List of governors of Oklahoma facts for kids
The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
List of governors
Oklahoma Territory
Oklahoma Territory was organized on May 2, 1890. It had seven governors appointed by the president of the United States.
No. | Governor | Term in office | Appointing president | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Washington Steele (1839–1922) |
May 14, 1890 – November 8, 1891 (resigned) |
Benjamin Harrison | |
2 | Abraham Jefferson Seay (1832–1915) |
January 18, 1892 – May 7, 1893 (successor appointed) |
Benjamin Harrison | |
3 | William Cary Renfrow (1845–1922) |
May 6, 1893 – May 11, 1897 (resigned) |
Grover Cleveland | |
4 | Cassius McDonald Barnes (1845–1925) |
May 11, 1897 – April 20, 1901 (successor appointed) |
William McKinley | |
5 | William Miller Jenkins (1856–1941) |
April 20, 1901 – November 30, 1901 (removed) |
William McKinley | |
6 | Thompson Benton Ferguson (1857–1921) |
November 30, 1901 – January 13, 1906 (successor appointed) |
Theodore Roosevelt | |
7 | Frank Frantz (1872–1941) |
January 13, 1906 – November 16, 1907 (lost election) |
Theodore Roosevelt |
State of Oklahoma
Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory were combined and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma on November 16, 1907.
The Constitution of Oklahoma calls for the election of a governor every four years, to take office on the second Monday in January after the election. Originally, governors could not succeed themselves, with no limit on total terms; a 1966 constitutional amendment allowed them to succeed themselves once. An amendment in 2010 limited them to eight years in total, retroactively applying to all living former governors. Should the office become vacant because of a death, resignation or removal of the governor, the lieutenant governor immediately succeeds to the governorship. After Jack C. Walton was impeached and removed in 1923, Lieutenant Governor Martin E. Trapp served in the office for the remainder of the term. He styled himself "Acting Governor," as the constitution only specified that the powers of the office devolved upon the lieutenant governor, hoping that he would not be prevented from running in the next election. However, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in 1926 that, in the case of a vacancy in the office, the lieutenant governor becomes governor, and he was ineligible to run for a consecutive term.
No. | Governor | Term in office | Party | Election | Lt. Governor | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Charles N. Haskell (1860–1933) |
November 16, 1907 – January 9, 1911 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1907 | George W. Bellamy | |||
2 | Lee Cruce (1863–1933) |
January 9, 1911 – January 11, 1915 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1910 | J. J. McAlester | |||
3 | Robert L. Williams (1868–1948) |
January 11, 1915 – January 13, 1919 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1914 | Martin E. Trapp | |||
4 |
|
James B. A. Robertson (1871–1938) |
January 13, 1919 – January 8, 1923 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1918 | |||
5 | Jack C. Walton (1881–1949) |
January 8, 1923 – November 19, 1923 (impeached and removed) |
Democratic | 1922 | ||||
6 | Martin E. Trapp (1877–1951) |
November 19, 1923 – January 10, 1927 (term-limited) |
Democratic | Succeeded from lieutenant governor |
Vacant | |||
7 | Henry S. Johnston (1867–1965) |
January 10, 1927 – March 20, 1929 (impeached and removed) |
Democratic | 1926 | William J. Holloway | |||
8 | William J. Holloway (1888–1970) |
March 20, 1929 – January 12, 1931 (term-limited) |
Democratic | Succeeded from lieutenant governor |
Vacant | |||
9 | William H. Murray (1869–1956) |
January 12, 1931 – January 14, 1935 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1930 | Robert Burns | |||
10 | E. W. Marland (1874–1941) |
January 14, 1935 – January 9, 1939 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1934 | James E. Berry | |||
11 |
|
Leon C. Phillips (1890–1958) |
January 9, 1939 – January 11, 1943 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1938 | |||
12 | Robert S. Kerr (1896–1963) |
January 11, 1943 – January 13, 1947 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1942 | ||||
13 | Roy J. Turner (1894–1973) |
January 13, 1947 – January 8, 1951 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1946 | ||||
14 | Johnston Murray (1902–1974) |
January 8, 1951 – January 10, 1955 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1950 | ||||
15 | Raymond D. Gary (1908–1993) |
January 10, 1955 – January 12, 1959 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 1954 | Cowboy Pink Williams | |||
16 | J. Howard Edmondson (1925–1971) |
January 12, 1959 – January 6, 1963 (resigned) |
Democratic | 1958 | George Nigh | |||
17 | George Nigh (b. 1927) |
January 6, 1963 – January 14, 1963 (successor took office) |
Democratic | Succeeded from lieutenant governor |
Vacant | |||
18 | Henry Bellmon (1921–2009) |
January 14, 1963 – January 9, 1967 (term-limited) |
Republican | 1962 | Leo Winters | |||
19 | Dewey F. Bartlett (1919–1979) |
January 9, 1967 – January 11, 1971 (lost election) |
Republican | 1966 | George Nigh | |||
20 | David Hall (1930–2016) |
January 11, 1971 – January 13, 1975 (lost nomination) |
Democratic | 1970 | ||||
21 | David Boren (b. 1941) |
January 13, 1975 – January 2, 1979 (resigned) |
Democratic | 1974 | ||||
22 | George Nigh (b. 1927) |
January 3, 1979 – January 12, 1987 (term-limited) |
Democratic | Succeeded from lieutenant governor |
Spencer Bernard | |||
1978 | ||||||||
1982 | ||||||||
23 | Henry Bellmon (1921–2009) |
January 12, 1987 – January 14, 1991 (did not run) |
Republican | 1986 | Robert S. Kerr III | |||
24 | David Walters (b. 1951) |
January 14, 1991 – January 9, 1995 (did not run) |
Democratic | 1990 | Jack Mildren | |||
25 | Frank Keating (b. 1944) |
January 9, 1995 – January 13, 2003 (term-limited) |
Republican | 1994 | Mary Fallin | |||
1998 | ||||||||
26 | Brad Henry (b. 1963) |
January 13, 2003 – January 10, 2011 (term-limited) |
Democratic | 2002 | ||||
2006 | Jari Askins | |||||||
27 | Mary Fallin (b. 1954) |
January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019 (term-limited) |
Republican | 2010 | Todd Lamb | |||
2014 | ||||||||
28 | Kevin Stitt (b. 1972) |
January 14, 2019 – Incumbent |
Republican | 2018 | Matt Pinnell | |||
2022 |