Civil War, it was part of the Third Military District. Florida was readmitted to the Union on June 25, 1868.

The Florida Constitution of 1838 provided that a governor be elected every 4 years, who was not allowed to serve consecutive terms. The secessionist constitution of 1861 would have reduced this to two years and removed the term limit, but the state fell to the Union before the first election under that constitution. The rejected constitution of 1865 and the ratified constitution of 1868 maintained the four-year term, though without the earlier term limit, which was reintroduced in the 1885 constitution. The current constitution of 1968 states that should the governor serve, or would have served had he not resigned, more than six years in two consecutive terms, he cannot be elected to the succeeding term. The start of a term was set in 1885 at the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the January following the election, where it has remained.

Originally, the president of the state senate acted as governor should that office be vacant. The 1865 and 1868 constitutions created the office of lieutenant governor, who would similarly act as governor. This office was abolished in 1885, with the president of the senate again taking on that duty. The 1968 constitution recreated the office of lieutenant governor, who now becomes governor in the absence of the governor. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket.

Florida was a strongly Democratic state before the Civil War, electing only one candidate from the Whig Party (the Democrats' chief opposition at the time). It elected three Republican governors following Reconstruction, but after the Democratic Party re-established control, 90 years passed before voters chose another Republican.

Governors of the State of Florida
No. Governor Term in office Party Election Lt. Governor
1 William Dunn Moseley
(1795–1863)
June 25, 1845

October 1, 1849
(term-limited)
Democratic 1845 Office did not exist
2   Thomas Brown
(1785–1867)
October 1, 1849

October 3, 1853
(term-limited)
Whig 1848
3 James E. Broome
(1808–1883)
October 3, 1853

October 5, 1857
(term-limited)
Democratic 1852
4 Madison S. Perry
(1814–1865)
October 5, 1857

October 7, 1861
(term-limited)
Democratic 1856
5 John Milton
(1807–1865)
October 7, 1861

April 1, 1865
(died in office)
Democratic 1860
6 Abraham K. Allison
(1810–1893)
April 1, 1865

May 19, 1865
(resigned)
Democratic President of
the Senate
acting
Vacant May 19, 1865

July 13, 1865
Office vacated
after civil war
7 William Marvin
(1808–1902)
July 13, 1865

December 20, 1865
(provisional term ended)
Provisional governor
appointed by President
8 David S. Walker
(1815–1891)
December 20, 1865

July 4, 1868
(did not run)
Conservative 1865   William W. J. Kelly
9 Harrison Reed
(1813–1899)
July 4, 1868

January 7, 1873
(did not run)
Republican 1868 William Henry Gleason
(removed December 14, 1868)
Vacant
Edmund C. Weeks
(appointed January 24, 1870)
(term ended December 27, 1870)
Samuel T. Day
(took office December 27, 1870)
10 Ossian B. Hart
(1821–1874)
January 7, 1873

March 18, 1874
(died in office)
Republican 1872 Marcellus Stearns
11 Marcellus Stearns
(1839–1891)
March 18, 1874

January 2, 1877
(lost election)
Republican Lieutenant
governor
acting
Acting as governor
12 George Franklin Drew
(1827–1900)
January 2, 1877

January 4, 1881
(did not run)
Democratic 1876 Noble A. Hull
(resigned March 3, 1879)
Vacant
13 William D. Bloxham
(1835–1911)
January 4, 1881

January 6, 1885
(lost nomination)
Democratic 1880 Livingston W. Bethel
14 Edward A. Perry
(1831–1889)
January 6, 1885

January 8, 1889
(term-limited)
Democratic 1884 Milton H. Mabry
15 Francis P. Fleming
(1841–1908)
January 8, 1889

January 3, 1893
(term-limited)
Democratic 1888 Office did not exist
16 Henry L. Mitchell
(1831–1903)
January 3, 1893

January 5, 1897
(term-limited)
Democratic 1892
17 William D. Bloxham
(1835–1911)
January 5, 1897

January 8, 1901
(term-limited)
Democratic 1896
18 William Sherman Jennings
(1863–1920)
January 8, 1901

January 3, 1905
(term-limited)
Democratic 1900
19 Napoleon B. Broward
(1857–1910)
January 3, 1905

January 5, 1909
(term-limited)
Democratic 1904
20 Albert W. Gilchrist
(1858–1926)
January 5, 1909

January 7, 1913
(term-limited)
Democratic 1908
21 Park Trammell
(1876–1936)
January 7, 1913

January 2, 1917
(term-limited)
Democratic 1912
22 Sidney Johnston Catts
(1863–1936)
January 2, 1917

January 4, 1921
(term-limited)
Prohibition 1916
23 Cary A. Hardee
(1876–1957)
January 4, 1921

January 6, 1925
(term-limited)
Democratic 1920
24 John W. Martin
(1884–1958)
January 6, 1925

January 8, 1929
(term-limited)
Democratic 1924
25 Doyle E. Carlton
(1885–1972)
January 8, 1929

January 3, 1933
(term-limited)
Democratic 1928
26 David Sholtz
(1891–1953)
January 3, 1933

January 5, 1937
(term-limited)
Democratic 1932
27 Fred P. Cone
(1871–1948)
January 5, 1937

January 7, 1941
(term-limited)
Democratic 1936
28 Spessard Holland
(1892–1971)
January 7, 1941

January 2, 1945
(term-limited)
Democratic 1940
29 Millard Caldwell
(1897–1984)
January 2, 1945

January 4, 1949
(term-limited)
Democratic 1944
30 Fuller Warren
(1905–1973)
January 4, 1949

January 6, 1953
(term-limited)
Democratic 1948
31 Daniel T. McCarty
(1912–1953)
January 6, 1953

September 28, 1953
(died in office)
Democratic 1952
32 Charley Eugene Johns
(1905–1990)
September 28, 1953

January 4, 1955
(lost nomination)
Democratic President of
the Senate
acting
33 LeRoy Collins
(1909–1991)
January 4, 1955

January 3, 1961
(term-limited)
Democratic 1954
(special)
1956
34 C. Farris Bryant
(1914–2002)
January 3, 1961

January 5, 1965
(term-limited)
Democratic 1960
35 W. Haydon Burns
(1912–1987)
January 5, 1965

January 3, 1967
(lost nomination)
Democratic 1964
36 Claude R. Kirk Jr.
(1926–2011)
January 3, 1967

January 5, 1971
(lost election)
Republican 1966
Ray C. Osborne
(office created January 7, 1969)
37 Reubin Askew
(1928–2014)
January 5, 1971

January 2, 1979
(term-limited)
Democratic 1970 Thomas Burton Adams Jr.
1974 Jim Williams
38 Bob Graham
(b. 1936)
January 2, 1979

January 3, 1987
(resigned)
Democratic 1978 Wayne Mixson
1982
39 Wayne Mixson
(1922–2020)
January 3, 1987

January 6, 1987
(successor took office)
Democratic Succeeded from
lieutenant
governor
Vacant
40 Bob Martinez
(b. 1934)
January 6, 1987

January 8, 1991
(lost election)
Republican 1986 Bobby Brantley
41 Lawton Chiles
(1930–1998)
January 8, 1991

December 12, 1998
(died in office)
Democratic 1990 Buddy MacKay
1994
42 Buddy MacKay
(b. 1933)
December 12, 1998

January 5, 1999
(successor took office)
Democratic Succeeded from
lieutenant
governor
Vacant
43 Jeb Bush
(b. 1953)
January 5, 1999

January 2, 2007
(term-limited)
Republican 1998 Frank Brogan
(resigned March 3, 2003)
2002
Toni Jennings
44 Charlie Crist
(b. 1956)
January 2, 2007

January 4, 2011
(did not run)
Republican 2006 Jeff Kottkamp
45 Rick Scott
(b. 1952)
January 4, 2011

January 7, 2019
(term-limited)
Republican 2010 Jennifer Carroll
(resigned March 12, 2013)
Vacant
Carlos Lopez-Cantera
(appointed February 3, 2014)
2014
46 Ron DeSantis
(b. 1978)
January 8, 2019

Incumbent
Republican 2018 Jeanette Núñez
2022

Acting governor

Florida has had a number of people serve as acting governor. The state's first three constitutions provided that the succession in office became operative whenever the governor was out of the state. Thus, in 1853 when Governor Thomas Brown attended an event in Boston—the Senate president who would normally succeed the governor at the time was also out of state. Therefore, the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, A.K. Allison, became acting governor on September 16, 1853. He served for 17 days.

Article IV Section 3 (b) of the Florida Constitution now calls for the lieutenant governor to "act as Governor" during the governor's physical or mental incapacity. This provision has been invoked one time. On June 18, 2008, Governor Charlie Crist filed a proclamation with the secretary of state transferring power of governor to Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp pursuant to the constitutional provision while he underwent knee surgery.

See also


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