List of Governors of Texas

In politics, Governor of Texas is the title given to the chief executive of the state of Texas.

1 Governors of Texas
2 Acting Governors of Texas
3 Presidents of Texas
4 Gubernatorial Power
5 See also
6 External links
7 References
8 Categories

Governors of Texas

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	James Pinckney Henderson	19 February 1846	21 December 1847	Democrat
2	George T. Wood	21 December 1847	21 December 1849	Democrat
3	Peter Hansborough Bell	21 December 1849	23 November 1853	Democrat
4	J. W. Henderson	23 November 1853	21 December 1853	Democrat
5	Elisha M. Pease	21 December 1853	21 December 1857	Unionist
6	Hardin R. Runnels	21 December 1857	21 December 1859	Democrat
7	Sam Houston	21 December 1859	16 March 1861	Independent
8	Edward Clark^[1]	16 March 1861	7 November 1861	Democrat
9	Francis R. Lubbock^[1]	7 November 1861	5 November 1863	Democrat
10	Pendleton Murrah^[1]	5 November 1863	June 1865	Democrat
11	Fletcher Stockdale^[1]	June 1865	19 June 1865	Democrat
12	Andrew J. Hamilton	19 June 1865	9 August 1866	Democrat
13	James W. Throckmorton	9 August 1866	8 August 1867	Democrat
14	Elisha M. Pease	8 August 1867	30 September 1869	Republican
15	Edmund J. Davis	8 January 1870	15 January 1874	Republican
16	Richard Coke	15 January 1874	1 December 1876	Democrat
17	Richard B. Hubbard	1 December 1876	21 January 1879	Democrat
18	Oran M. Roberts	21 January 1879	16 January 1883	Democrat
19	John Ireland	16 January 1883	18 January 1887	Democrat
20	Lawrence Sullivan Ross	18 January 1887	20 January 1891	Democrat
21	James Stephen Hogg	20 January 1891	15 January 1895	Democrat
22	Charles A. Culberson	15 January 1895	17 January 1899	Democrat
23	Joseph D. Sayers	17 January 1899	20 January 1903	Democrat
24	S.W.T. Lanham	20 January 1903	15 January 1907	Democrat
25	Thomas Mitchell Campbell	15 January 1907	17 January 1911	Democrat
26	Oscar Branch Colquitt	17 January 1911	19 January 1915	Democrat
27	James E. Ferguson	19 January 1915	25 August 1917	Democrat
28	William Pettus Hobby Sr.	25 August 1917	18 January 1921	Democrat
29	Pat Morris Neff	18 January 1921	20 January 1925	Democrat
30	Miriam A. Ferguson	20 January 1925	17 January 1927	Democrat
31	Dan Moody	17 January 1927	20 January 1931	Democrat
32	Ross S. Sterling	20 January 1931	17 January 1933	Democrat
33	Miriam A. Ferguson	17 January 1933	15 January 1935	Democrat
34	James V. Allred	15 January 1935	17 January 1939	Democrat
35	W. Lee O'Daniel	17 January 1939	4 August 1941	Democrat
36	Coke R. Stevenson	4 August 1941	21 January 1947	Democrat
37	Beauford H. Jester	21 January 1947	11 July 1949	Democrat
38	Allan Shivers	11 July 1949	15 January 1957	Democrat
39	Price Daniel	15 January 1957	15 January 1963	Democrat
40	John B. Connally Jr.	15 January 1963	21 January 1969	Democrat
41	Preston Smith	21 January 1969	16 January 1973	Democrat
42	Dolph Briscoe	16 January 1973	16 January 1979	Democrat
43	William P. Clements	16 January 1979	18 January 1983	Republican
44	Mark White	18 January 1983	20 January 1987	Democrat
45	William P. Clements	20 January 1987	15 January 1991	Republican
46	Ann Richards	15 January 1991	17 January 1995	Democrat
47	George W. Bush	17 January 1995	21 December 2000	Republican
48	J. Richard Perry	21 December 2000	present	Republican

Acting Governors of Texas

In Texas, a 50-year tradition called “Governor For A Day” makes the President pro tempore of the Texas Senate the acting governor for a day. During that time, the governor and lieutenant governor both leave the state, leaving the President Pro Tem serving in the governor's office for a day.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Barbara Jordan, 1972
Glenn Kothmann, 28 June 1975^[2]
Bob Glasgow, May 11, 1991
John Whitmire, 1993
Gonzalo Barrientos, 1995
Kenneth L. Armbrister, 1995
Judith Zaffirini, 1997, First female governor of Hispanic decent
Rodney Ellis, 1999, Ellis served as acting governor of Texas for 31 days during Governor George W. Bush's campaign for U.S. President
Rodney Ellis, April 8 2000, “Governor For A Day”
Chris Harris, 5 May 2001
Edward Lucio, Jr., April 26 2003
Jane Nelson, April 3 2004
Jeff Wentworth, November 20 2005
Florence Shapiro, April 9 2005
Frank L. Madla, 2005
Royce West, 18 November 2006^[3]

Presidents of Texas

Main article: List of Presidents of the Republic of Texas

Presidents of the Republic of Texas
Name	Vice-President	Term	Texas County Named After
David G. Burnet^[1]	Lorenzo de Zavala^[1]	1836	Burnet County
Sam Houston	Mirabeau B. Lamar	1836-1838	Houston County
Mirabeau B. Lamar	David G. Burnet	1838-1841	Lamar County
Sam Houston	Edward Burleson	1841-1844	Houston County
Anson Jones	Kenneth Anderson	1844-1846	Jones County

Gubernatorial Power

As is the trend in many Southern states, the Governor's power is quite limited. With the exception of the Secretary of State, the remaining members of the Governor's cabinet are also elected by popular vote. In addition, because the Lieutenant Governor runs on a separate ticket, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor can be (and have been) from different political parties.

Another limitation on gubernatorial power involves the commutation of prisoner sentences, an issue which arises whenever a death penalty sentence is to be carried out. The Governor can only overturn a death sentence upon the positive recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardon and Parole, the Governor can choose to ignore the Board's clemency recommendation and carry out the execution, but the opposite is not true—the Governor cannot commute or overturn a sentence if the Board does not recommend such. The only unilateral option the Governor has is to issue one, 30-day stay of execution.

The governor does have one key power that the Texas Legislature does not have—the governor can call the Legislature into special session for 30 days, as many times as the governor desires (the Legislature cannot call itself into session).