List of Governors of Delaware
Governors
Before 1776, Delaware was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain, administered by colonial governors in Pennsylvania as the "Lower Counties on Delaware".

List of Governors of Delaware

Section Title: Governors
Table Section Text: Before 1776, Delaware was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain, administered by colonial governors in Pennsylvania as the "Lower Counties on Delaware".

No.	Governor	Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor

1	John McKinly	February 12, 1777 – September 12, 1777 (arrested and removed)	No parties	1777	Office did not exist

—	Vacant	September 12, 1777 – September 22, 1777	Office vacant due to war

2	-	Thomas McKean	September 22, 1777 – October 20, 1777 (successor took office)	Speaker of the Assembly acting as Vice-President

3	-	George Read	October 20, 1777 – March 31, 1778 (not candidate for election)	Speaker of the Legislative Council serving as Vice-President

4	CaesarRodney.jpeg	Caesar Rodney	March 31, 1778 – November 6, 1781 (not candidate for election)	1778

5	-	John Dickinson	November 13, 1781 – January 12, 1783 (resigned)	1781

6	John Cook	November 4, 1782 – February 1, 1783 (not candidate for election)	Speaker of the Legislative Council serving as Vice-President

7	Nicholas Van Dyke	February 1, 1783 – October 28, 1786 (not candidate for election)	1783 (special)

8	-	Thomas Collins	October 28, 1786 – March 29, 1789 (died in office)	1786

9	Jehu Davis	March 29, 1789 – June 2, 1789 (not candidate for election)	Speaker of the Legislative Council serving as Vice-President

10	-	Joshua Clayton	June 2, 1789 – January 19, 1796 (not candidate for election)	Federalist	1789

1792

11	Gunning Bedford Sr.	January 19, 1796 – September 30, 1797 (died in office)	Federalist	1795

12	Daniel Rogers	September 30, 1797 – January 9, 1799 (not candidate for election)	Federalist	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

13	-	Richard Bassett	January 9, 1799 – March 3, 1801 (resigned)	Federalist	1798

14	James Sykes	March 3, 1801 – January 19, 1802 (not candidate for election)	Federalist	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

15	David Hall	January 19, 1802 – January 15, 1805 (term limited)	Democratic-Republican	1801

16	Nathaniel Mitchell	January 15, 1805 – January 19, 1808 (term limited)	Federalist	1804

17	George Truitt	January 19, 1808 – January 15, 1811 (term limited)	Federalist	1807

18	Joseph Haslet	January 15, 1811 – January 18, 1814 (term limited)	Democratic-Republican	1810

19	-	Daniel Rodney	January 18, 1814 – January 21, 1817 (term limited)	Federalist	1813

20	John Clark	January 21, 1817 – January 18, 1820 (term limited)	Federalist	1816

—	Henry Molleston	Died before taking office	Federalist	1819

21	Jacob Stout	January 18, 1820 – January 16, 1821 (not candidate for election)	Federalist	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

22	John Collins	January 16, 1821 – April 16, 1822 (died in office)	Democratic-Republican	1820 (special)

23	Caleb Rodney	April 23, 1822 – January 21, 1823 (not candidate for election)	Federalist	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

24	Joseph Haslet	January 21, 1823 – June 20, 1823 (died in office)	Democratic-Republican	1822

25	Charles Thomas	June 23, 1823 – January 20, 1824 (not candidate for election)	Democratic-Republican	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

26	-	Samuel Paynter	January 20, 1824 – January 16, 1827 (term limited)	Federalist	1823 (special)

27	-	Charles Polk Jr.	January 16, 1827 – January 19, 1830 (term limited)	Federalist	1826

28	-	David Hazzard	January 19, 1830 – January 15, 1833 (term limited)	National Republican	1829

29	-	Caleb P. Bennett	January 15, 1833 – May 9, 1836 (died in office)	Democratic	1832

30	-	Charles Polk Jr.	May 9, 1836 – January 17, 1837 (not candidate for election)	Whig	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

31	-	Cornelius P. Comegys	January 17, 1837 – January 19, 1841 (term limited)	Whig	1836

32	William B. Cooper	January 19, 1841 – January 21, 1845 (term limited)	Whig	1840

33	-	Thomas Stockton	January 21, 1845 – March 2, 1846 (died in office)	Whig	1844

34	-	Joseph Maull	March 2, 1846 – May 3, 1846 (died in office)	Whig	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

35	-	William Temple	May 6, 1846 – January 19, 1847 (not candidate for election)	Whig	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

36	-	William Tharp	January 19, 1847 – January 21, 1851 (term limited)	Democratic	1846 (special)

37	-	William H. H. Ross	January 21, 1851 – January 16, 1855 (term limited)	Democratic	1850

38	-	Peter F. Causey	January 16, 1855 – January 18, 1859 (term limited)	American	1854

39	-	William Burton	January 18, 1859 – January 20, 1863 (term limited)	Democratic	1858

40	-	William Cannon	January 20, 1863 – March 1, 1865 (died in office)	Republican	1862

41	-	Gove Saulsbury	March 1, 1865 – January 17, 1871 (term limited)	Democratic	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

1866

42	-	James Ponder	January 17, 1871 – January 19, 1875 (term limited)	Democratic	1870

43	-	John P. Cochran	January 19, 1875 – January 21, 1879 (term limited)	Democratic	1874

44	-	John W. Hall	January 21, 1879 – January 16, 1883 (term limited)	Democratic	1878

45	-	Charles C. Stockley	January 16, 1883 – January 18, 1887 (term limited)	Democratic	1882

46	-	Benjamin T. Biggs	January 18, 1887 – January 20, 1891 (term limited)	Democratic	1886

47	-	Robert J. Reynolds	January 20, 1891 – January 15, 1895 (term limited)	Democratic	1890

48	-	Joshua H. Marvil	January 15, 1895 – April 8, 1895 (died in office)	Republican	1894

49	-	William T. Watson	April 8, 1895 – January 19, 1897 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	Speaker of the Senate acting as Governor

50	-	Ebe W. Tunnell	January 19, 1897 – January 15, 1901 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1896

51	-	John Hunn	January 15, 1901 – January 17, 1905 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1900	Philip L. Cannon

52	-	Preston Lea	January 17, 1905 – January 19, 1909 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1904	Isaac T. Parker

53	-	Simeon S. Pennewill	January 19, 1909 – January 21, 1913 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1908	John M. Mendinhall

54	-	Charles R. Miller	January 21, 1913 – January 16, 1917 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1912	Colen Ferguson

55	-	John G. Townsend Jr.	January 16, 1917 – January 18, 1921 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1916	Lewis E. Eliason

56	William D. Denney	January 18, 1921 – January 20, 1925 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1920	J. Danforth Bush

57	Robert P. Robinson	January 20, 1925 – January 15, 1929 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1924	James H. Anderson

58	-	C. Douglass Buck	January 15, 1929 – January 19, 1937 (term limited)	Republican	1928	James H. Hazel

1932	Roy F. Corley

59	Richard McMullen	January 19, 1937 – January 21, 1941 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1936	Edward W. Cooch

60	Walter W. Bacon	January 21, 1941 – January 18, 1949 (term limited)	Republican	1940	Isaac J. MacCollum

1944	Elbert N. Carvel

61	-	Elbert N. Carvel	January 18, 1949 – January 20, 1953 (lost election)	Democratic	1948	Alexis I. du Pont Bayard

62	-	J. Caleb Boggs	January 20, 1953 – December 30, 1960 (resigned)	Republican	1952	John W. Rollins

1956	David P. Buckson

63	-	David P. Buckson	December 30, 1960 – January 17, 1961 (successor took office)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant

64	-	Elbert N. Carvel	January 17, 1961 – January 19, 1965 (term limited)	Democratic	1960	Eugene Lammot

65	Charles L. Terry Jr.	January 19, 1965 – January 21, 1969 (lost election)	Democratic	1964	Sherman W. Tribbitt

66	Russell W. Peterson	January 21, 1969 – January 16, 1973 (lost election)	Republican	1968	Eugene Bookhammer

67	Sherman W. Tribbitt	January 16, 1973 – January 18, 1977 (lost election)	Democratic	1972

68	-	Pete du Pont	January 18, 1977 – January 15, 1985 (term limited)	Republican	1976	James D. McGinnis

1980	Mike Castle

69	-	Mike Castle	January 15, 1985 – December 31, 1992 (resigned)	Republican	1984	Shien Biau Woo

1988	Dale E. Wolf

70	Dale E. Wolf	December 31, 1992 – January 19, 1993 (successor took office)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant

71	-	Tom Carper	January 19, 1993 – January 3, 2001 (resigned)	Democratic	1992	Ruth Ann Minner

1996

72	-	Ruth Ann Minner	January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2009 (term limited)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant

2000	John Carney

2004

73	-	Jack Markell	January 20, 2009 – January 17, 2017 (term limited)	Democratic	2008	Matthew Denn (resigned January 6, 2015)

2012

Vacant

74	-	John Carney	January 17, 2017 – present	Democratic	2016	Bethany Hall-Long

Sentence(s)

Richard Bassett, a Federalist, was a Governor of Delaware.

final_sentence: Richard Bassett, a Federalist, was a Governor of Delaware.