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Governor of Florida
Great Seal of the State of Florida
Incumbent Rick Scott since January 4, 2011
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Florida Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	William Dunn Moseley
Formation	June 25, 1845
Deputy	Carlos Lopez-Cantera, lieutenant governor
Salary	$130,273 (2013)[1]
Website	www.flgov.com

The Governor of Florida is the head of the executive branch of Florida's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.^[2] The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida Legislature,^[3] to convene the legislature,^[4] and to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment.^[5]

When Florida was first acquired by the United States, future President Andrew Jackson served as its military governor. Florida Territory was established in 1822, and five people served as governor over six distinct terms. The first territorial governor, William Pope Duval, served 12 years, the longest of any Florida governor to date.

Since statehood in 1845, there have been 43 people who have served as governor, one of whom served two distinct terms. Three state governors have served two full four-year terms: William D. Bloxham, in two stints; and Reubin Askew and Jeb Bush, who each served their terms consecutively. Bob Graham almost served two terms, as he resigned with only three days left. The shortest term in office belongs to Wayne Mixson, who served three days following the resignation of his predecessor, Bob Graham.

The current governor is Republican Rick Scott, who took office on January 4, 2011, following the 2010 election. He was re-elected in 2014, and his second term began on January 6, 2015.

The most recent election took place in 2018. Former Rep. Ron DeSantis will be sworn in as Governor in January 2019.

Governors

Federal military commissioner

For a list of governors of Florida before it became a United States territory, see the list of colonial governors of Florida.

Spanish Florida was acquired from Spain in the Adams–Onís Treaty, which took effect July 10, 1821.^[6] Parts of West Florida had already been assigned to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi; the remainder and East Florida were governed by a military commissioner with the powers of governor until the territory was organized and incorporated.^[7]

Federal Military Commissioner of Florida

Commissioner		Term in office	Appointed by	Notes
	Andrew Jackson	March 10, 1821 – December 31, 1821	James Monroe	[a][b]

Governors of the Territory of Florida

Florida Territory was organized on March 30, 1822, combining East and West Florida.^[12]

Governors of the Territory of Florida

No.	Governor		Term in office	Appointed by
1		William Pope Duval	April 17, 1822 – April 24, 1834	James Monroe
				John Quincy Adams
				Andrew Jackson
2		John Eaton	April 24, 1834 – March 16, 1836
3		Richard K. Call	March 16, 1836 – December 2, 1839
4		Robert R. Reid	December 2, 1839 – March 19, 1841	Martin Van Buren
5		Richard K. Call	March 19, 1841 – August 11, 1844	William Henry Harrison
				John Tyler
6		John Branch	August 11, 1844 – June 25, 1845

Governors of the State of Florida

The State of Florida was admitted to the Union on March 3, 1845. It seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861,^[13] and joined the Confederate States of America on February 8, 1861,^[14] as a founding member. Following the end of the American Civil War, it was part of the Third Military District.^[15] Florida was readmitted to the Union on June 25, 1868.^[16]

The Florida Constitution of 1838 provided that a governor be elected every four years, who was not allowed to serve consecutive terms.^[17] The secessionist constitution of 1861 would have reduced this to two years and removed the term limit,^[18] but the state fell to the Union before the first election under that constitution. The rejected constitution of 1865 and the ratified constitution of 1868 maintained the four-year term,^[19][20] though without the earlier term limit, which was reintroduced in the 1885 constitution.^[21] The current constitution of 1968 states that should the governor serve, or would have served had he not resigned, more than six years in two consecutive terms, he cannot be elected to the succeeding term.^[22] The start of a term was set in 1885 at the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the January following the election,^[21] where it has remained.^[23]

Originally, the president of the state senate acted as governor should that office be vacant.^[24] The 1865 and 1868 constitutions created the office of lieutenant governor,^[25][26] who would similarly act as governor. This office was abolished in 1885, with the president of the senate again taking on that duty.^[27] The 1968 constitution recreated the office of lieutenant governor, who now becomes governor in the absence of the governor.^[28] The governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket.^[22]

Florida was a strongly Democratic state before the Civil War, electing only candidates from the Whig party (the Democrat's chief opposition at the time).^[29] It elected three Republican governors following Reconstruction, but after the Democratic Party re-established control, 90 years passed before voters chose another Republican.

Governors of the State of Florida

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor[c][d]
1			William Dunn Moseley	June 25, 1845 – October 1, 1849	Democratic	1845	Office did not exist
2			Thomas Brown	October 1, 1849 – October 3, 1853	Whig	1849
3			James E. Broome	October 3, 1853 – October 5, 1857	Democratic	1853
4			Madison S. Perry	October 5, 1857 – October 7, 1861	Democratic	1857
5			John Milton	October 7, 1861 – April 1, 1865	Democratic	1861 [e]
6			Abraham K. Allison	April 1, 1865 – May 19, 1865	Democratic
—	Vacant			May 19, 1865 – July 13, 1865	—
7			William Marvin	July 13, 1865 – December 20, 1865	Provisional	— [f]
8			David S. Walker	December 20, 1865 – July 4, 1868	Democratic[g]			William W. J. Kelly[h]
9			Harrison Reed	July 4, 1868 – January 7, 1873	Republican	1868 [i]		William Henry Gleason (removed December 14, 1868)[j]
							Vacant
								Edmund C. Weeks (appointed January 24, 1870) (term ended December 27, 1870)[k]
								Samuel T. Day (took office December 27, 1870)
10			Ossian B. Hart	January 7, 1873 – March 18, 1874	Republican	1872 [l]		Marcellus Stearns
11			Marcellus Stearns	March 18, 1874 – January 2, 1877	Republican		Vacant
12			George Franklin Drew	January 2, 1877 – January 4, 1881	Democratic	1876		Noble A. Hull (resigned March 3, 1879)
							Vacant
13			William D. Bloxham	January 4, 1881 – January 7, 1885	Democratic	1880		Livingston W. Bethel
14			Edward A. Perry	January 7, 1885 – January 8, 1889	Democratic	1884		Milton H. Mabry
15			Francis P. Fleming	January 8, 1889 – January 3, 1893	Democratic	1888	Office did not exist
16			Henry L. Mitchell	January 3, 1893 – January 5, 1897	Democratic	1892
17			William D. Bloxham	January 5, 1897 – January 8, 1901	Democratic	1896
18			William Sherman Jennings	January 8, 1901 – January 3, 1905	Democratic	1900
19			Napoleon B. Broward	January 3, 1905 – January 5, 1909	Democratic	1904
20			Albert W. Gilchrist	January 5, 1909 – January 7, 1913	Democratic	1908
21			Park Trammell	January 7, 1913 – January 2, 1917	Democratic	1912
22			Sidney Johnston Catts	January 2, 1917 – January 4, 1921	Prohibition	1916
23			Cary A. Hardee	January 4, 1921 – January 6, 1925	Democratic	1920
24			John W. Martin	January 6, 1925 – January 8, 1929	Democratic	1924
25			Doyle E. Carlton	January 8, 1929 – January 3, 1933	Democratic	1928
26			David Sholtz	January 3, 1933 – January 5, 1937	Democratic	1932
27			Fred P. Cone	January 5, 1937 – January 7, 1941	Democratic	1936
28			Spessard Holland	January 7, 1941 – January 2, 1945	Democratic	1940
29			Millard Caldwell	January 2, 1945 – January 4, 1949	Democratic	1944
30			Fuller Warren	January 4, 1949 – January 6, 1953	Democratic	1948
31			Daniel T. McCarty	January 6, 1953 – September 28, 1953	Democratic	1952 [m]
32			Charley Eugene Johns	September 28, 1953 – January 4, 1955	Democratic
33			LeRoy Collins	January 4, 1955 – January 3, 1961	Democratic
						1956
34			C. Farris Bryant	January 3, 1961 – January 5, 1965	Democratic	1960
35			W. Haydon Burns	January 5, 1965 – January 3, 1967	Democratic	1964 [n]
36			Claude R. Kirk Jr.	January 3, 1967 – January 5, 1971	Republican	1966
								Ray C. Osborne (office created January 7, 1969)
37			Reubin Askew	January 5, 1971 – January 2, 1979	Democratic	1970		Thomas Burton Adams Jr.
						1974		Jim Williams
38			Bob Graham	January 2, 1979 – January 3, 1987	Democratic	1978		Wayne Mixson
						1982 [o]
39			Wayne Mixson	January 3, 1987 – January 6, 1987	Democratic		Vacant
40			Bob Martinez	January 6, 1987 – January 8, 1991	Republican	1986		Bobby Brantley
41			Lawton Chiles	January 8, 1991 – December 12, 1998	Democratic	1990		Buddy MacKay
						1994 [p]
42			Buddy MacKay	December 12, 1998 – January 5, 1999	Democratic		Vacant
43			Jeb Bush	January 5, 1999 – January 2, 2007	Republican	1998		Frank Brogan (resigned March 3, 2003)
						2002
								Toni Jennings
44			Charlie Crist	January 2, 2007 – January 4, 2011	Republican[q]	2006		Jeff Kottkamp
45			Rick Scott	January 4, 2011 – Present	Republican	2010		Jennifer Carroll (resigned March 12, 2013)
							Vacant
								Carlos Lopez-Cantera (appointed February 3, 2014)
						2014 [r]
46			Ron DeSantis	Governor-elect takes office January 8, 2019	Republican	2018 [s]		Jeanette Núñez

Notes

Book: Governors of Florida

References

General

Constitutions

Specific