List of Governors of Virginia
List of Governors
Parties Democratic Federalist Democratic-Republican Whig Republican Independent

List of Governors of Virginia

Section Title: List of Governors
Table Section Text: Parties Democratic Federalist Democratic-Republican Whig Republican Independent

#	Picture	Governor	Took office	Left office	Lieutenant Governor	Party	Notes

1	Patrick henry.JPG	Patrick Henry	July 5, 1776	June 1, 1779	Office Blank 1776-1852	None	First under 1776 Constitution (limit of 3 one-year terms)

2	-	Thomas Jefferson	June 1, 1779	June 3, 1781	None	3rd President of the United States

3	-	William Fleming	June 3, 1781	June 12, 1781	None

4	-	Thomas Nelson, Jr.	June 12, 1781	November 22, 1781	None

–	-	David Jameson	November 22, 1781	December 1, 1781	None	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)

5	Benharrv.JPG	Benjamin Harrison V	December 1, 1781	December 1, 1784	None

6	Patrick henry.JPG	Patrick Henry	December 1, 1784	December 1, 1786	None	Re-elected after 5-year hiatus (1 more than constitutional minimum)

7	EdmundRandolph.jpeg	Edmund Randolph	December 1, 1786	December 1, 1788	None	First under U.S. statehood

8	-	Beverley Randolph	December 1, 1788	December 1, 1791	None

9	HenryLee.jpeg	Henry Lee III	December 1, 1791	December 1, 1794	Federalist

10	-	Robert Brooke	December 1, 1794	December 1, 1796	Democratic-Republican

11	-	James Wood	December 1, 1796	December 1, 1799	Federalist

–	-	Hardin Burnley	December 7, 1799	December 11, 1799

–	-	John Pendleton, Jr.	December 11, 1799	December 19, 1799

12	-	James Monroe	December 19, 1799	December 1, 1802	Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1790–1794, fifth President of the United States

13	-	John Page	December 1, 1802	December 7, 1805	Democratic-Republican

14	-	William H. Cabell	December 7, 1805	December 1, 1808	Democratic-Republican

15	-	John Tyler, Sr.	December 1, 1808	January 15, 1811	Democratic-Republican

—	-	George William Smith	January 15, 1811	January 19, 1811	Democratic-Republican	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)

16	-	James Monroe	January 19, 1811	April 3, 1811	Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1790–94, Fifth President of the United States

17	-	George William Smith	April 3, 1811	December 26, 1811	Democratic-Republican	Acting Governor (member of Council of State) Later elected in his own right Died in office

N/A	-	Peyton Randolph	December 27, 1811	January 3, 1812	Democratic-Republican	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)

18	-	James Barbour	January 3, 1812	December 1, 1814	Democratic-Republican	U.S. Senator 1815–1825

19	-	Wilson Cary Nicholas	December 1, 1814	December 1, 1816	Democratic-Republican

20	-	James Patton Preston	December 1, 1816	December 1, 1819	Democratic-Republican

21	-	Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr.	December 1, 1819	December 1, 1822	Democratic-Republican

22	-	James Pleasants	December 1, 1822	December 10, 1825	Democratic-Republican	Resigned U.S. Senate to assume Governorship

23	-	John Tyler	December 10, 1825	March 4, 1827	Democratic-Republican	Resigned to enter U.S. Senate 1827–1836, 10th United States President

24	-	William Branch Giles	March 4, 1827	March 4, 1830	Democratic	U.S. Senator 1804–1815

25	-	John Floyd	March 4, 1830	March 31, 1834	Democratic	First under 1830 constitution (limit of 1 four-year term)

26	-	Littleton Waller Tazewell	March 31, 1834	April 30, 1836	Democratic	U.S. Senator 1824–1832

—	-	Wyndham Robertson	April 30, 1836	March 31, 1837	Whig	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)

27	-	David Campbell	March 31, 1837	March 31, 1840	Democratic

28	Thomas Gilmer newer.jpeg	Thomas Walker Gilmer	March 31, 1840	March 20, 1841	Whig

—	-	John M. Patton	March 20, 1841	March 31, 1841	Whig	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)

—	-	John Rutherfoord	March 31, 1841	March 31, 1842	Democratic	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)

—	-	John Munford Gregory	March 31, 1842	January 1, 1843	Whig	Acting Governor (member of Council of State)

29	-	James McDowell	January 1, 1843	January 1, 1846	Democratic

30	-	William Smith	January 1, 1846	January 1, 1849	Democratic

31	-	John B. Floyd	January 1, 1849	January 16, 1852	Democratic	U.S. Secretary of War 1857–60

32	-	Joseph Johnson	January 16, 1852	January 1, 1856	Shelton Leake	Democratic	First under 1851 constitution (limit of 1 four-year term) First popularly elected governor

33	-	Henry A. Wise	January 1, 1856	January 1, 1860	Elisha W. McComas William Lowther Jackson	Democratic

34	-	John Letcher	January 1, 1860	January 1, 1864	Robert Latane Montague	Democratic	(On June 20, 1863, the new U.S. state of West Virginia was formed)

35	-	William Smith	January 1, 1864	May 9, 1865	Samuel Price	Democratic

—	-	Francis Harrison Pierpont	May 9, 1865	April 4, 1868	None	Republican	Elected by Restored General Assembly (Union)

—	-	Henry H. Wells	April 4, 1868	September 21, 1869	None	Republican	Appointed Governor by U.S. military

36	-	Gilbert Carlton Walker	September 21, 1869	January 1, 1874	John F. Lewis John Lawrence Marye, Jr.	Republican	Appointed Governor by U.S. military then elected as a Republican Governor later served as a Democratic Congressman

37	-	James L. Kemper	January 1, 1874	January 1, 1878	Robert E. Withers Henry Wirtz Thomas	Democratic

38	-	Frederick W. M. Holliday	January 1, 1878	January 1, 1882	James A. Walker	Democratic

39	-	William E. Cameron	January 1, 1882	January 1, 1886	John F. Lewis	Re-adjuster

40	-	Fitzhugh Lee	January 1, 1886	January 1, 1890	John E. Massey	Democratic

41	-	Philip W. McKinney	January 1, 1890	January 1, 1894	James H. Tyler	Democratic

42	-	Charles Triplett O'Ferrall	January 1, 1894	January 1, 1898	Robert C. Kent	Democratic	Resigned U. S. House seat to assume Governorship

43	-	James Hoge Tyler	January 1, 1898	January 1, 1902	Edward Echols	Democratic

44	-	Andrew Jackson Montague	January 1, 1902	February 1, 1906	Joseph Edward Willard	Democratic

45	-	Claude A. Swanson	February 1, 1906	February 10, 1910	James T. Ellyson	Democratic	U.S. Senator 1910–33

46	-	William Hodges Mann	February 10, 1910	February 1, 1914	James T. Ellyson	Democratic

47	-	Henry Carter Stuart	February 1, 1914	February 1, 1918	James T. Ellyson	Democratic

48	-	Westmoreland Davis	February 1, 1918	February 1, 1922	Benjamin F. Buchanan	Democratic

49	-	Elbert Lee Trinkle	February 1, 1922	February 1, 1926	Junius E. West	Democratic

50	-	Harry F. Byrd	February 1, 1926	January 15, 1930	Junius E. West	Democratic	U.S. Senator 1933–65

51	-	John Garland Pollard	January 15, 1930	January 17, 1934	James H. Price	Democratic

52	-	George C. Peery	January 17, 1934	January 15, 1938	James H. Price	Democratic

53	-	James H. Price	January 15, 1938	January 21, 1942	Saxon W. Holt	Democratic

54	-	Colgate Darden	January 21, 1942	January 16, 1946	William M. Tuck	Democratic

55	-	William M. Tuck	January 16, 1946	January 18, 1950	Lewis Preston Collins II	Democratic

56	-	John S. Battle	January 18, 1950	January 20, 1954	Lewis Preston Collins II Allie Edward Stakes Stephens	Democratic

57	-	Thomas B. Stanley	January 20, 1954	January 11, 1958	Allie Edward Stakes Stephens	Democratic

58	-	J. Lindsay Almond	January 11, 1958	January 13, 1962	Allie Edward Stakes Stephens	Democratic

59	-	Albertis Harrison	January 13, 1962	January 15, 1966	Mills Godwin	Democratic

60	-	Mills Godwin	January 15, 1966	January 17, 1970	Fred G. Pollard	Democratic

61	-	Linwood Holton	January 17, 1970	January 12, 1974	J. Sargeant Reynolds (Democratic) Henry Howell (Democratic)	Republican

62	-	Mills Godwin	January 12, 1974	January 14, 1978	John N. Dalton	Republican

63	-	John Dalton	January 14, 1978	January 16, 1982	Chuck Robb (Democratic)	Republican

64	-	Chuck Robb	January 16, 1982	January 18, 1986	Dick Davis	Democratic	U.S. Senator 1989–2001

65	-	Gerald Baliles	January 18, 1986	January 13, 1990	Douglas Wilder	Democratic

66	-	Douglas Wilder	January 13, 1990	January 15, 1994	Don Beyer	Democratic	First African-American governor elected in American history

67	-	George Allen	January 15, 1994	January 17, 1998	Don Beyer (Democratic)	Republican	U.S. Senator 2001–2007

68	-	Jim Gilmore	January 17, 1998	January 12, 2002	John H. Hager	Republican

69	-	Mark Warner	January 12, 2002	January 14, 2006	Tim Kaine	Democratic	U.S. Senator 2009–present

70	-	Tim Kaine	January 14, 2006	January 16, 2010	Bill Bolling (Republican)	Democratic	First Catholic Governor, U.S. Senator 2013–present, nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2016

71	-	Bob McDonnell	January 16, 2010	January 11, 2014	Bill Bolling	Republican

72	-	Terry McAuliffe	January 11, 2014	January 13, 2018	Ralph Northam	Democratic

73	-	Ralph Northam	January 13, 2018	Incumbent	Justin Fairfax	Democratic

Sentence(s)

William Branch Giles was the 24th Governor of Virginia.

final_sentence: William Branch Giles was the 24th Governor of Virginia.