List of governors of Arizona facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Governor of Arizona |
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Style | The Honorable |
Residence | No official residence |
Term length | Four years, renewable once consecutively |
Constituting instrument | Arizona Constitution, article V |
Inaugural holder | George W. P. Hunt |
Formation | February 14, 1912 |
Deputy | None |
Salary | $95,000 (2013) |
The governor of Arizona is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arizona. As the top elected official, the governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arizona state government and is charged with faithfully executing state laws. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Arizona State Legislature; to convene the legislature; and to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.
Twenty-three people have served as governor over 27 distinct terms. All of the repeat governors were in the state's earliest years, when George W. P. Hunt and Thomas Edward Campbell alternated as governor for 17 years and, after a two-year gap, Hunt served another term. One governor, Evan Mecham, was successfully impeached, and one, Fife Symington, resigned upon being convicted of a felony. The longest-serving governor was Hunt, who was elected seven times and served just under fourteen years. The longest single stint was that of Bruce Babbitt, who was elected to two four-year terms after succeeding to the office following the death of his predecessor, Wesley Bolin, serving nearly nine years total. Bolin had the shortest tenure, dying less than five months after succeeding as governor. Four governors were actually born in Arizona: Campbell, Sidney Preston Osborn, Rose Mofford, and Babbitt. Arizona has had four female governors, the most in the United States, and was the first—and until 2019 (when Michelle Lujan Grisham succeeded Susana Martinez in neighboring New Mexico) the only—state where female governors served consecutively.
The current governor is Republican Doug Ducey, who took office on January 5, 2015. Democratic governor-elect Katie Hobbs will take office on January 2, 2023. Upon her inauguration five women will have served as governor, the most of any state.
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Governors
Confederate Arizona
In Tucson between April 2 and April 5, 1860, a convention of settlers from the southern half of New Mexico Territory drafted a provisional constitution for "Arizona Territory", three years before the United States would create such a territory. This proposed territory consisted of the part of New Mexico Territory south of 33° 40' north. On April 2, they elected a governor, Dr. Lewis S. Owings. The provisional territory was to exist until such time as an official territory was created, but that proposal was rejected by the U.S. Congress at the time.
On March 16, 1861, soon before the American Civil War broke out, a convention in Mesilla voted that the provisional territory should secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. Dr. Lewis S. Owings remained on as the provisional governor of the territory.
The Confederacy took ownership of the territory on August 1, 1861, when forces led by Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor won decisive control of the territory, and Baylor proclaimed himself governor. The Arizona Territory (Confederate) was formally organized on January 18, 1862. On March 20, 1862, Baylor issued an order to kill all the adult Apache and take their children into slavery. When Confederate President Jefferson Davis learned of this order, he strongly disapproved and demanded an explanation. Baylor wrote a letter December 29, 1862, to justify his decision, and after this was received, Davis relieved Baylor of his post and commission, calling his letter an "avowal of an infamous crime". By that time, the Confederate government of Arizona Territory was in exile in San Antonio, Texas, as the territory had been effectively lost to Union forces in July 1862; no new governor was appointed.
Governors of the Territory of Arizona
Arizona Territory was formed on February 24, 1863, from New Mexico Territory, remaining a territory for 49 years.
No. | Governor | Term in office | Appointing President | |
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— | John A. Gurley | — | Abraham Lincoln | |
1 | John Noble Goodwin | December 29, 1863 – March 4, 1865 |
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2 | Richard Cunningham McCormick | July 9, 1866 – March 4, 1869 |
Andrew Johnson | |
3 | Anson P. K. Safford | July 9, 1869 – April 5, 1877 |
Ulysses S. Grant | |
4 | John Philo Hoyt | May 30, 1877 – June 12, 1878 |
Rutherford B. Hayes | |
5 | John C. Frémont | October 6, 1878 – October 11, 1881 |
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6 | Frederick Augustus Tritle | March 8, 1882 – October 7, 1885 |
Chester A. Arthur | |
7 | C. Meyer Zulick | November 2, 1885 – March 28, 1889 |
Grover Cleveland | |
8 | Lewis Wolfley | April 8, 1889 – August 20, 1890 |
Benjamin Harrison | |
9 | John N. Irwin | January 21, 1891 – April 20, 1892 |
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10 | Oakes Murphy | May 11, 1892 – April 5, 1893 |
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11 | L. C. Hughes | April 12, 1893 – April 1, 1896 |
Grover Cleveland | |
12 | Benjamin Joseph Franklin | April 18, 1896 – July 29, 1897 |
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13 | Myron H. McCord | July 29, 1897 – August 1, 1898 |
William McKinley | |
14 | Oakes Murphy | August 1, 1898 – June 30, 1902 |
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15 | Alexander Oswald Brodie | July 1, 1902 – February 14, 1905 |
Theodore Roosevelt | |
16 | Joseph Henry Kibbey | March 7, 1905 – May 1, 1909 |
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17 | Richard Elihu Sloan | May 1, 1909 – February 14, 1912 |
William Howard Taft |
Governors of the State of Arizona
The state of Arizona was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, the last of the contiguous states to be admitted.
The state constitution of 1912 called for the election of a governor every two years. The term was increased to four years by a 1968 amendment. The constitution originally included no term limit, but an amendment passed in 1992 allows governors to succeed themselves only once; before this, four governors were elected more than twice in a row. Gubernatorial terms begin on the first Monday in the January following the election. Governors who have served the two term limit can run again after four years out of office.
Arizona is one of seven states which does not have a lieutenant governor; instead, in the event of a vacancy in the office of governor, the secretary of state, if elected, succeeds to the office. If the secretary of state was appointed, rather than elected, or is otherwise ineligible to hold the office of governor, the first elected and eligible person in the line of succession assumes the office. The state constitution specifies the line of succession to be the Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer and Superintendent of Public Instruction, in that order. If the governor is out of the state or impeached, the next elected officer in the line of succession becomes acting governor until the governor returns or is cleared. In either case, any partial term counts toward the limit of two consecutive terms.
To date, the line of succession has gone beyond the secretary of state only once, when Bruce Babbitt, as attorney general, became governor upon the death of Wesley Bolin; Rose Mofford, then serving as secretary of state, had been appointed to replace Bolin after Bolin succeeded to the governorship. Bolin had become governor when Raúl Héctor Castro resigned to accept appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. Mofford later became acting governor after Evan Mecham was impeached by the House of Representatives, and succeeded to the governorship when Mecham was removed from office after his conviction by the Senate.
No. | Governor | Term in office | Party | Election | ||
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1 | George W. P. Hunt November 1, 1859 – December 24, 1934 (aged 75) |
February 14, 1912 – January 1, 1917 (lost election) |
Democratic | 1911 | ||
1914 | ||||||
2 | Thomas Edward Campbell January 18, 1878 – March 1, 1944 (aged 66) |
January 1, 1917 – December 25, 1917 (removed from office) |
Republican | 1916 | ||
(1) | George W. P. Hunt November 1, 1859 – December 24, 1934 (aged 75) |
December 25, 1917 – January 6, 1919 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | |||
(2) | Thomas Edward Campbell January 18, 1878 – March 1, 1944 (aged 66) |
January 6, 1919 – January 1, 1923 (lost election) |
Republican | 1918 | ||
1920 | ||||||
(1) | George W. P. Hunt November 1, 1859 – December 24, 1934 (aged 75) |
January 1, 1923 – January 7, 1929 (lost election) |
Democratic | 1922 | ||
1924 | ||||||
1926 | ||||||
3 | John Calhoun Phillips November 13, 1870 – June 25, 1943 (aged 72) |
January 7, 1929 – January 5, 1931 (lost election) |
Republican | 1928 | ||
(1) | George W. P. Hunt November 1, 1859 – December 24, 1934 (aged 75) |
January 5, 1931 – January 2, 1933 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | 1930 | ||
4 | Benjamin Baker Moeur December 22, 1869 – March 16, 1937 (aged 67) |
January 2, 1933 – January 4, 1937 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | 1932 | ||
1934 | ||||||
5 | Rawghlie Clement Stanford August 2, 1879 – December 15, 1963 (aged 84) |
January 4, 1937 – January 2, 1939 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | 1936 | ||
6 | Robert Taylor Jones February 8, 1884 – June 11, 1958 (aged 74) |
January 2, 1939 – January 6, 1941 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | 1938 | ||
7 | Sidney Preston Osborn May 17, 1884 – May 25, 1948 (aged 64) |
January 6, 1941 – May 25, 1948 (died in office) |
Democratic | 1940 | ||
1942 | ||||||
1944 | ||||||
1946 | ||||||
8 | Dan Edward Garvey June 19, 1886 – February 5, 1974 (aged 87) |
May 25, 1948 – January 1, 1951 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | Succeeded from Secretary of State |
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1948 | ||||||
9 | John Howard Pyle March 25, 1906 – November 29, 1987 (aged 81) |
January 1, 1951 – January 3, 1955 (lost election) |
Republican | 1950 | ||
1952 | ||||||
10 | Ernest McFarland October 9, 1894 – June 8, 1984 (aged 89) |
January 3, 1955 – January 5, 1959 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | 1954 | ||
1956 | ||||||
11 | Paul Fannin January 29, 1907 – January 13, 2002 (aged 94) |
January 5, 1959 – January 4, 1965 (not candidate for election) |
Republican | 1958 | ||
1960 | ||||||
1962 | ||||||
12 | Samuel Pearson Goddard Jr. August 8, 1919 – February 1, 2006 (aged 86) |
January 4, 1965 – January 2, 1967 (lost election) |
Democratic | 1964 | ||
13 | Jack Williams October 29, 1909 – August 24, 1998 (aged 88) |
January 2, 1967 – January 6, 1975 (not candidate for election) |
Republican | 1966 | ||
1968 | ||||||
1970 | ||||||
14 | Raúl Héctor Castro June 12, 1916 – April 10, 2015 (aged 98) |
January 6, 1975 – October 20, 1977 (resigned) |
Democratic | 1974 | ||
15 | Wesley Bolin July 1, 1909 – March 4, 1978 (aged 68) |
October 20, 1977 – March 4, 1978 (died in office) |
Democratic | Succeeded from Secretary of State |
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16 | Bruce Babbitt June 27, 1938 |
March 4, 1978 – January 5, 1987 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | Succeeded from Attorney General |
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1978 | ||||||
1982 | ||||||
17 | Evan Mecham May 12, 1924 – February 21, 2008 (aged 83) |
January 5, 1987 – April 4, 1988 (impeached and removed) |
Republican | 1986 | ||
18 | Rose Mofford June 10, 1922 – September 15, 2016 (aged 94) |
April 4, 1988 – March 6, 1991 (not candidate for election) |
Democratic | Succeeded from Secretary of State |
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19 | Fife Symington August 12, 1945 |
March 6, 1991 – September 5, 1997 (resigned) |
Republican | 1990–1991 | ||
1994 | ||||||
20 | Jane Dee Hull August 8, 1935 – April 16, 2020 (aged 84) |
September 5, 1997 – January 6, 2003 (term-limited) |
Republican | Succeeded from Secretary of State |
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1998 | ||||||
21 | Janet Napolitano November 29, 1957 |
January 6, 2003 – January 21, 2009 (resigned) |
Democratic | 2002 | ||
2006 | ||||||
22 | Jan Brewer September 26, 1944 |
January 21, 2009 – January 5, 2015 (term-limited) |
Republican | Succeeded from Secretary of State |
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2010 | ||||||
23 | Doug Ducey April 9, 1964 |
January 5, 2015 – Incumbent |
Republican | 2014 | ||
2018 | ||||||
24 | Katie Hobbs (elect) December 28, 1969 |
Taking office January 2, 2023 |
Democratic | 2022 |
See also
- Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States#Arizona
- Elections in Arizona
- Timeline of Arizona