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List of governors of Florida

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List of governors of Florida
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The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Florida and is the commander-in-chief of the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard.

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Ron DeSantis has been governor since January 8, 2019.

The current officeholder is Ron DeSantis, a member of the Republican Party who took office on January 8, 2019.

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List of governors

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Military governor

For a list of governors of Florida before it became a United States territory, see List of colonial governors of Florida.

Spanish Florida was acquired from Spain in the Adams–Onís Treaty, which took effect July 10, 1821.[1] Parts of West Florida had already been assigned to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi; the remainder and East Florida were governed by a military commissioner with the powers of governor until the territory was organized and incorporated.[2]

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Territory of Florida

Florida Territory was organized on March 30, 1822, combining East and West Florida.[7]

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State of Florida

The State of Florida was admitted to the Union on March 3, 1845. It seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861,[38] and joined the Confederate States of America on February 8, 1861,[39] as a founding member. Following the end of the American Civil War, it was part of the Third Military District.[40] Florida was readmitted to the Union on June 25, 1868.[41]

The Florida Constitution of 1838 provided that a governor be elected every 4 years, who was not allowed to serve consecutive terms.[42] The secessionist constitution of 1861 would have reduced this to two years and removed the term limit,[43] but the state fell to the Union before the first election under that constitution. The rejected constitution of 1865 and the ratified constitution of 1868 maintained the four-year term,[44][45] though without the earlier term limit, which was reintroduced in the 1885 constitution.[46] The current constitution of 1968 states that should the governor serve, or would have served had he not resigned, more than six years in two consecutive terms, he cannot be elected to the succeeding term.[47] The start of a term was set in 1885 at the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the January following the election,[46] where it has remained.[48]

Originally, the president of the state senate acted as governor should that office be vacant.[49] The 1865 and 1868 constitutions created the office of lieutenant governor,[50][51] who would similarly act as governor. This office was abolished in 1885, with the president of the senate again taking on that duty.[52] The 1968 constitution recreated the office of lieutenant governor, who now becomes governor in the absence of the governor.[53] The governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket.[47]

Florida was a strongly Democratic state before the Civil War, electing only one candidate from the Whig Party (the Democrats' chief opposition at the time).[54] It elected three Republican governors following Reconstruction, but after the Democratic Party re-established control, 90 years passed before voters chose another Republican. Since 1998, it has been a strongly Republican state.

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Acting governor

Florida has had a number of people serve as acting governor. The state's first three constitutions provided that the succession in office became operative whenever the governor was out of the state. Thus, in 1853 when Governor Thomas Brown attended an event in Boston—the Senate president who would normally succeed the governor at the time was also out of state. Therefore, the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, A.K. Allison, became acting governor on September 16, 1853. He served for 17 days.[233]

Article IV Section 3 (b) of the Florida Constitution now calls for the lieutenant governor to "act as Governor" during the governor's physical or mental incapacity. This provision has been invoked one time. On June 18, 2008, Governor Charlie Crist filed a proclamation with the secretary of state transferring power of governor to Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp pursuant to the constitutional provision while he underwent knee surgery.[234]

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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    Jackson left Florida on October 8, 1821.[4] His resignation was submitted on November 13, and the president accepted it on December 31.[5][6]
  2. [b]
    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.
  3. [c]
    Duval was nominated to be "Governor of the Floridas" on April 15, 1822.[10] This was withdrawn and he was nominated to be "Governor of the Territory of Florida" on April 16,[11] and confirmed by the Senate to that position on April 17.[12] No source specifies when he took office, but it was reported he reached Pensacola, then the capital, on June 22.[13] He was reconfirmed on March 8, 1825;[14] reappointed during Senate recesses on January 9, 1828,[15] and April 18, 1831;[15] and reconfirmed by the Senate on April 30, 1832.[16]
  4. [d]
    The nomination of Duval's successor says his commission would expire on April 17, 1834.[17]
  5. [e]
    At some point in 1827, the territorial secretary William M. McCarty acted as governor.[18]
  6. [f]
    Eaton was nominated on March 29, 1834, for a term beginning April 17, when his predecessor's commission expired;[17] confirmed by the Senate on April 24;[21] and took office on December 11.[19]
  7. [g]
    Call was nominated on February 18, 1836,[24] confirmed by the Senate on March 16,[25] and took office on April 4.[22] He was reconfirmed by the Senate on February 25, 1839.[26]
  8. [h]
    Multiple sources say Call's term ended on December 2, 1836,[27][15][28] but none say why, nor why this happened a week before Reid's confirmation on December 12.
  9. [i]
    Reid was nominated on December 11, 1839,[30] and confirmed by the Senate on December 12.[31]
  10. [j]
    Call was appointed on March 19, 1841,[15] during a Senate recess; nominated on June 17;[32] and confirmed by the Senate on August 11.[33]
  11. [k]
    Branch was nominated on June 14, 1844,[36] and confirmed by the Senate on June 15,[37] for a term to start August 11.
  12. [l]
    The office of lieutenant governor was created in 1868,[50] abolished in 1885,[52] and recreated in 1968.[53]
  13. [m]
    Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
  14. [n]
    Under the 1839 constitution, governors were ineligible for re-election until four years had passed.[59]
  15. [o]
    Milton committed suicide due to the pending defeat of the Confederate States of America, stating in his final address to the legislature that "death would be preferable to reunion."[72]
  16. [p]
    Allison resigned to go into hiding from approaching Union troops, and was captured by them on June 19, 1865.[74]
  17. [q]
    Marvin was appointed provisional governor by the Union occupation.[78]
  18. [r]
    Represented the Republican Party
  19. [s]
    Reed was popularly elected under the terms of the 1868 constitution, and took the oath of office on June 8, 1868;[87] however, the federal commander of Florida did not recognize the validity of the state constitution and the election until July 4.[88][89]
  20. [t]
    During an attempted impeachment of Reed, Gleason proclaimed himself governor. The Supreme Court eventually sided with Reed, and Gleason was removed from office.[90]
  21. [u]
    Appointed as temporary lieutenant governor to replace William Henry Gleason. However, the state comptroller did not believe the governor could appoint a replacement to an elected office and refused to pay Weeks, and the Senate refused to accept his presidency over them, even proposing a motion to arrest him. Governor Reed called for a special election to replace him, and though Weeks fought it, the Florida Supreme Court declared his term to have ended when the new election results were certified.[91]
  22. [v]
    Under the 1885 constitution, governors were ineligible for re-election for the succeeding term.[112]
  23. [w]
    Special election to fill the remainder of McCarty's term[184]
  24. [x]
    Burns lost the Democratic nomination to Robert King High. A constitutional amendment shifted the election schedule two years, and allowed the governor elected in 1964 to run for a second term.[195]
  25. [y]
    This term was only two years as the election schedule was changed so that it would not coincide with presidential elections.[192]
  26. [z]
    Under the 1968 constitution, those who have served more than six years in two consecutive terms are ineligible for election to governor.[204]
  27. [aa]
    Graham resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.[208]
  28. [ab]
    MacKay was a candidate in the 1998 election but lost; he succeeded Chiles after the election but before his successor took office.
  29. [ac]
    Crist instead ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate.
  30. [ad]
    Crist was elected as a member of the Republican Party, and switched to independent in April 2010.[226]
  31. [ae]
    Due to Ron DeSantis and Jeanette Nuñez taking their oath of office ahead of time, they became governor and lieutenant governor at midnight on January 8, rather than waiting for an inauguration ceremony. Thus, Scott and Lopez-Cantera's terms ended at the end of January 7.[229]
  32. [af]
    DeSantis' second term began on January 3, 2023,[232] and will expire on January 5, 2027; he will be term-limited
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