List of Governors of Florida facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Governor of Florida
Official seal
Incumbent Ron DeSantis since January 8, 2019
Residence	Florida Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, can succeed self once
Inaugural holder	William Dunn Moseley
Formation	1845
Deputy	Vacant
Salary	$132,932 (2009)
Website	www.flgov.com

The head of the government of the state of Florida is called the Governor of Florida. He is not the head of all parts of the government, but is like the state's president, and is head of the executive branch of the state, which is where decisions about running the state are made. He can also give orders to the military people of the state.

The Governor of Florida is elected every four years.

History

The territory of Florida was transferred from Spain to the United States on July 10 1821. Before that, governors were assigned by the government of Spain.

No governors were elected between 1821 until 1845. During that period, there were five military governors: William Duval (April 17 1822 - April 24 1834), John Eaton (April 24 1834 - March 16 1836), Richard Call (March 16 1836 - December 2 1839), Robert R. Reid (December 2 1839 - March 19 1841), Richard Call (his 2nd time) (March 19 1841 - August 11 1844), and John Branch (August 11 1844 - June 25 1845).

List of Governors of Florida

Florida acceded to statehood on March 3 1845. These are the governors of the State of Florida:

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	William D. Moseley	June 25 1845	October 1 1849	Democratic
2	Thomas Brown	October 1 1849	October 13 1853	Whig
3	James E. Broome	October 3 1853	October 5 1857	Democratic
4	Madison S. Perry	October 5 1857	October 7 1861	Democratic
5	John Milton	October 7 1861	April 1 1865	Democratic
6	Abraham K. Allison	April 1 1865	May 19 1865	Democratic
7	William Marvin	July 13 1865	December 20 1865	none
8	David S. Walker	December 20 1865	July 4 1868	Conservative
9	Harrison Reed	July 4 1868	January 7 1873	Republican
10	Ossian B. Hart	January 7 1873	March 18 1874	Republican
11	Marcellus L. Sterns	March 18 1874	January 2 1877	Republican
12	George F. Drew	January 2 1877	January 4 1881	Democratic
13	William D. Bloxham	January 4 1881	January 7 1885	Democratic
14	Edward A. Perry	January 7 1885	January 8 1889	Democratic
15	Francis P. Fleming	January 8 1889	January 3 1893	Democratic
16	Henry L. Mitchell	January 3 1893	January 5 1897	Democratic
17	William D. Bloxham	January 5 1897	January 8 1901	Democratic
18	William S. Jennings	January 8 1901	January 3 1905	Democratic
19	Napoleon B. Broward	January 3 1905	January 5 1909	Democratic
20	Albert W. Gilchrist	January 5 1909	January 7 1913	Democratic
21	Park Trammell	January 7 1913	January 2 1917	Democratic
22	Sidney Johnston Catts	January 2 1917	January 4 1921	Prohibition
23	Cary A. Hardee	January 4 1921	January 6 1925	Democratic
24	John W. Martin	January 6 1925	January 8 1929	Democratic
25	Doyle E. Carlton	January 8 1929	January 3 1933	Democratic
26	David Sholtz	January 4 1933	January 5 1937	Democratic
27	Fred P. Cone	January 5 1937	January 7 1941	Democratic
28	Spessard Holland	January 7 1941	January 2 1945	Democratic
29	Millard F. Caldwell	January 2 1945	January 4 1949	Democratic
30	Fuller Warren	January 4 1949	January 6 1953	Democratic
31	Daniel T. McCarty	January 6 1953	September 28 1953	Democratic
32	Charley E. Johns	September 28 1953	January 4 1955	Democratic
33	T. LeRoy Collins	January 4 1955	January 3 1961	Democratic
34	C. Farris Bryant	January 3 1961	January 5 1965	Democratic
35	W. Haydon Burns	January 5 1965	January 3 1967	Democratic
36	Claude R. Kirk, Jr.	January 3 1967	January 5 1971	Republican
37	Reubin O'D. Askew	January 5 1971	January 2 1979	Democratic
38	D. Robert Graham	January 2 1979	January 3 1987	Democratic
39	Wayne Mixson	January 3 1987	January 6 1987	Democratic
40	Robert Martinez	January 6 1987	January 8 1991	Republican
41	Lawton M. Chiles, Jr.	January 8 1991	December 12 1998	Democratic
42	Kenneth H. "Buddy" MacKay, Jr.	December 12 1998	January 5 1999	Democratic
43	John Ellis "Jeb" Bush	January 5 1999	January 2 2007	Republican
44	Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr.	January 2 2007	January 4 2011	Republican
45	Rick Scott	January 4 2011	January 8 2019	Republican
46	Ron DeSantis	January 8 2019	Incumbent	Republican

Living former governors

As of January 2019, seven former governors were alive. The most recent death of a former governor was that of Reubin Askew (1971–1979), on March 13, 2014.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
Bob Graham	1979–1987	November 9, 1936 (1936-11-09)
Wayne Mixson	1987	June 16, 1922 (1922-06-16)
Bob Martinez	1987–1991	December 25, 1934 (1934-12-25)
Buddy MacKay	1998–1999	March 22, 1933 (1933-03-22)
Jeb Bush	1999–2007	February 11, 1953 (1953-02-11)
Charlie Crist	2007–2011	July 24, 1956 (1956-07-24)
Rick Scott	2011–2019	December 1, 1952 (1952-12-01)