List of governors of Wyoming

The governor of Wyoming is the head of government of Wyoming, and the commander-in-chief of the Wyoming's military department (National Guard).

Governor of Wyoming
Seal of the governor
Incumbent Mark Gordon since January 7, 2019
Style	Governor (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Status	Head of state Head of government
Residence	Wyoming Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, renewable once (limited to eight years in a sixteen year period)
Inaugural holder	Francis E. Warren
Formation	Wyoming Constitution
Succession	Line of succession
Salary	$105,000 (2022)[1]
Website	governor.wyo.gov

The gubernatorial term has been set at four years since statehood. Originally, a governor could be elected any number of times. Since a 1992 referendum, governors have been limited to eight years in office during any 16-year period—effectively limiting them to two consecutive terms.

List of governors

Territory of Wyoming

Governors of the Territory of Wyoming

No.	Governor		Term in office[a]	Appointing President
1		John Allen Campbell (1835–1880) [2]	April 7, 1869[b] – February 10, 1875 (successor appointed)	Ulysses S. Grant
2		John Milton Thayer (1820–1906) [6]	February 10, 1875[c] – April 10, 1878 (successor appointed)	Ulysses S. Grant
3		John Wesley Hoyt (1831–1912) [9]	April 10, 1878[d] – August 3, 1882 (successor appointed)	Rutherford B. Hayes
4		William Hale (1837–1885) [12]	August 3, 1882[e] – January 13, 1885 (died in office)[f]	Chester A. Arthur
5		Francis E. Warren (1844–1929) [15][16]	February 27, 1885[g] – November 11, 1886 (successor appointed)	Chester A. Arthur
6		George W. Baxter (1855–1929) [19]	November 11, 1886[h] – December 20, 1886 (resigned)[i]	Grover Cleveland
7		Thomas Moonlight (1833–1899) [20]	December 20, 1886[j] – April 9, 1889 (successor appointed)	Grover Cleveland
8		Francis E. Warren (1844–1929) [15][16]	April 9, 1889[k] – October 11, 1890 (elected state governor)	Benjamin Harrison

State of Wyoming

Governors of the State of Wyoming

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Secretary of State[l]
1			Francis E. Warren (1844–1929) [15][16][25]	October 11, 1890[26] – November 24, 1890 (resigned)[m]	Republican[27]	1890		John W. Meldrum
								Amos W. Barber
2			Amos W. Barber (1860–1915) [28][29]	November 24, 1890[30] – January 2, 1893 (successor took office)	Republican[27]	Secretary of state acting		Acting as governor
3			John Eugene Osborne (1858–1943) [31][32]	January 2, 1893[33] – January 7, 1895 (did not run)[31]	Democratic[n]	1892§		Amos W. Barber[o]
4			William A. Richards (1849–1912) [35][36]	January 7, 1895[37] – January 2, 1899 (did not run)[35]	Republican[27]	1894		Charles W. Burdick
5			DeForest Richards (1846–1903) [38][39]	January 2, 1899[40] – April 28, 1903 (died in office)	Republican[27]	1898		Fenimore Chatterton
						1902
6			Fenimore Chatterton (1860–1958) [41][42]	April 28, 1903[43] – January 2, 1905 (lost nomination)	Republican[27]	Secretary of state acting		Acting as governor
7			Bryant Butler Brooks (1861–1944) [44]	January 2, 1905[45] – January 2, 1911 (did not run)	Republican[27]	1904 (special)		Fenimore Chatterton
						1906		William Schnitger
8			Joseph M. Carey (1845–1924) [46][47]	January 2, 1911[48] – January 4, 1915 (did not run)	Democratic[p][46]	1910		Frank L. Houx
9			John B. Kendrick (1857–1933) [49][50]	January 4, 1915[51] – February 24, 1917 (resigned)[q]	Democratic[27]	1914
10			Frank L. Houx (1854–1941) [52][53]	February 24, 1917[54] – January 6, 1919 (lost election)	Democratic[27]	Secretary of state acting		Acting as governor
11			Robert D. Carey (1878–1937) [55][56]	January 6, 1919[57] – January 1, 1923 (lost nomination)[r]	Republican[27]	1918		William E. Chaplin
12			William B. Ross (1873–1924) [58][59]	January 1, 1923[60] – October 2, 1924 (died in office)	Democratic[27]	1922		Frank Lucas[o]
13			Frank Lucas (1876–1948) [61][62]	October 2, 1924[63] – January 5, 1925 (successor took office)	Republican[27]	Secretary of state acting		Acting as governor
14			Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876–1977) [64][65]	January 5, 1925[66] – January 3, 1927 (lost election)	Democratic[27]	1924 (special)		Frank Lucas[o]
15			Frank Emerson (1882–1931) [67][68]	January 3, 1927[69] – February 18, 1931 (died in office)	Republican[27]	1926		Alonzo M. Clark
						1930
16			Alonzo M. Clark (1868–1952) [70][71]	February 18, 1931[72] – January 2, 1933 (lost nomination)[s]	Republican[27]	Secretary of state acting		Acting as governor
17			Leslie A. Miller (1886–1970) [73][74]	January 2, 1933[75] – January 2, 1939 (lost election)	Democratic[27]	1932 (special)		Alonzo M. Clark[o]
						1934		Lester C. Hunt[t]
18			Nels H. Smith (1884–1976) [76][77]	January 2, 1939[78] – January 4, 1943 (lost election)	Republican[27]	1938
19			Lester C. Hunt (1892–1954) [79][80]	January 4, 1943[81] – January 3, 1949 (resigned)[u]	Democratic[27]	1942		Mart T. Christensen[o]
								William M. Jack
						1946		Arthur G. Crane[o]
20			Arthur G. Crane (1877–1955) [82][83]	January 3, 1949[84] – January 1, 1951 (successor took office)	Republican[27]	Secretary of state acting		Acting as governor
21			Frank A. Barrett (1892–1962) [85][86]	January 1, 1951[87] – January 3, 1953 (resigned)[v]	Republican[27]	1950		Clifford Joy Rogers
22			Clifford Joy Rogers (1897–1962) [88][89]	January 3, 1953[90] – January 3, 1955 (lost nomination)[88]	Republican[27]	Secretary of state acting		Acting as governor
23			Milward Simpson (1897–1993) [91][92]	January 3, 1955[93] – January 5, 1959 (lost election)	Republican[27]	1954		Everett T. Copenhaver
24			Joe Hickey (1911–1970) [94][95]	January 5, 1959[96] – January 2, 1961 (resigned)[w]	Democratic[27]	1958		Jack R. Gage
25			Jack R. Gage (1899–1970) [97][98]	January 2, 1961[99] – January 7, 1963 (lost election)	Democratic[27]	Secretary of state acting		Acting as governor
26			Clifford Hansen (1912–2009) [100][101]	January 7, 1963[102] – January 2, 1967 (did not run)[x]	Republican[27]	1962		Thyra Thomson[o]
27			Stanley K. Hathaway (1924–2005) [103][104]	January 2, 1967[105] – January 6, 1975 (did not run)[103]	Republican[27]	1966
						1970
28			Edgar Herschler (1918–1990) [106][107]	January 6, 1975[108] – January 5, 1987 (did not run)	Democratic[27]	1974
						1978
						1982
29			Mike Sullivan (b. 1939) [109]	January 5, 1987[110] – January 2, 1995 (term-limited)[y]	Democratic[109]	1986		Kathy Karpan
						1990
30			Jim Geringer (b. 1944) [112]	January 2, 1995[113] – January 6, 2003 (term-limited)[y]	Republican[112]	1994		Diana J. Ohman
						1998		Joseph Meyer[o]
31			Dave Freudenthal (b. 1950) [114]	January 6, 2003[115] – January 3, 2011 (term-limited)[y]	Democratic[114]	2002
						2006		Max Maxfield[o]
32			Matt Mead (b. 1962) [116]	January 3, 2011[117] – January 7, 2019 (term-limited)[y]	Republican[116]	2010
						2014		Ed Murray
								Edward Buchanan
33			Mark Gordon (b. 1957) [118]	January 7, 2019[119] – Incumbent[z]	Republican[118]	2018
								Karl Allred
						2022		Chuck Gray

Timeline

Timeline of Wyoming governors

See also

• Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States § Wyoming
• List of Wyoming state legislatures

Notes

1. The range given is from the date the governor was confirmed by the Senate, or appointed by the President during a Senate recess, to the date the governor's successor was confirmed, unless noted.
2. Campbell was nominated on April 3, 1869;^[3] confirmed by the Senate on April 7;^[4] took the oath of office on April 15;^[2] and arrived in the territory on May 7.^[2] He was reconfirmed by the Senate on March 26, 1873.^[5]
3. Thayer was nominated^[7] and confirmed by the Senate^[8] on February 10, 1875, and took the oath of office on March 1.^[6]
4. Hoyt was nominated on March 12, 1878;^[10] confirmed by the Senate on April 10;^[11] and arrived in the territory on May 29.^[9]
5. Hale was nominated on July 26, 1882;^[13] confirmed by the Senate on August 3;^[14] and took the oath of office on August 22.^[12]
6. Territorial Secretary Elliot S. N. Morgan acted as governor until Hale's successor arrived.^[12]
7. Warren was nominated on February 26, 1885;^[17] confirmed by the Senate on February 27;^[18] and took the oath of office on February 28.^[15]
8. Baxter was appointed on November 11, 1886, during a Senate recess.^[19] He was not confirmed by the Senate before he resigned.
9. Baxter resigned due to charges of grazing cattle on government land; Territorial Secretary Elliot S. N. Morgan acted as governor until his successor arrived.^[19]
10. Moonlight was nominated on December 8, 1886;^[21] confirmed by the Senate on December 20;^[22] and took the oath of office on January 24, 1887.^[20]
11. Warren was nominated on March 26, 1889;^[23] confirmed by the Senate on March 27;^[24] and took the oath of office on April 9.^[15]
12. Secretaries of state represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
13. Warren resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.^[16]
14. Osborne represented the Democratic and Populist parties.^[34]
15. Represented the Republican Party
16. Sobel notes Carey received the Democratic nomination, but called himself an Independent and, later, a Progressive.^[46]
17. Kendrick resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.^[49]
18. Carey lost the Republican nomination to John W. Hay.^[55]
19. Clark lost the Republican nomination to Harry R. Weston.^[70]
20. Represented the Democratic Party
21. Hunt resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.^[79]
22. Barrett resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.^[85]
23. Hickey resigned so that his successor could appoint him to the United States Senate.^[94]
24. Hansen was instead elected to the United States Senate.^[100]
25. Legislation passed in 1992 limited governors to eight years in any period of sixteen years.^[111]
26. Gordon's second term began on January 2, 2023,^[120] and will expire on January 4, 2027; he will be term-limited.