Fifty-seven people have served as state governor, four of whom served non-consecutive terms (George Clinton, DeWitt Clinton, Horatio Seymour, and Al Smith); the official numbering lists each governor only once. There has only been one female governor so far: Kathy Hochul. This numbering includes one acting governor: the lieutenant governor who filled the vacancy after the resignation of the governor, under the 1777 Constitution.[4] The list does not include the prior colonial governors nor those who have acted as governor when the governor was out of state, such as Lieutenant Governor Timothy L. Woodruff during Theodore Roosevelt's vice presidential campaign in 1900, or Acting Speaker of the New York State AssemblyMoses M. Weinstein, who acted as governor for 10 days in 1968 while the governor, the lieutenant governor and the senate majority leader were out of the state, attending the Republican National Convention in Miami.[5]
The longest-serving governor was the first, George Clinton, who first took office on July 30, 1777, and served seven terms in two different periods, totaling just under 21 years in office. As 18 of those years were consecutive, Clinton also served the longest consecutive period in office for a New York governor. Charles Poletti had the shortest term, serving 29 days following the resignation of the previous governor, Herbert H. Lehman in 1942. Lehman was the state's first Jewish governor; David Paterson was the first African American governor of New York, and the first legally blind governor as well. Paterson is only the fourth African American to hold the office of governor in the United States. The current governor is DemocratKathy Hochul, the state's first female governor, who assumed the office on August 24, 2021, upon the resignation of Andrew Cuomo.[6] Hochul went on to be elected as governor for a full term, after beating Republican Lee Zeldin in the 2022 election.
The office of the governor was established by the first New York Constitution in 1777. The governor originally served for a term of three years,[7] though the constitution did not specify when the term began. A 1787 law set the start of the term at July 1.[8] The New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821 amended the state constitution, reducing the term of office to two years,[9] moving the election to November,[10] and moving the beginning and the end of the term to coincide with the calendar year.[11] An 1874 amendment extended the term of office back to three years,[12] but the 1894 constitution again reduced it to two years.[13] The most recent New York Constitution of 1938 extended the term to the current four years.[14] There is no limit to the number of consecutive terms a governor may serve.
The Constitution has provided since 1777 for the election of a lieutenant governor of New York, who is ex officio President of the Senate, to the same term (keeping the same term lengths as the governor throughout all the constitutional revisions). Originally, in the event of the death, resignation or impeachment of the governor, the lieutenant governor would become acting governor until the end of the yearly legislative term, the office being filled in a special election, if there was a remainder of the term.[15] Since the 1821 Constitution, the lieutenant governor explicitly becomes governor upon such vacancy in the office and serves for the entire remainder of the term.[16] Should the office of lieutenant governor become vacant, the president pro tempore of the State Senate[a] performs all the duties of the lieutenant governor until the vacancy is filled either at the next gubernatorial election or by appointment.[b] Likewise, should both offices become vacant at the same time, the president pro tempore acts as governor, with the office of lieutenant governor remaining vacant. Should the presidency pro tempore be vacant too, or the incumbent unable to fulfill the duties, the Speaker of the State Assembly is next in the line of succession.[17] The lieutenant governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor, since the 1954 election with a single joint vote cast for both offices, but is nominated separately.[18]
^The state constitutions refer to this position as the "temporary president of the senate".
^On September 22, 2009, the New York Court of Appeals upheld the right of the governor to appoint a lieutenant governor to fill the vacancy.
^The 1846 constitution specified that the governor holds their office "until and including the thirty-first day of December"; this has been interpreted in modern times as the changeover occurring at midnight. Governors on this list are only marked as having left office on December 31 if an early or midnight swearing-in of their successor was documented.
^Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
^ a bDubin,[22] Glashan,[23] and Kallenbach[24] note Clinton as having no party identification until either 1789 (Dubin) or 1792 (Glashan and Kallenbach).
^Lewis is labeled a Federalist by Kallenbach,[28] and a Democratic-Republican by Dubin,[32] Glashan,[23] and Sobel.[30]
^At the time, the position of president pro-tempore of the Senate was only filled during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor, so Tayler was not elected to fill the position until January 29, 1811.
^Clark lost the Republican nomination to John A. King.[75]
^Clark is widely labeled a Whig[78] or Whig-Free Soil[28][23] candidate, and Sobel notes he was nominated by the Whig, Free Democracy, Anti-Nebraska, and Temperance parties.[75]
^All modern sources say Fenton was inaugurated on January 1, and this is found in sources at least as old as 1910;[88] however, all contemporary coverage says he was inaugurated at noon on Monday, January 2.[89][90][91]
^Ravitch was appointed on July 8, 2009, but the appointment was contested in the courts. On August 20, the Appellate Division rejected the appointment; Ravitch vacated the office.
^Smith succeeded Espada on July 9 as temporary President of the New York State Senate and claimed to be Acting Lieutenant Governor under the provisions of the New York State Constitution while the appointment of Ravitch was contested.
^On September 22, the New York Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division's ruling, thus re-instating Ravitch to the lieutenant governorship, beginning on July 8.
^Hochul's first full term began at midnight on January 1, 2023, and will expire at midnight January 1, 2027.
^Benjamin resigned after having been indicted earlier that day on federal wire fraud and bribery charges.[193]
References
General
"Governors of New York". State of New York. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
"Former New York Governors". National Governors Association. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
Sobel, Robert (1978). Biographical directory of the governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. III. Meckler Books. ISBN 9780930466008. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
Dubin, Michael J. (2003). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776-1860: The Official Results by State and County. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-1439-0.
Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861-1911: The Official Results by State and County. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5646-8.
Kallenbach, Joseph Ernest (1977). American State Governors, 1776-1976. Oceana Publications. ISBN 978-0-379-00665-0. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
Glashan, Roy R. (1979). American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978. Meckler Books. ISBN 978-0-930466-17-6.
Jenkins, John Stilwell (1851). Lives of the Governors of the State of New York. Auburn N.Y.: Derby and Miller. p. 862.
"Our Campaigns - Governor of New York - History". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
Specific
^ a bNew York Constitution article IV, § 3.
^New York Constitution article IV, § 7.
^New York Constitution article IV, § 4.
^"Governors of New York". State of New York. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
^McFadden, Robert D. (December 3, 2007). "Moses Weinstein, 95, Legislator and Judge, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
^ a b"New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns". NBC News. August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
^1777 New York Constitution, article XVIII.
^"Governors of New York". New York Department of State. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
^1821 New York Constitution article III, § 1.
^1821 New York Constitution article I, § 15.
^1821 New York Constitution article I, § 16.
^John Joseph Lalor, ed. (1883). "New York". Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States. Vol. II. Chicago: Melbert B. Cary & Company. p. 1017. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
^1894 New York Constitution article IV, § 1
^New York Constitution article IV, § 1.
^1777 New York Constitution, article X.
^New York Constitution, article IV § 5.
^New York Constitution, article IV § 6.
^"Executive Branch of the Several States". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
^Senate, New York (State) Legislature (1901). Documents of the Senate of the State of New York. E. Croswell. p. 303.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bbKallenbach 1977, pp. 422–424.
^ a b c dWilliams, Edwin (1831). The New York Annual Register. J. Leavitt. p. 35.
^"none". Buffalo Gazette. March 11, 1817. p. 2. Retrieved September 29, 2023. His honor Lt. Gov. Tayler, before assuming the executive functions, took an affectionate leave of the Senate.
^"none". The Long-Island Star. July 9, 1817. p. 2. Retrieved September 29, 2023. Yesterday, his Excellency Dewitt Clinton, elected governor, and his honor John Taylor, Lieutenant Governor took the oaths of their respective offices.
^"none". The Evening Post. January 6, 1823. p. 2. Retrieved September 29, 2023. On Wednesday last... his Excellency Joseph H. Yates was sworn into office as Governor of this state...
^"New Governor". Poughkeepsie Journal. January 5, 1825. p. 3. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^"none". Poughkeepsie Journal. January 7, 1829. p. 3. Retrieved September 29, 2023. On the first instant the oaths of office were administered to Martin Van Buren, Governor...
^Manning, James Hilton (1910). Albany Zouave Cadets ...: Fifty Years Young, July Twenty-third, MDCCCLX-MDCCCCX ... Weed-Parsons Printing Company. p. 39.
^"Inauguration of Gov. Fenton". Syracuse Daily Courier And Union. January 5, 1865. p. 2. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^"Inauguration of Governor Fenton". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 3, 1865. p. 3. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^"The State Legislature". The New York Times. January 2, 1865. p. 5. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^"Roosevelt Takes First Oath Of Office as State Governor". Poughkeepsie Eagle-News. Associated Press. January 1, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^Tyler, William W. (December 3, 1942). "Poletti Assumes Governorship; Lehman Resigns". The Post-Star. Associated Press. p. 1. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^Solomon, Joshua (August 24, 2021). "Kathy Hochul Sworn In After Midnight, Becoming New York's First Female Governor". Times Union. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
^"NY lieutenant governor resigns after arrest in federal probe". AP NEWS. April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
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