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Governor of Colorado
Seal of the Executive Office
Incumbent Jared Polis since January 8, 2019
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Colorado Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, renewable once consecutively
Inaugural holder	John Long Routt
Formation	August 1, 1876
Deputy	Dianne Primavera
Salary	$90,000 (2013)[1]
Website	www.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 and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly, to convene the legislature, 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.

Seven people served as governor of Colorado Territory over eight terms, appointed by the President of the United States. Since statehood, there have been 36 governors, serving 41 distinct terms. The longest-serving governors were Richard "Dick" Lamm (1975-1987) and Roy Romer (1987-1999), who each served 12 years over three terms. The shortest term occurred in March 16 and 17, 1905, when the state had three governors in the span of 24 hours: Alva Adams won the election, but soon after he took office, the legislature declared his opponent, James Peabody, governor, but on the condition that he immediately resign, so that his lieutenant governor, Jesse McDonald, could be governor. Thus, Peabody served less than a day as governor.

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

Governors

Governor of the Territory of Jefferson

The self-proclaimed Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson was organized on November 7, 1859.^[3] Jefferson Territory included all of present-day Colorado, but extended about 3 miles (5 km) farther east, 138 miles (222 km) farther north, and about 50 miles (80 km) farther west.^[4] The territory was never recognized by the federal government in the tumultuous days before the American Civil War. The Jefferson Territory had only one governor, Robert Williamson Steele, a pro-union Democrat elected by popular vote. He proclaimed the territory dissolved on June 6, 1861, several months after the official formation of the Colorado Territory, but only days after the arrival of its first governor.^[5]

Governors of the Territory of Colorado

The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28, 1861, from parts of the territories of New Mexico, Utah, and Nebraska, and the unorganized territory that was previously the western portion of Kansas Territory.^[6]

Governors of the Territory of Colorado

No.	Governor		Term in office	Appointed by
1		William Gilpin	March 25, 1861[7][a] – March 26, 1862[b]	Abraham Lincoln
2		John Evans	March 26, 1862[7] – October 17, 1865[c]
3		Alexander Cummings	October 17, 1865[11] – April 24, 1867	Andrew Johnson
4		Alexander Cameron Hunt	April 24, 1867[11] – June 14, 1869
5		Edward M. McCook	June 14, 1869[12] – Sometime in 1873[d]	Ulysses S. Grant
6		Samuel Hitt Elbert	April 4, 1873[13] – Sometime in 1874[e]
7		Edward M. McCook	June 19, 1874[12] – March 29, 1875
8		John Long Routt	March 29, 1875[14] – November 3, 1876[f]

Governors of the State of Colorado

The State of Colorado was admitted to the Union on August 1, 1876.

To serve as governor, one must be at least 30 years old, be a citizen of the United States, and have been a resident of the state for at least two years prior to election. The state constitution of 1876 originally called for election of the governor every two years, with their term beginning on the second Tuesday of the January following the election.^[15] An amendment passed in 1956, taking effect in 1959, increased terms to four years.^[16] Originally, there was no term limit applied to the governor; a 1990 amendment allowed governors to succeed themselves only once.^[17] There is however no limit on the total number of terms one may serve as long as one who has served the two term limit is out of office for four years.

Should the office of governor become vacant, the lieutenant governor becomes governor.^[18] If both the offices governor and lieutenant governor are vacant, the line of succession moves down through the senior members of the state senate and state house of representatives of the same party as the governor.^[19] The lieutenant governor was elected separately from the governor until a 1968 amendment to the constitution^[20] made it so that they are elected on the same ticket.^[21]

Governors of the State of Colorado^[g]

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor[h]
1			John Long Routt	November 3, 1876[f] – 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[i]
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[i]
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[j]
12			James Bradley Orman	January 8, 1901 – January 13, 1903 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1900		David C. Coates[k]
13			James Hamilton Peabody	January 13, 1903 – January 10, 1905 (lost election)[l]	Republican	1902		Warren A. Haggott[m]
14			Alva Adams	January 10, 1905 – March 16, 1905 (declared loser in election)[l]	Democratic	1904[l]		Arthur Cornforth
15			James Hamilton Peabody	March 16, 1905 – March 17, 1905 (resigned)[l]	Republican			Jesse Fuller McDonald
16			Jesse Fuller McDonald	March 17, 1905 – January 8, 1907 (did not run for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor[l]		Arthur Cornforth[n] (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[i]
24			Clarence Morley	January 13, 1925 – January 11, 1927 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1924		Sterling Byrd Lacy[n]
25			Billy Adams	January 11, 1927 – January 10, 1933 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1926		George Milton Corlett[i]
						1928
						1930		Edwin C. Johnson
26			Edwin C. Johnson	January 10, 1933 – January 1, 1937 (resigned)[o]	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)[p]	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[i]
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[i]
						1958 [q]		Robert Lee Knous
36			John Arthur Love	January 8, 1963 – July 16, 1973 (resigned)[r]	Republican	1962
						1966		Mark Anthony Hogan[n]
						1970		John D. Vanderhoof
37			John D. Vanderhoof	July 16, 1973 – January 14, 1975 (lost election)[31]	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[s]	Democratic	2018		Dianne Primavera

See also

• Outline of Colorado


• Index of Colorado-related articles


• 
  State of Colorado
  
  • 
    Law and government of Colorado
    
    • 
      Governor of Colorado
      
      • Lieutenant Governor of Colorado

Notes

References

General

Constitutions

Specific

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of Colorado.

• Office of the Governor of Colorado