Governor of Colorado

Governor of Colorado
Seal of the Executive Office
Incumbent
Jared Polis
since January 8, 2019
StyleThe Honorable
ResidenceColorado Governor's Mansion
Term lengthFour years, renewable once consecutively
Inaugural holderJohn Long Routt
FormationAugust 1, 1876
DeputyDianne Primavera
Salary$90,000 (2013)[1]
Websitewww.colorado.gov/governor

The Governor of Colorado is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government.

The governor is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason or impeachment.[2] The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.

The current governor is Democrat Jared Polis, who took office on January 8, 2019.

List of governors

Governors of the State of Colorado[a]
No. Governor Term in office Party Election Lt. Governor[b]
1   John Long Routt November 3, 1876[c]
–
January 14, 1879
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1876   Lafayette Head
2 Frederick Walker Pitkin January 14, 1879
–
January 9, 1883
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1878 Horace Tabor
1880
3 James Benton Grant January 9, 1883
–
January 13, 1885
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1882 William H. Meyer[d]
4 Benjamin Harrison Eaton January 13, 1885
–
January 11, 1887
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1884 Peter W. Breene
5 Alva Adams January 11, 1887
–
January 8, 1889
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1886 Norman H. Meldrum
6 Job Adams Cooper January 8, 1889
–
January 13, 1891
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1888 William Grover Smith
7 John Long Routt January 13, 1891
–
January 10, 1893
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1890 William Story
8 Davis Hanson Waite January 10, 1893
–
January 8, 1895
(lost election) 		Populist 1892 David H. Nichols
9 Albert McIntire January 8, 1895
–
January 12, 1897
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1894 Jared L. Brush[d]
10 Alva Adams January 12, 1897
–
January 10, 1899
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1896
11 Charles S. Thomas January 10, 1899
–
January 8, 1901
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1898 Francis Patrick Carney[e]
12 James Bradley Orman January 8, 1901
–
January 13, 1903
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1900 David C. Coates[f]
13 James Hamilton Peabody January 13, 1903
–
January 10, 1905
(lost election)[g] 		Republican 1902 Warren A. Haggott[h]
14 Alva Adams January 10, 1905
–
March 16, 1905
(declared loser in election)[g] 		Democratic 1904[g] Arthur Cornforth
15 James Hamilton Peabody March 16, 1905
–
March 17, 1905
(resigned)[g] 		Republican Jesse Fuller McDonald
16 Jesse Fuller McDonald March 17, 1905
–
January 8, 1907
(did not run for election) 		Republican Succeeded from
Lieutenant
Governor[g] 		Arthur Cornforth[i]
(removed July 5, 1905)
Fred W. Parks
17 Henry Augustus Buchtel January 8, 1907
–
January 12, 1909
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1906 Erastus Harper
18 John F. Shafroth January 12, 1909
–
January 14, 1913
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1908 Stephen R. Fitzgarrald
1910
19 Elias M. Ammons January 14, 1913
–
January 12, 1915
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1912
20 George Alfred Carlson January 12, 1915
–
January 9, 1917
(lost election) 		Republican 1914 Moses E. Lewis
21 Julius Caldeen Gunter January 9, 1917
–
January 14, 1919
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1916 James Pulliam
22 Oliver Henry Shoup January 14, 1919
–
January 9, 1923
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1918 George Stephan
1920 Earl Cooley
23 William Ellery Sweet January 9, 1923
–
January 13, 1925
(lost election) 		Democratic 1922 Robert F. Rockwell[d]
24 Clarence Morley January 13, 1925
–
January 11, 1927
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1924 Sterling Byrd Lacy[i]
25 Billy Adams January 11, 1927
–
January 10, 1933
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1926 George Milton Corlett[d]
1928
1930 Edwin C. Johnson
26 Edwin C. Johnson January 10, 1933
–
January 1, 1937
(resigned)[j] 		Democratic 1932 Ray Herbert Talbot
1934
27 Ray Herbert Talbot January 1, 1937
–
January 12, 1937
(successor took office) 		Democratic Succeeded from
Lieutenant
Governor 		Vacant
28 Teller Ammons January 12, 1937
–
January 10, 1939
(lost election) 		Democratic 1936 Frank Hayes
29 Ralph Lawrence Carr January 10, 1939
–
January 12, 1943
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1938 John Charles Vivian
1940
30 John Charles Vivian January 12, 1943
–
January 14, 1947
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1942 William Eugene Higby
1944
31 William Lee Knous January 14, 1947
–
April 15, 1950
(resigned)[k] 		Democratic 1946 Homer L. Pearson
1948 Walter Walford Johnson
32 Walter Walford Johnson April 15, 1950
–
January 9, 1951
(lost election) 		Democratic Succeeded from
Lieutenant
Governor 		Charles P. Murphy[d]
33 Daniel I. J. Thornton January 9, 1951
–
January 11, 1955
(not candidate for election) 		Republican 1950 Gordon Allott
1952
34 Edwin C. Johnson January 11, 1955
–
January 8, 1957
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1954 Stephen McNichols
35 Stephen McNichols January 8, 1957
–
January 8, 1963
(lost election) 		Democratic 1956 Frank L. Hays[d]
1958
[l] 		Robert Lee Knous
36 John Arthur Love January 8, 1963
–
July 16, 1973
(resigned)[m] 		Republican 1962
1966 Mark Anthony Hogan[i]
1970 John D. Vanderhoof
37 John D. Vanderhoof July 16, 1973
–
January 14, 1975
(lost election)[12] 		Republican Succeeded from
Lieutenant
Governor 		Ted L. Strickland
38 Richard Lamm January 14, 1975
–
January 13, 1987
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 1974 George L. Brown
1978 Nancy E. Dick
1982
39 Roy Romer January 13, 1987
–
January 12, 1999
(term limited) 		Democratic 1986 Mike Callihan
(resigned May 10, 1994)
1990
Vacant
Samuel H. Cassidy
(took office May 11, 1994)
1994 Gail Schoettler
40 Bill Owens January 12, 1999
–
January 9, 2007
(term limited) 		Republican 1998 Joe Rogers
2002 Jane E. Norton
41 Bill Ritter January 9, 2007
–
January 11, 2011
(not candidate for election) 		Democratic 2006 Barbara O'Brien
42 John Hickenlooper January 11, 2011
–
January 8, 2019
(term limited) 		Democratic 2010 Joseph García
(resigned May 12, 2016)
2014
Donna Lynne
43 Jared Polis January 8, 2019
–
present[n] 		Democratic 2018 Dianne Primavera

Notes

  1. ↑ Data is sourced from the National Governors Association, unless supplemental references are required.
  2. ↑ Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
  3. ↑ The state was admitted on August 1, but Routt was formally inaugurated as state governor on November 3.[3]
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Represented the Republican Party.
  5. ↑ Represented the Populist Party.
  6. ↑ The Colorado State Archives labels Coates a Democrat;[4] however, a contemporary New York Times article describes him as a Populist elected on a fusion ticket, and that he had renounced all other parties and become a Socialist.[5]
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 The 1904 election was rife with fraud and controversy. Alva Adams won election, but soon after he took office the Republican legislature declared James Peabody to be the actual winner, on the condition that Peabody immediately tender his resignation, postdated to the next day. Peabody's lieutenant governor, Jesse McDonald, then succeeded to the governorship.[6]
  8. ↑ The Colorado State Archives says Haggott served from 1902 to 1903; however, multiple sources say he served with Peabody[7] well into 1904,[8] so it is assumed the Archives are in error.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Represented the Democratic Party.
  10. ↑ Johnson resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.[9]
  11. ↑ Knous resigned to take a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.[10]
  12. ↑ First term under a 1956 constitutional amendment, which lengthened terms to four years.
  13. ↑ Love resigned to be Director of the Office of Energy Policy.[11]
  14. ↑ Polis' first term expires on January 10, 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "CSG Releases 2013 Governor Salaries". The Council of State Governments. June 25, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  2. ↑ CO Const. art IV
  3. ↑ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. J. T. White Company. 1896. p. 450. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Lieutenant Governors of Colorado". Colorado State Archives. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  5. ↑ "General Notes". The New York Times. July 13, 1902. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  6. ↑ Powe, Lucas A. (1992). The Fourth Estate and the Constitution: Freedom of the Press in America. University of California Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-0-520-08038-6. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  7. ↑ Goodspeed, Weston Arthur (1904). The Province and the States: Missouri, Kansas, Colorado. The Weston historical association. p. 481. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Shots Fired from Windows". The New York Times. June 6, 1904. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Edwin Carl Johnson". National Governors Association. Retrieved December 14, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  10. ↑ "William Lee Knous". National Governors Association. Retrieved December 14, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  11. ↑ "John Arthur Love". National Governors Association. Retrieved December 14, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  12. ↑ "Former Colorado Gov. Vanderhoof dies at 91". [[The Gazette (Colorado Springs)|]]. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Associated Press. September 23, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2018.