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List of governors of Ohio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of governors of Ohio
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The governor of Ohio is the head of government of Ohio[2] and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state's military forces.[3] The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Ohio General Assembly,[4] the power to convene the legislature[5] and the power to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.[6]

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There have been 64 governors of Ohio, serving 70 distinct terms. The longest term was held by Jim Rhodes, who was elected four times and served just under sixteen years in two non-consecutive periods of two terms each (1963–1971 and 1975–1983). The shortest terms were held by John William Brown and Nancy Hollister, who each served for only 11 days after the governors preceding them resigned in order to begin the terms to which they had been elected in the United States Senate; the shortest-serving elected governor was John M. Pattison, who died in office five months into his term.

The current governor is Republican Mike DeWine (R), who took office on January 14, 2019, and was re-elected in 2022. After eight years the incumbent is term-limited and ineligible to seek a third consecutive term in the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election.

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Qualifications

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The governor's working office is in the Vern Riffe State Office Tower in downtown Columbus

To become governor of Ohio, a candidate must be a qualified elector in the state. This means that any candidate for governor must be at least 18 years old at the time of election, a resident of Ohio for at least 30 days before the election, and a U.S. citizen. Convicted felons and those deemed by the courts as incompetent to vote are not eligible. There is a term limit of two consecutive terms as governor.

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The governor is the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws; the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Ohio State Legislature; the power to convene the legislature; and the power to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.

Other duties and privileges of the office include:

  • Executing all laws and requiring written information on any office from the head of that office
  • Making an annual address to the General Assembly, with recommendation for legislation
  • Convening extraordinary sessions of the legislature with limited purposes
  • Adjourning the legislature when the two chambers cannot agree to do so themselves, not to include the privilege of adjourning the legislature past the sine die set for the regular session
  • Keeping and using "The Great Seal of the State of Ohio"
  • Signing and sealing all commissions granted in the name of the state of Ohio
  • Nominating, in the event of a vacancy in the Lieutenant Governor's office, a new officer, subject to a confirmatory vote of both chambers of the legislature
  • Making vacancy appointments for all "key state officers" (the Auditor, the Treasurer, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General. Such appointments are for the remainder of the term when the next general election is less than 40 days away and until the next general election otherwise
  • Accepting a report from the head of each executive department at least once a year, not later than five days before the regular session of the legislature convenes, and including the substance of those reports in the annual address to the legislature
  • Making all appointments not otherwise provided for, with the advice and consent of the Senate, unless the Senate refuses to act, in which case the Governor's appointee takes offices by default
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Succession

Main article: Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States § Ohio

Should the office of governor become vacant due to death, resignation, or conviction of impeachment, the lieutenant governor assumes the title of governor. Should the office of lieutenant governor also become vacant, the president of the senate becomes the acting governor.[7] If the vacancy of both offices took place during the first twenty months of the term, a special election is to be held on the next even-numbered year to elect new officers to serve out the current term.[8] Prior to 1851, the speaker of the senate acted as governor for the term.[9] Since 1978, the governor and lieutenant governor have been elected on the same ticket; prior to then, they could be (and often were) members of different parties.[10]

List of governors

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Northwest Territory

The Territory Northwest of the Ohio River, commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was organized on July 13, 1787.[11] Many territories and states were split from Northwest Territory over the years, with the last portion being split between Indiana Territory and the newly admitted state of Ohio on March 1, 1803.[12][13]

Throughout its 15-year history, Northwest Territory had only one governor appointed by the federal government, Arthur St. Clair. He was removed from office by President Thomas Jefferson on November 22, 1802, and no successor was named; Secretary of the Territory Charles Willing Byrd acted as governor until statehood.[14]

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State of Ohio

Ohio was admitted to the Union on March 1, 1803. Since then, it has had 64 governors, six of whom (Allen Trimble, Wilson Shannon, Rutherford B. Hayes, James M. Cox, Frank Lausche, and Jim Rhodes) served non-consecutive terms.

The first constitution of 1803 allowed governors to serve for two-year terms, limited to six of any eight years, commencing on the first Monday in the December following an election.[21] The current constitution of 1851 removed the term limit, and shifted the start of the term to the second Monday in January following an election.[10] In 1908, Ohio switched from holding elections in odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, with the preceding governor (from the 1905 election) serving an extra year.[22] A 1957 amendment[10] lengthened the term to four years and allowed governors to only succeed themselves once, having to wait four years after their second term in a row before being allowed to run again.[23] An Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 1973 clarified this to mean governors could theoretically serve unlimited terms, as long as they waited four years after every second term.[10]

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Timeline

See also

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. St. Clair was appointed on October 5, 1787, by the Continental Congress,[16] and he established the territorial government on July 15, 1788.[15] He was reconfirmed by the Senate on August 20, 1789;[17] December 11, 1794;[18] January 12, 1798;[19] and February 3, 1801.[20]
  3. St. Clair was removed due to political disagreements with President Thomas Jefferson.[15] Secretary of the Territory Charles Willing Byrd acted as governor until statehood.[15]
  4. The office of lieutenant governor was created in 1851, first being filled in 1852.
  5. Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
  6. Tiffin resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.[24]
  7. Return J. Meigs Jr. won the 1807 election over Nathaniel Massie, but Massie contested, saying Meigs failed the residency requirement. The general assembly declared Meigs was ineligible and Massie had won, but Massie refused the office, and so Kirker remained in office until his term ended on December 12, 1808, having lost the 1808 election.[28][26]
  8. Meigs resigned, having been confirmed as United States Postmaster General.[32]
  9. Sources disagree on if Meigs resigned on March 24[33] or March 25.[34][26]
  10. Brown resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.[38]
  11. McArthur instead ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives.[44]
  12. Shannon resigned, having been confirmed as United States Minister to Mexico.[53]
  13. No contemporary sources found so far specify the date Shannon resigned; a notice appeared in the Columbus Statesman on April 15, 1844, but it does not specify that the resignation took place on that day.[62] Modern sources use April 15.[60]
  14. Bartley lost the Democratic nomination to David Tod.[60]
  15. Due to the large number of close elections that year, the general assembly was delayed in qualifying governor-elect Seabury Ford, and William Bebb remained in office for an extra few weeks.[69]
  16. Wood resigned to be consul in Valparaíso, Chile.[72]
  17. Chase was instead elected to the United States Senate.[78]
  18. Tod lost the Union nomination to John Brough.[84]
  19. Represented the Republican Party
  20. Hayes resigned, having been elected President of the United States.[97]
  21. Bishop lost the Democratic nomination to Thomas Ewing Jr.[113]
  22. Harmon instead ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.[144]
  23. Cox instead ran unsuccessfully for President of the United States.[147]
  24. Davey lost the Democratic nomination to Charles W. Sawyer.[166]
  25. Bricker instead ran unsuccessfully for Vice President of the United States.[169]
  26. Lausche resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.[172]
  27. Under a 1957 amendment to the constitution, governors are ineligible to hold the office longer than two successive terms.[195]
  28. Represented the Democratic Party
  29. Voinovich resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate.[198]
  30. DeWine's second term began on January 8, 2023,[210] and will expire on January 11, 2027; he will be term-limited.
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References

External links

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