List of governors of Maryland facts for kids
The governor of Maryland is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maryland and is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and the constitutional powers of Maryland's governors make them among the most powerful governors in the United States.
Since the American Revolution (1775–1783), Maryland has had four state constitutions that have specified different terms of office and methods of selection of its governors. Under the constitution of 1776, governors were appointed by the General Assembly legislature to one-year terms and could be reelected for two additional terms. An 1838 constitutional amendment allowed the direct election of governors to 3-year terms, although the governors came from rotating election districts of regions. The terms were lengthened to four years in the 1851 Constitution and election districts were abolished in the 1864 version. Since then, under the current heavily amended Maryland Constitution of 1867 governors have been elected by the entire state of Maryland for a four-year term.
Maryland governors are limited to two consecutive terms, making former two-term governors eligible to run after four years out of office. Thomas Sim Lee, Daniel Martin, and Robert Bowie have served non-consecutive terms as Governor of Maryland. Albert C. Ritchie holds the record of Maryland's longest-serving governor with almost 15 years of service (1920–1935). Maryland has never yet had a female governor although four have been nominated by their parties since 1974. One woman, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, served as Lieutenant Governor under Parris Glendening from 1995 to 2003.
The current governor is Republican Larry Hogan, who took office on January 21, 2015.
Governors
Federalist (8) Democratic-Republican (9) Anti-Jacksonian (3) Jacksonian (1) Whig (3) Democratic (29) Constitutional Union (1) Republican (9) |
||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Governor | Term in office | Party | Term | Previous office | Lieutenant governor | |||||
1 | Thomas Johnson November 4, 1732 – October 26, 1819
|
March 21, 1777 – November 12, 1779 |
Independent | 1 (1777) |
Continental Congress (1774–1775) |
None | ||||
2 (1778) |
||||||||||
2 | Thomas Sim Lee October 29, 1745 – November 9, 1819
|
November 12, 1779 – November 22, 1782 |
Independent | 3 (1779) |
Governor's Executive Council (1777–1779) |
|||||
4 (1780) |
||||||||||
5 (1781) |
||||||||||
3 | William Paca October 31, 1740 – October 13, 1799
|
November 22, 1782 – November 26, 1785 |
Independent | 6 (1782) |
Maryland State Senator (1777–1779) |
|||||
7 (1783) |
||||||||||
8 (1784) |
||||||||||
4 | William Smallwood 1732 – February 14, 1792
|
November 26, 1785 – November 24, 1788 |
Independent | 9 (1785) |
Major General Continental Army Maryland State Delegate |
|||||
10 (1786) |
||||||||||
11 (1787) |
||||||||||
5 | John Eager Howard June 4, 1752 – October 12, 1827
|
November 24, 1788 – November 14, 1791 |
Federalist | 12 (1788) |
Colonel Continental Army Continental Congress |
|||||
13 (1789) |
||||||||||
14 (1790) |
||||||||||
6 | George Plater November 8, 1735 – February 10, 1792
|
November 14, 1791 – February 10, 1792 |
Federalist | 15 (1791) |
Maryland State Senator (1777–1790) |
|||||
James Brice August 26, 1746 – July 11, 1801
|
February 10, 1792 – April 5, 1792 |
Federalist | Mayor of Annapolis
(1782–1783; 1787–1788) |
|||||||
2 | Thomas Sim Lee October 29, 1745 – November 9, 1819
|
April 5, 1792 – November 14, 1794 |
Federalist | 16 (1792) |
Governor of Maryland (1779–1782) Continental Congress |
|||||
17 (1793) |
||||||||||
7 | John Hoskins Stone 1750 – October 5, 1804
|
November 14, 1794 – November 17, 1797 |
Federalist | 18 (1794) |
Maryland State Delegate (1790) |
|||||
19 (1795) |
||||||||||
20 (1796) |
||||||||||
8 | John Henry November 1750 – December 16, 1798
|
November 17, 1797 – November 14, 1798 |
Democratic-Republican | 21 (1797) |
U.S. Senator from Maryland (1789–1797) |
|||||
9 | Benjamin Ogle January 27, 1749 – July 7, 1809
|
November 14, 1798 – November 10, 1801 |
Federalist | 22 (1798) |
None | |||||
23 (1799) |
||||||||||
24 (1800) |
||||||||||
10 | John F. Mercer May 17, 1759 – July 30, 1821
|
November 10, 1801 – November 13, 1803 |
Democratic-Republican | 25 (1801) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 2nd (1793–1794) |
|||||
26 (1802) |
||||||||||
11 | Robert Bowie March 1, 1750 – January 8, 1818
|
November 15, 1803 – November 10, 1806 |
Democratic-Republican | 27 (1803) |
Maryland State Delegate (1801–1803) |
|||||
28 (1804) |
||||||||||
29 (1805) |
||||||||||
12 | Robert Wright November 20, 1752 – September 7, 1826
|
November 12, 1806 – June 9, 1809 |
Democratic-Republican | 30 (1806) |
U.S. Senator from Maryland (1801–1806) |
|||||
31 (1807) |
||||||||||
32 (1808) |
||||||||||
13 | Edward Lloyd V July 22, 1779 – June 2, 1834
|
June 9, 1809 – November 16, 1811 |
Democratic-Republican | 33 (1809) |
Maryland State Delegate (1800–1805) |
|||||
34 (1810) |
||||||||||
11 | Robert Bowie March 1, 1750 – January 8, 1818
|
November 16, 1811 – November 23, 1812 |
Democratic-Republican | 35 (1811) |
Governor of Maryland (1803–1806) |
|||||
14 | Levin Winder September 4, 1757 – July 1, 1819
|
November 25, 1812 – January 2, 1816 |
Federalist | 36 (1812) |
Maryland State Delegate (1806–1809) |
|||||
37 (1813) |
||||||||||
38 (1814) |
||||||||||
15 | Charles Carnan Ridgely December 6, 1760 – July 17, 1829
|
January 2, 1816 – January 8, 1819 |
Federalist | 39 (1816) |
Maryland State Senator (1796–1800) |
|||||
40 (1817) |
||||||||||
41 (1818) |
||||||||||
16 | Charles Goldsborough July 15, 1765 – December 13, 1834
|
January 8, 1819 – December 20, 1819 |
Federalist | 42 (1819) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 8th (1805–1817) |
|||||
17 | Samuel Sprigg 1783 – April 21, 1855
|
December 20, 1819 – December 16, 1822 |
Democratic-Republican | 43 (1819) |
None | |||||
44 (1820) |
||||||||||
45 (1821) |
||||||||||
18 | Samuel Stevens Jr. July 13, 1778 – February 7, 1860
|
December 16, 1822 – January 9, 1826 |
Democratic-Republican | 46 (1822) |
Maryland State Delegate (1819–1820) |
|||||
47 (1823) |
||||||||||
48 (1824) |
||||||||||
19 | Joseph Kent January 14, 1779 – November 24, 1837
|
January 9, 1826 – January 15, 1829 |
Democratic-Republican | 49 (1826) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 2nd (1819–1826) |
|||||
50 (1827) |
||||||||||
51 (1828) |
||||||||||
20 | Daniel Martin December 1780 – July 11, 1831
|
January 15, 1829 – January 15, 1830 |
Anti-Jacksonian | 52 (1829) |
Maryland State Delegate (1819–1820) |
|||||
21 | Thomas King Carroll April 29, 1793 – October 3, 1873
|
January 15, 1830 – January 13, 1831 |
Jacksonian | 53 (1830) |
Maryland State Delegate (1816–1817) |
|||||
20 | Daniel Martin December 1780 – July 11, 1831
|
January 13, 1831 – July 11, 1831 |
Anti-Jacksonian | 54 (1831) |
Maryland State Delegate (1819–1820) |
|||||
22 | George Howard November 21, 1789 – August 2, 1846
|
July 11, 1831 – January 17, 1833 |
Anti-Jacksonian | None | ||||||
55 (1832) |
||||||||||
23 | James Thomas March 11, 1785 – December 25, 1845
|
January 17, 1833 – January 14, 1836 |
Whig | 56 (1833) |
Maryland State Senator (1826–1831) |
|||||
57 (1834) |
||||||||||
58 (1835) |
||||||||||
24 | Thomas Veazey January 31, 1774 – July 1, 1842
|
January 14, 1836 – January 7, 1839 |
Whig | 59 (1836) |
Maryland State Delegate (1811–1812) |
|||||
60 (1837) |
||||||||||
61 (1838) |
||||||||||
25 | William Grason March 11, 1788 – July 2, 1868
|
January 7, 1839 – January 3, 1842 |
Democratic | 62 (1838) |
Maryland State Delegate (1837) |
|||||
26 | Francis Thomas February 3, 1799 – January 22, 1876
|
January 3, 1842 – January 6, 1845 |
Democratic | 63 (1841) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 6th (1835–1841) |
|||||
27 | Thomas Pratt February 18, 1804 – November 9, 1869
|
January 6, 1845 – January 3, 1848 |
Whig | 64 (1844) |
Maryland State Delegate (1832–1835) |
|||||
28 | Philip F. Thomas September 12, 1810 – October 2, 1890
|
January 3, 1848 – January 6, 1851 |
Democratic | 65 (1847) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 1st (1839–1841) |
|||||
29 | Enoch Lowe August 10, 1820 – August 23, 1892
|
January 6, 1851 – January 11, 1854 |
Democratic | 66 (1850) |
Maryland State Delegate (1845) |
|||||
30 | Thomas Watkins Ligon May 10, 1810 – January 12, 1881
|
January 11, 1854 – January 13, 1858 |
Democratic | 67 (1853) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 3rd (1845–1849) |
|||||
31 | Thomas H. Hicks September 2, 1798 – February 14, 1865
|
January 13, 1858 – January 8, 1862 |
American / Union | 68 (1857) |
Maryland State Delegate (1830–1836) |
|||||
32 | Augustus Bradford January 9, 1806 – March 1, 1881
|
January 8, 1862 – January 10, 1866 |
Union | 69 (1861) |
Baltimore County Clerk of Courts (1845–1851) |
|||||
33 | Thomas Swann March 3, 1809 – July 24, 1883
|
January 10, 1866 – January 13, 1869 |
Union / Democratic | 70 (1864) |
Mayor of Baltimore (1856–1860) |
Christopher C. Cox | ||||
34 | Oden Bowie November 10, 1826 – December 4, 1894
|
January 13, 1869 – January 10, 1872 |
Democratic | 71 (1867) |
Maryland State Senator (1867–1869) |
None | ||||
35 | William Pinkney Whyte August 9, 1824 – March 17, 1908
|
January 10, 1872 – March 4, 1874 |
Democratic | 72 (1871) |
U.S. Senator from Maryland (1868–1869) |
|||||
36 | James Black Groome April 4, 1838 – October 5, 1893
|
March 4, 1874 – January 12, 1876 |
Democratic | Maryland State Delegate (1872–1874) |
||||||
37 | John Lee Carroll September 30, 1830 – February 27, 1911
|
January 12, 1876 – January 14, 1880 |
Democratic | 73 (1875) |
Maryland State Senator (1867–1876) |
|||||
38 | William T. Hamilton September 8, 1820 – October 26, 1888
|
January 14, 1880 – January 9, 1884 |
Democratic | 74 (1879) |
U.S. Senator from Maryland (1869–1875) |
|||||
39 | Robert Milligan McLane June 23, 1815 – April 16, 1898
|
January 9, 1884 – March 27, 1885 |
Democratic | 75 (1883) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 4th (1879–1883) |
|||||
40 | Henry Lloyd February 21, 1852 – December 20, 1920
|
March 27, 1885 – January 11, 1888 |
Democratic | Maryland State Senator (1882–1885) |
||||||
41 | Elihu Emory Jackson November 3, 1837 – December 27, 1907
|
January 11, 1888 – January 13, 1892 |
Democratic | 76 (1887) |
Maryland State Senator (1884–1886) |
|||||
42 | Frank Brown August 8, 1846 – February 3, 1920
|
January 13, 1892 – January 8, 1896 |
Democratic | 77 (1891) |
Maryland State Delegate (1876–1878) |
|||||
43 | Lloyd Lowndes Jr. February 21, 1845 – January 8, 1905
|
January 8, 1896 – January 10, 1900 (lost election) |
Republican | 78 (1895) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 6th (1873–1875) |
|||||
44 | John W. Smith February 5, 1845 – April 19, 1925
|
January 10, 1900 – January 13, 1904 |
Democratic | 79 (1899) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 1st (1899–1900) |
|||||
45 | Edwin Warfield May 7, 1848 – March 31, 1920
|
January 13, 1904 – January 8, 1908 |
Democratic | 80 (1903) |
Maryland State Senator (1881–1887) |
|||||
46 | Austin Lane Crothers May 17, 1860 – May 25, 1912
|
January 8, 1908 – January 10, 1912 |
Democratic | 81 (1907) |
Maryland State Delegate (1897–1900) |
|||||
47 | Phillips Lee Goldsborough August 6, 1865 – October 22, 1946
|
January 10, 1912 – January 12, 1916 |
Republican | 82 (1911) |
Comptroller of Maryland (1898–1900) |
|||||
48 | Emerson Harrington March 26, 1864 – December 15, 1945
|
January 12, 1916 – January 14, 1920 |
Democratic | 83 (1915) |
Comptroller of Maryland (1912–1916) |
|||||
49 | Albert Ritchie August 29, 1876 – February 24, 1936
|
January 14, 1920 – January 9, 1935 (lost election) |
Democratic | 84 (1919) |
Attorney General of Maryland (1915–1919) |
|||||
85 (1923) |
||||||||||
86 (1926) |
||||||||||
87 (1930) |
||||||||||
50 | Harry Nice December 5, 1877 – February 25, 1941
|
January 9, 1935 – January 11, 1939 (lost election) |
Republican | 88 (1934) |
Baltimore City Alderman (1903–1905) |
|||||
51 | Herbert O'Conor November 17, 1896 – March 4, 1960
|
January 11, 1939 – January 3, 1947 (term limited) |
Democratic | 89 (1938) |
Attorney General of Maryland (1935–1939) |
|||||
90 (1942) |
||||||||||
52 | William Preston Lane Jr. May 12, 1892 – February 7, 1967
|
January 3, 1947 – January 10, 1951 (lost election) |
Democratic | 91 (1946) |
Attorney General of Maryland (1930–1934) |
|||||
53 | Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin November 20, 1900 – August 10, 1974
|
January 10, 1951 – January 14, 1959 (term limited) |
Republican | 92 (1950) |
Mayor of Baltimore (1943–1947) |
|||||
93 (1954) |
||||||||||
54 | John Millard Tawes April 8, 1894 – June 25, 1979
|
January 14, 1959 – January 25, 1967 (term limited) |
Democratic | 94 (1958) |
Comptroller of Maryland (1950–1959) |
|||||
95 (1962) |
||||||||||
55 | Spiro Agnew November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996
|
January 25, 1967 – January 7, 1969 (resigned) |
Republican | 96 (1966) |
Baltimore County Executive (1962–1966) |
|||||
56 | Marvin Mandel April 19, 1920 – August 30, 2015
|
January 7, 1969 – January 17, 1979 (term limited) |
Democratic | 97 (1969) |
Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates (1964–1969) |
Blair Lee III | ||||
98 (1970) |
||||||||||
99 (1974) |
||||||||||
Blair Lee III May 19, 1916 – October 25, 1985
|
June 4, 1977 – January 15, 1979 (acting governor) |
Democratic | Lieutenant Governor of Maryland (1971–1979) |
Blair Lee III
(Continued to serve as Lieutenant Governor while Acting Governor) |
||||||
57 | Harry Hughes November 13, 1926 – March 13, 2019
|
January 17, 1979 – January 20, 1987 (term limited) |
Democratic | 100 (1978) |
Maryland State Senator (1959–1971) |
Samuel Bogley | ||||
101 (1982) |
J. Joseph Curran Jr. | |||||||||
58 | William Donald Schaefer November 2, 1921 – April 18, 2011
|
January 20, 1987 – January 18, 1995 (term limited) |
Democratic | 102 (1986) |
Mayor of Baltimore (1971–1987) |
Melvin Steinberg | ||||
103 (1990) |
||||||||||
59 | Parris Glendening June 11, 1942 (Age 81) |
January 18, 1995 – January 15, 2003 (term limited) |
Democratic | 104 (1994) |
Prince George's County Executive (1983–1994) |
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend | ||||
105 (1998) |
||||||||||
60 | Bob Ehrlich November 25, 1957 (Age 66) |
January 15, 2003 – January 17, 2007 (lost election) |
Republican | 106 (2002) |
U.S. Representative from Maryland's 2nd (1995–2003) |
Michael Steele | ||||
61 | Martin O'Malley January 18, 1963 (Age 61) |
January 17, 2007 – January 21, 2015 (term limited) |
Democratic | 107 (2006) |
Mayor of Baltimore (1999–2007) |
Anthony Brown | ||||
108 (2010) |
||||||||||
62 | Larry Hogan May 25, 1956 (Age 67) |
January 21, 2015 – Incumbent |
Republican | 109 (2014) |
Maryland Secretary of Appointments (2003–2007) |
Boyd Rutherford | ||||
110 (2018) |
||||||||||
63 | Wes Moore (elect) October 15, 1978 (Age 45) |
Taking office January 18, 2023 |
Democratic | 111 (2022) |
CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation (2017–2021) |
Aruna Miller (elect) |
Succession
See also
- Maryland Constitution
- Maryland gubernatorial elections
- History of Maryland
- Maryland in the American Civil War
- Maryland in the American Revolution