Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Flag of Pennsylvania
Incumbent Austin Davis since January 17, 2023
Residence	State House
Term length	Four years, renewable once consecutively
Inaugural holder	John Latta
Formation	1873
Salary	$157,765 (2014)
Website	ltgovernor.state.pa.us

The lieutenant governor is an important elected official in Pennsylvania. This person is chosen by voters for a four-year term. They are elected at the same time as the governor.

Before the main election, each political party chooses its own candidate for lieutenant governor. Then, the winners from each party team up with their party's governor candidate. They run together as a single team in the fall election.

The lieutenant governor has several key jobs. They lead meetings in the Pennsylvania State Senate. They are also next in line to become governor. This means if the governor leaves office for any reason, the lieutenant governor steps in. They also cast important tie-breaking votes in the state senate.

The job of lieutenant governor was created in 1873. In 1968, a new rule allowed lieutenant governors to serve two four-year terms in a row. Besides leading the state senate, they also chair the Board of Pardons and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council. Lieutenant governors often work on other projects and attend many community events.

Until 2019, Pennsylvania was the only state that gave its lieutenant governor an official home. This home, called State House, was at Fort Indiantown Gap. It was built in 1940 and used to be the governor's summer house. In 1968, it became available for the lieutenant governor. This happened after the current governor's residence was finished in Harrisburg. In 2019, the house was given to the state's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Austin Davis is the current lieutenant governor. He started his term on January 17, 2023.

Who Are the Lieutenant Governors of Pennsylvania?

This section lists the people who have served as lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania.

Political Parties

      Democratic (11)       Republican (24)

#	Image	Name	Term	Governor(s) served under	Party
1		John Latta	1875–1879	John F. Hartranft	Democratic
2		Charles Warren Stone	1879–1883	Henry M. Hoyt	Republican
3		Chauncey Forward Black	1883–1887	Robert E. Pattison	Democratic
4		William T. Davies	1887–1991	James A. Beaver	Republican
5		Louis Arthur Watres	1891–1895	Robert E. Pattison	Republican
6		Walter Lyon	1895–1899	Daniel H. Hastings	Republican
7		John P. S. Gobin	1899–1903	William A. Stone	Republican
8		William M. Brown	1903–1907	Samuel W. Pennypacker	Republican
9		Robert S. Murphy	1907–1911	Edwin Sydney Stuart	Republican
10		John M. Reynolds	1911–1915	John K. Tener	Republican
11		Frank B. McClain	1915–1919	Martin Grove Brumbaugh	Republican
12		Edward E. Beidleman	1919–1923	William Cameron Sproul	Republican
13		David J. Davis	1923–1927	Gifford Pinchot	Republican
14		Arthur H. James	1927–1931	John Stuchell Fisher	Republican
15		Edward C. Shannon	1931–1935	Gifford Pinchot	Republican
16		Thomas Kennedy	1935–1939	George Howard Earle III	Democratic
17		Samuel S. Lewis	1939–1943	Arthur James	Republican
18		John Cromwell Bell Jr.	1943–1947	Edward Martin	Republican
19		Daniel B. Strickler	1947–1951	James H. Duff	Republican
20		Lloyd H. Wood	1951–1955	John S. Fine	Republican
21		Roy E. Furman	1955–1959	George M. Leader	Democratic
22		John Morgan Davis	1959–1963	David L. Lawrence	Democratic
23	.	Raymond P. Shafer	1963–1967	William Scranton	Republican
24		Raymond J. Broderick	1967–1971	Raymond P. Shafer	Republican
25		Ernest P. Kline	1971–1979	Milton Shapp	Democratic
26		William Scranton III	1979–1987	Dick Thornburgh	Republican
27		Mark Singel	1987–1995	Robert P. Casey	Democratic
28		Mark S. Schweiker	1995–2001	Tom Ridge	Republican
29		Robert C. Jubelirer	2001–2003	Mark S. Schweiker	Republican
30		Catherine Baker Knoll	2003–2008	Ed Rendell	Democratic
31		Joseph B. Scarnati III	2008–2011	Ed Rendell	Republican
32		Jim Cawley	2011–2015	Tom Corbett	Republican
33		Mike Stack	2015–2019	Tom Wolf	Democratic
34		John Fetterman	2019–2023	Tom Wolf	Democratic
35		Austin Davis	2023–present	Josh Shapiro	Democratic

Acting Lieutenant Governors

Sometimes, a person might serve as "acting" lieutenant governor for a short time. This happens when the elected lieutenant governor is unable to do their job.

• Jake Corman served as acting lieutenant governor from May 17 to May 23, 2022. This was while Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman was recovering from a medical procedure.
• Kim Ward served as acting lieutenant governor from January 3 to January 17, 2023. This was after John Fetterman resigned to become a U.S. Senator. She served until Austin Davis was sworn in.

Pennsylvania's Early Leaders: Vice-Presidents

Before the role of lieutenant governor, Pennsylvania had a different system. From 1777 to 1790, the state government was led by a group called the Supreme Executive Council. This council had a representative from each county and from the city of Philadelphia.

The person known as the Vice-President of Pennsylvania was like today's lieutenant governor. Presidents and vice-presidents were chosen for one-year terms. They could serve up to three years in total. Ten different men held the title of Vice-President during this time.

• George Bryan 1777–1779
• Matthew Smith 1779
• William Moore 1779–1781
• James Potter 1781–1782
• James Ewing 1782–1784
• James Irvine 1784–1785
• Charles Biddle 1785–1787
• Peter Muhlenberg 1787–1788
• David Redick 1788
• George Ross 1788–1790