Speaker of the Tennessee Senate and Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
Seal of Tennessee
Incumbent Randy McNally since January 10, 2017
Style	Mr. Speaker
Member of	Tennessee Senate
Appointer	Tennessee Senate
Constituting instrument	Tennessee Constitution
Formation	February 23, 1870; 155 years ago (1870-02-23)
First holder	Dorsey B. Thomas
Succession	First
Salary	$72,948 (2022)

In Tennessee, the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate has a second important job: being the Lieutenant Governor. This person is the leader of the Tennessee Senate and is also first in line to become the governor of Tennessee if the current governor has to leave office for any reason. The official title for this role is Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate.

The Tennessee Constitution of 1870 states that the members of the Tennessee Senate elect their own Speaker. Since the Speaker is a senator, they serve a four-year term in the Senate. However, they must be re-elected as Speaker by the other senators every two years.

The current Lieutenant Governor is Randy McNally. He was elected on January 10, 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party.

What Does the Lieutenant Governor Do?

The main job of the Lieutenant Governor is to lead the Tennessee Senate. This means they run the meetings and help decide which laws will be discussed. Because they are also a senator, they can vote on laws just like the other members.

This role is considered a part-time job. The Tennessee General Assembly, which includes the Senate, meets for a limited time each year. In 2022, the salary for the Lieutenant Governor was $72,948 per year.

What Happens if the Governor Leaves Office?

The Lieutenant Governor is the first person to take over if the governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office. When this happens, the Speaker of the Senate doesn't just become an "acting governor." They become the new governor with all the same powers.

Since Tennessee became a state in 1796, this has happened four times:

• William Hall became governor when Sam Houston resigned.
• Dewitt Clinton Senter took over after William G. Brownlow resigned to become a U.S. Senator.
• John I. Cox became governor when James B. Frazier resigned to become a U.S. Senator.
• Henry Hollis Horton took office after Austin Peay died. Governor Peay is the only Tennessee governor to have died while in office.

There is a special rule about how long a new governor serves. If the Speaker becomes governor in the first 18 months of the governor's four-year term, a special election is held. This election lets voters choose a governor for the rest of the term. If the takeover happens after the first 18 months, the Speaker serves the rest of the term without a special election.

List of Lieutenant Governors (1870–Present)

The title "Lieutenant Governor" was officially added by a law in 1951. But the Speaker of the Senate has been next in line for governor since 1796. Here is a list of everyone who has held the job since the current Tennessee Constitution was written in 1870.

Parties

      Democratic       Republican

Lieutenant governors of the State of Tennessee
No.	Image	Name	Term	Party	Governor(s) served under	Life
1		Dorsey B. Thomas	1869–1871	Democratic	None	1823–1897
2		John C. Vaughn	1871–1873	Democratic		1824–1875
3		A. T. Lacey	1873–1875	Democratic		1821–1878
4		Thomas H. Paine	1875–1877	Democratic		1836–1903
5		Hugh M. McAdoo	1877–1879	Democratic		1838–1894
6		John R. Neal	1879–1881	Democratic		1836–1889
7		George H. Morgan	1881–1883	Democratic		1841–1900
8		Benjamin F. Alexander	1883–1885	Democratic		1849–1911
9		Cabell R. Berry	1885–1887	Democratic		1848–1910
10		Z. W. Ewing	1887–1889	Democratic		1843–1909
11		Benjamin J. Lea	1889–1891	Democratic		1833–1894
12		William C. Dismukes	1891–1895	Democratic		1850–1903
13		Ernest Pillow	1895–1897	Democratic		1856–1904
14		John Thompson	1897–1899	Democratic		1852–1919
15		Seid Waddell	1899–1901	Democratic		1849–1921
16		Newton H. White	1901–1903	Democratic		1860–1931
17		Edward T. Seay	1903–1905	Democratic		1868-1941
18		John I. Cox	1905	Democratic		1855–1946
19		Ernest Rice	1905–1907	Democratic		1872-1950
20		E. G. Tollett	1907–1909	Democratic		1864–1926
21		William Kinney	1909–1911	Democratic		1863–1928
22		Nathaniel Baxter, Jr.	1911–1913	Democratic		1844–1913
23		Newton H. White	1913–1915	Democratic		1860–1931
24		Hugh C. Anderson	1915	Democratic		1851–1915
25		Albert E. Hill	1915–1917	Democratic		1870–1933
26		W. R. Crabtree	1917–1919	Democratic		1867–1920
27		Andrew L. Todd Sr.	1919–1921	Democratic		1872–1945
28		William West Bond	1921–1923	Democratic		1884–1975
29		Eugene J. Bryan	1923–1925	Democratic		1888–1958
30		Lucius D. Hill	1925–1927	Democratic		1856–1933
31		Henry Hollis Horton	1927	Democratic		1866–1934
32		Sam R. Bratton	1929–1931	Democratic		1864–1936
33		Scott Fitzhugh	1931	Democratic		1888–1956
34		Ambrose B. Broadbent	1931–1933	Democratic		1885–1952
35		Albert F. Officer	1933–1935	Democratic		1899–1965
36		William P. Moss	1935–1936	Democratic		1897–1985
37		Bryan Pope	1936–1939	Democratic		1893–1973
38		Blan R. Maxwell	1939–1943	Democratic		1899–1943
39		Joseph H. Ballew	1943–1945	Democratic		1886–1972
40		Larry Morgan	1945–1947	Democratic		1896–1965
41		George Oliver Benton	1947–1949	Democratic		1915–2001
42		Walter M. Haynes	1949–1953	Democratic	Gordon Browning	1897–1967
43		Jared Maddux	1953–1959	Democratic	Frank G. Clement	1912–1971
44		William D. Baird	1959–1962	Democratic	Buford Ellington	1906–1987
45		James L. Bomar Jr.	1963–1965	Democratic	Frank G. Clement	1914–2001
46		Jared Maddux	1965–1967	Democratic	Frank G. Clement	1912–1971
47		Frank Gorrell	1967–1971	Democratic	Buford Ellington	1927–1994
48		John S. Wilder	1971–2007	Democratic	Winfield Dunn, Ray Blanton, Lamar Alexander, Ned McWherter, Don Sundquist, Phil Bredesen	1921–2010
49		Ron Ramsey	2007–2017	Republican	Phil Bredesen, Bill Haslam	b. 1955
50		Randy McNally	2017–present	Republican	Bill Haslam, Bill Lee	b. 1944

Images for kids

• 

  James Winchester

• 

  William Blount

• 

  Joseph McMinn

• 

  Robert Coleman Foster

• 

  Robert Weakley

• 

  William Hall

• 

  Dewitt Clinton Senter