# List of presidents and governors of Zulia

This is a list of presidents and governors of the Venezuelan Zulia State. In some years the head of Zulia state was known as President or Civil and Military Chief, in others Governor. In 1881 Zulia was joined in a union with Falcón. Its autonomy was restored in 1890 with Maracaibo as its capital.

## Presidents

* 1863-1868 Jorge Sutherland
* 1868-1870 José María Hernández (Venezuela)
* 1870-1874 Venancio Pulgar
* 1880 José Victorino García Olavarría

## Governors

Until 1989, governors were appointed by the President of Venezuela. Starting from that year they are elected in universal, direct and secret elections.
| # | Name | Party | Term |
| 1 | Benjamín Ruiz | N/A | 1900 |
| 2 | Aurelio Valbuena | N/A | 1900 |
| 3 | Juan Francisco Castillo | N/A | 1900 |
| 4 | Rafael López Baralt | N/A | 1900 |
| 5 | Diego Bautista Ferrer | N/A | 1900–1902 |
| 6 | Guillermo Aranguren | N/A | 1902–1904 |
| 7 | Regulo Olivares | N/A | 1904–1908 |
| 8 | José Ignacio Lares Baralt | N/A | 1908–1909 |
| 9 | Alejandro Rivas Vásquez | N/A | 1909–1911 |
| 10 | José María García | N/A | 1911–1915 |
| 11 | Jose Antonio Chavez | N/A | 1915–1916 |
| 12 | Alberto Aranguren | N/A | 1916–1918 |
| 13 | Santo Matute Gómez | N/A | 1918–1919 |
| 14 | José J. Gabaldon | N/A | 1919–1921 |
| 15 | Santos Matute Gómez | N/A | 1921–1924 |
| 16 | Renato Serrano | N/A | 1924–1925 |
| 17 | Isilio Febres Cordero | N/A | 1925–1926 |
| 18 | Vicencio Pérez Soto | N/A | 1926–1929 |
| 19 | J.M. Leonardo Villasmil | N/A | 1929–1936 |
| 20 | León Jurado | N/A | 1936 |
| 21 | Regulo Olivares | N/A | 1936 |
| 22 | Luis Rocajolo | N/A | 1936–1937 |
| 23 | José Encarnación Serrano | N/A | 1937–1938 |
| 24 | Manuel Maldonado | N/A | 1938–1941 |
| 25 | Abigail Colmenares | N/A | 1941 |
| 26 | Luis Pino Ochoa | N/A | 1941 |
| 27 | Alberto Lossada Casanova | N/A | 1941–1942 |
| 28 | José Quintero García | N/A | 1942–1943 |
| 29 | Benito Roncajolo | N/A | 1943 |
| 30 | Luis Pinto Salvatierra | N/A | 1943 |
| 31 | Héctor Cuenca | N/A | 1943 |
| 32 | Carlos Ramírez MacGregor | N/A | 1943–1945 |
| 33 | Felipe Hernández | N/A | 1945 |
| 34 | Octavio Andrade Delgado | N/A | 1945–1947 |
| 35 | Hercolino Adrianza | N/A | 1947–1949 |
| 36 | Atenogenes Olivares | N/A | 1949–1950 |
| 37 | Leopoldo D'Alta | N/A | 1950 |
| 38 | Darío Parra | N/A | 1950 |
| 39 | Renato Estevan Ríos | N/A | 1950 |
| 40 | Néstor Prato Chacón | N/A | 1950–1958 |
| 41 | Rafael Virgilio Vivas | N/A | 1958 |
| 42 | Gaston Montiel Villasmil | N/A | 1958 |
| 43 | Pedro Bracho Urdaneta | N/A | 1958 |
| 44 | Renato Estevan Ríos | N/A | 1958 |
| 45 | Horacio Guillermo Villalobos | N/A | 1958 |
| 46 | Julio Arraga Zuleta | N/A | 1958 |
| 47 | Horacio Guillermo Villalobos | N/A | 1958–1959 |
| 48 | Eloy Parraga Villamarin | Acción Democrática | 1959–1961 |
| 49 | Luis Vera Gómez | Acción Democrática | 1961–1964 |
| 50 | Octavio Andrade Delgado | Acción Democrática | 1964–1967 |
| 51 | Luis Vera Gómez | Acción Democrática | 1967–1968 |
| 52 | Gabriel José Páez | Acción Democrática | 1968 |
| 53 | José León García Díaz | Acción Democrática | 1968–1969 |
| 54 | Elio Suárez Romero | COPEI | 1969–1971 |
| 55 | Hilarion Cardozo | COPEI | 1971–1974 |
| 56 | Carmelo Contreras Barboza | Acción Democrática | 1974–1975 |
| 57 | Omar Baralt Méndez | Acción Democrática | 1975–1977 |
| 58 | Guillermo Rincón Araujo | Acción Democrática | 1977–1979 |
| 59 | Gilberto Urdaneta Bessón | COPEI | 1979–1982 |
| 60 | Humberto Fernández Auvert | COPEI | 1982–1984 |
| 61 | Ángel Zambrano | Acción Democrática | 1984–1985 |
| 62 | Omar Barboza Gutiérrez | Acción Democrática | 1985–1989 |
| 63 | Ismael Ordaz González | Acción Democrática | 1989–1990 |
| 64 | Oswaldo Álvarez Paz | COPEI | 1990–1993 |
| 65 | Lolita Aniyar de Castro | Movimiento al Socialismo | 1993–1996 |
| 66 | Francisco Arias Cárdenas | La Causa Radical | 1996–1998 |
| 67 | Giovanny Villalobos | N/A | 1998–1999 |
| 68 | Germán Valero | N/A | 1999–2000 |
| 69 | Manuel Rosales | Un Nuevo Tiempo | 2000–2008 |
| 70 | Pablo Pérez | Un Nuevo Tiempo | 2008–2012 |
| 71 | Francisco Arias Cárdenas | United Socialist Party of Venezuela | 2012–2017 |
| 72 | Juan Pablo Guanipa | Justice First | 2017 |
| 73 | Magdely Valbuena | PSUV | 2017 |
| 74 | Omar Prieto | PSUV | 2017–2021 |
| 75 | Manuel Rosales | Un Nuevo Tiempo | 2021-2025 |

## List of elected governors

| Took office | Left office | Governor | Vote |
| 1989 | 1992 | Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, COPEI | 38.44 |
| 1992 | 1993 | Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, COPEI | 66.03 |
| 1993 | 1995 | Lolita Aniyar de Castro, MAS | 40.74 |
| 1995 | 1998 | Francisco Arias Cárdenas, Radical Cause | 30.45 |
| 1998 | 2000 | Francisco Arias Cárdenas, Radical Cause | 54.49 |
| 2000 | 2004 | Manuel Rosales, A New Era | 51.44 |
| 2004 | 2008 | Manuel Rosales, A New Era | 54.03 |
| 2008 | 2012 | Pablo Pérez Álvarez, A New Era | 53.59 |
| 2012 | 2017 | Francisco Arias Cárdenas, PSUV | 52.22 |
| 2017 | 2017 | Juan Pablo Guanipa, PJ | 51,06 |
| 2017 | 2017 | Magdely Valbuena, PSUV | Replacement after Guanipa's removal. |
| 2017 | 2021 | Omar Prieto, PSUV | 57.35 |
| 2021 | 2025 | Manuel Rosales, A New Era | 56.90 |