# List of governors of Santander

The governor of the Department Santander heads the executive branch of the government of the Colombian department of Santander. The governor is the highest-ranking official in the department, serving as the main agent for the president of Colombia to carry on the task of maintaining public order and the execution of the general economic policy, and all matters of law passed down for the nation. The current governor is Horacio Serpa Uribe.

## Presidents of the Sovereign State of Santander

The Sovereign State of Santander was created on May 13, 1857 as the third Sovereign State of the Republic of New Granada. The state would be an independent entity within the country ruled by a president which would be elected by the State Congress. The president of the state would act as the governor of the region but with more power and independence from the central government, in turn, the title of governor was given to the heads of government of the provinces of the state.
Many presidents of the state, due to the great amount of power they held, and the political importance of the region, went on to become Presidents of the Nation, and others went on to become important political figures in Congress or other areas.
On April 8, 1859, Congress passed a law giving the president of the country, then the Granadine Confederation, the right to remove the duly appointed governors of the states and appoint one of his choosing. With this law, the president secured the power of the Conservative Party. This changed the practice of a state-elected executive representative; instead the president of Colombia would appoint the president or governor of the state or department; this went on till 1991.
| Tenure | Tenure | Incumbent president |
| Took office | Left office | Incumbent president |
| October 16, 1857 | October 23, 1857 | Estanislao Silva Calderón |
| October 23, 1857 | 1858 | Manuel Murillo Toro |
| 1858 | 1858 | Ulpiano Valenzuela |
| 1858 | 1858 | Vicente Herrera |
| 1859 | 1859 | Manuel Murillo Toro |
| March 12, 1859 | March 18, 1859 | Vicente Herrera |
| March 18, 1859 | March 21, 1859 | Luis Flórez |
| March 21, 1859 | April 3, 1859 | Evaristo Azuero |
| April 3, 1859 | November 23, 1859 | Eustorgio Salgar |
| November 23, 1859 | January 1, 1860 | Ulpiano Valenzuela |
| January 1, 1860 | February 1, 1860 | Antonio María Pradilla Rueda |
| February 1, 1860 | February 29, 1860 | José María Villamizar Gallardo |
| February 29, 1860 | May 6, 1860 | Marco Antonio Estrada |
| May 6, 1860 | August 16, 1860 | Antonio María Pradilla Rueda |
| August 16, 1860 | September 8, 1860 | Federal Intervention, State government suspended |
| September 8, 1860 | 1861 | Marco Antonio Estrada |
| 1861 | 1862 | Leonardo Canal González |
| 1862 | 1862 | Adolfo Harker Mutis |
| 1862 | 1863 | Eustorgio Salgar |
| 1863 | 1864 | Pedro Quintero Jácome |
| 1864 | June 6, 1864 | Eustorgio Salgar |
| June 7, 1864 | October 11, 1864 | Rafael Otero Navarro |
| October 11, 1864 | October 1, 1866 | José María Villamizar Gallardo |
| October 1, 1866 | September 24, 1868 | Victoriano de Diego y Paredes |
| September 24, 1868 | October 1, 1868 | Narciso Cadena Uribe |
| October 1, 1868 | March 14, 1870 | Eustorgio Salgar |
| March 14, 1870 | March 30, 1870 | Narciso Cadena Uribe |
| March 30, 1870 | October 1, 1872 | Solón Wilches |
| October 1, 1872 | September 15, 1874 | Narciso Cadena Uribe |
| September 15, 1874 | May 16, 1875 | Germán Vargas Santos |
| May 16, 1875 | May 25, 1876 | Aquileo Parra Gómez |
| May 25, 1876 | 1876 | Francisco Muñoz |
| 1876 | 1877 | Marco Antonio Estrada |
| 1877 | 1877 | Francisco Muñoz |
| 1877 | 1877 | Marco Antonio Estrada |
| 1877 | 1877 | Domingo Castro |
| 1877 | 1877 | Francisco Muñoz |
| 1877 | 1877 | Domingo Castro |
| 1877 | October 1, 1878 | Marco Antonio Estrada |
| October 1, 1878 | 1883 | Solón Wilches |
| 1883 | 1883 | Vicente Villamizar |
| October 1, 1883 | September 9, 1884 | Solón Wilches |
| September 9, 1884 | 1885 | Narciso González Lineros |
| 1885 | August 5, 1886 | Antonio Roldán |
| 1886 | 1886 | Alejandro Peña Solano |

## Governors of the Department of Santander

In 1886 the states were abolished and Santander became a Department under direct authority of the central government.
In 1910 the northern part of the department was detached to form the new Department of Norte de Santander separately represented by their own Governor.
| Tenure | Tenure | Incumbent governor |
| Took office | Left office | Incumbent governor |
| 1886 | 1887 | Alejandro Peña Solano |
| 1887 | 1888 | Antonio Roldán |
| 1888 | 1888 | Vicente Villamizar |
| 1888 | 1889 | Guillermo Quintero |
| 1889 | 1890 | Aurelio Mutis |
| 1890 | 1895 | Guillermo Quintero |
| 1895 | 1896 | José Santos |
| 1896 | 1886 | Antonio Roldán |
| 1186 | 1897 | Roso Cala |
| 1897 | 1898 | Aurelio Mutis |
| 1898 | 1899 | Roso Cala |
| 1899 | 1900 | Alejandro Peña Solano |
| 1900 | 1900 | Carlos J. Delgado |
| 1900 | 1901 | Ramón González Valencia |
| 1901 | 1901 | Carlos Matamoros |
| 1901 | 1902 | Juan Francisco Mantilla |
| 1902 | 1903 | Antonio Barrera Forero |
| 1903 | 1904 | Ramón González Valencia |
| 1904 | 1904 | Carlos Matamoros |
| 1904 | 1904 | Jesús Cuervo Márquez |
| 1904 | 1905 | Alejandro Peña Solano |
| 1905 | 1906 | Santiago Rizo |
| 1906 | 1907 | Alejandro Peña Solano |
| 1907 | 1908 | Gabino Navas |
| 1908 | 1909 | Alejandro Peña Solano |
| 1909 | 1911 | Eugenio Andrade Suescún |
| 1911 | 1913 | Antonio Barrera Forero |
| 1913 | 1916 | Manuel María Valdivieso Valencia |
| 1916 | 1917 | Ernesto Valderrama |
| 1918 | 1921 | Luis Mejía |
| 1921 | 1823 | José María García |
| 1923 | December 1924 | Emilio Pradilla González |
| December 1924 | December 19, 1926 | Arturo Mantilla |
| December 19, 1926 | 1928 | Juan de la Cruz Duarte |
| 1928 | 1929 | Narciso Torres Meléndez |
| November 26, 1929 | September 4, 1930 | Alfredo García Cadena |
| 1930 | 1931 | Alejandro Galvis Galvis |
| 1931 | 1932 | Eduardo Santos Montejo |
| 1932 | 1933 | Alfredo Cadena D'Costa |
| 1933 | 1934 | Humberto Gómez Naranjo |
| 1934 | 1935 | Pedro Alejandro Gómez |
| 1935 | 1937 | Rogerio Silva Pradilla |
| 1937 | 1939 | Alfredo Cadena D'Costa |
| 1939 | 1941 | Hernán Gómez Gómez |
| 1941 | 1943 | Benjamín García Cadena |
| 1943 | 1944 | Arturo Santos |
| April 21, 1944 | February 15, 1945 | Alejandro Galvis Galvis |
| February 15, 1945 | 1946 | Luis Camacho Rueda |
| 1946 | 1947 | Samuel Arango Reyes |
| 1947 | 1947 | Julio Martín Acevedo Díaz |
| 1948 | 1948 | Rafael Ortíz González |
| 1948 | 1948 | Miguel Ángel Hoyos |
| 1949 | 1949 | Valentín González Rangel |
| 1950 | 1950 | Hernando Sorzano González |
| 1951 | 1951 | Guillermo Garavito Durán |
| 1952 | 1953 | Pedro Nel Rueda Uribe |
| 1953 | 1953 | Néstor Meza Prieto |
| 1953 | 1953 | José Amaya |
| 1954 | 1957 | Quintín Gustavo Gómez |
| 1958 | 1958 | Ernesto Caicedo López |
| 1958 | 1958 | Alberto Lozano Cleves |
| 1959 | 1960 | Samuel Arango Reyes |
| 1960 | 1961 | Mario Latorre Rueda |
| 1962 | 1962 | Gustavo Serrano Gómez |
| 1963 | 1964 | Humberto Silva Valdivieso |
| 1965 | 1965 | Enrique Barco Guerrero |
| 1965 | 1965 | Reynaldo López López |
| 1966 | 1966 | Francisco José Calderón |
| 1966 | 1968 | Julio Obregón Bueno |
| 1969 | 1969 | Eduardo Camacho Gamba |
| 1970 | 1970 | Alfonso Gómez Gómez |
| 1971 | 1971 | Jaime Serrano Rueda [es] |
| 1972 | 1973 | Jaime Trillos Novoa |
| 1974 | 1974 | Rafael Pérez Martínez |
| 1975 | 1975 | Oscar Edmundo Martínez |
| 1976 | 1976 | Rafael Ortiz González |
| 1977 | 1978 | Alberto Montoya Puyana |
| 1979 | 1981 | Alfonso Gómez Gómez |
| 1982 | 1982 | Luis Ardila Casamitjana |
| 1983 | 1983 | Rafael Moreno Peñaranda |
| 1984 | 1984 | Jorge Agustín Sedano |
| 1985 | 1986 | Álvaro Cala Hederich |
| 1987 | 1988 | Alvaro Betrán Pinzón |
| 1989 | 1990 | Eduardo Camacho Barco |
| 1990 | 1990 | Hernando Reyes Duarte |
| 1991 | December 31, 1991 | Clara Elsa Villalba de Sandoval |

## Democratically elected governors

The Colombian Constitution of 1991 allowed for local democratic elections to take place electing governors for each department and the elections being held at the same time to avoid confusion.
| Tenure | Tenure | Incumbent governor |
| Took office | Left office | Incumbent governor |
| January 1, 1992 | December 31, 1994 | Juan Carlos Duarte Torres |
| January 1, 1995 | December 31, 1997 | Mario Camacho Prada |
| January 1, 1998 | December 31, 2000 | Miguel Jesús Arenas Prada |
| January 1, 2001 | December 31, 2003 | Jorge Eliécer Gómez Villamizar |
| January 1, 2004 | December 31, 2007 | Hugo Heliodoro Aguilar Naranjo |
| January 1, 2008 | December 31, 2011 | Horacio Serpa Uribe |