List of Governors of Minnesota

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Number of Governors of Minnesota by party affiliation

Party	Governors
Republican/Independent-Republican	26
Democratic-Farmer-Labor	5
Democratic	4
Farmer-Labor	3
Reform/Independence	1

The following is a list of Governors of the State of Minnesota and Minnesota Territory. The governor serves as head of the executive branch of the state's government and is charged with ensuring the faithful execution of the state's laws. He or she is empowered to name state commissioners and department heads and to approve or veto bills passed by the legislature. The governor also serves as commander-in-chief of the state's military and navy forces.

Henry H. Sibley was elected the first governor in a statewide election held on October 13 1857 and took office following Minnesota's entry into the Union as the 32^nd state on May 11 1858. At the time, the governor and lieutenant governor were elected on separate ballots to terms lasting two years. With the passage of a 1958 state constitutional amendment, the terms of governor and lieutenant governor increased to four-years in 1963. A 1972 state constitutional amendment provided for the joint election of the governor and lieutenant governor. Prior to 1886, statewide elections were held on odd years. Because of this change (the result of an 1883 state constitutional amendment), Lucius F. Hubbard's second term as governor lasted three years.

The numerals indicate the consecutive time in office served by a single person. For example, William R. Rainey served two consecutive terms and is counted as the fifth state governor (not the fifth and sixth). Henry A. Swift assumed the governorship after the resignation of Alexander Ramsey, serving out the remainder of what would have been Ramsey's second term. The fact that Swift was not voted into office does not affect the numbering, which makes him the 3^rd governor. Rudy Perpich served two non-consecutive terms and is counted chronologically as both the 34^th and the 36^th governor. Because of this, the list below contains 39 governorships, but only 38 people.

Prior to its organization as a territory, portions of Minnesota were part of the Northwest Territory, Indiana Territory, Louisiana Territory (later renamed Missouri Territory), Illinois Territory, Michigan Territory, Wisconsin Territory, and Iowa Territory; see the lists of governors of Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa for this period.

Territorial Governors

#	Governor		Took office	Left office	Party	Appointed by	Notes
1	Alexander Ramsey		June 1, 1849	May 15, 1853	Whig	Zachary Taylor
2	Willis A. Gorman		May 15, 1853	April 23, 1857	Democratic	Franklin Pierce
3	Samuel Medary		April 23, 1857	May 24, 1858	Democratic	James Buchannan

State Governors

#	Governor		Took office	Left office	Party	Lieutenant Governor(s)	Notes	Term
1	Henry H. Sibley		May 24, 1858	January 2, 1860	Democratic	William Holcombe		1
2	Alexander Ramsey		January 2, 1860	July 10, 1863	Republican	Ignatius L. Donnelly		2
						Ignatius L. Donnelly Henry A. Swift		3
3	Henry A. Swift		July 10, 1863	January 11, 1864	Republican	vacant
4	Stephen Miller		January 11, 1864	January 8, 1866	Republican	Charles D. Sherwood		4
5	William R. Marshall		January 8, 1866	January 9, 1870	Republican	Thomas H. Armstrong		5
								6
6	Horace Austin		January 9, 1870	January 7, 1874	Republican	William H. Yale		7
								8
7	Cushman K. Davis		January 7, 1874	January 7, 1876	Republican	Alphonso Barto		9
8	John S. Pillsbury		January 7, 1876	January 10, 1882	Republican	James B. Wakefield		10
								11
						Charles A. Gilman		12
9	Lucius F. Hubbard		January 10, 1882	January 5, 1887	Republican	Charles A. Gilman		13
								14
10	Andrew R. McGill		January 5, 1887	January 9, 1889	Republican	Albert E. Rice		15
11	William R. Merriam		January 4, 1889	January 9, 1893	Republican	Albert E. Rice		16
						Gideon S. Ives		17
12	Knute Nelson		January 4, 1893	January 31, 1895	Republican	David M. Clough		18
13	David M. Clough		January 31, 1895	January 2, 1899	Republican	Frank A. Day		19
						John L. Gibbs		20
14	John Lind		January 2, 1899	January 7, 1901	Democratic/Populist/ Silver Republican	Lyndon A. Smith		21
15	Samuel R. Van Sant		January 7, 1901	January 4, 1905	Republican	Lyndon A. Smith		22
						Ray W. Jones		23
16	John A. Johnson		January 4, 1905	September 21, 1909	Democratic	Ray W. Jones		24
						Adolph O. Eberhart		25
17	Adolph O. Eberhart		September 21, 1909	January 5, 1915	Republican	Edward E. Smith		26
						Samuel Y. Gordon		27
						J. A. A. Burnquist		28
18	Winfield S. Hammond		January 5, 1915	December 30, 1915	Democratic	J. A. A. Burnquist		29
19	J. A. A. Burnquist		December 30, 1915	January 5, 1921	Republican	George H. Sullivan		29
						Thomas Frankson		30
								31
20	J. A. O. Preus		January 5, 1921	January 6, 1925	Republican	Louis L. Collins		32
								33
21	Theodore Christianson		January 6, 1925	January 6, 1931	Republican	William I. Nolan		34
								35
						William I. Nolan Charles Edward Adams		36
22	Floyd B. Olson		January 6, 1931	August 22, 1936	Farmer-Labor	Henry M. Arens		37
						Konrad K. Solberg		38
						Hjalmar Petersen		39
23	Hjalmar Petersen		August 22, 1936	January 4, 1937	Farmer-Labor	William B. Richardson (acting)
24	Elmer A. Benson		January 4, 1937	January 2, 1939	Farmer-Labor	Gottfrid T. Lindsten		40
25	Harold E. Stassen		January 2, 1939	April 27, 1943	Republican	C. Elmer Anderson		41
								42
						Edward J. Thye		43
26	Edward J. Thye		April 27, 1943	January 8, 1947	Republican	Archie H. Miller
						C. Elmer Anderson		44
27	Luther W. Youngdahl		January 8, 1947	September 27, 1951	Republican	C. Elmer Anderson		45
								46
						C. Elmer Anderson		47
28	C. Elmer Anderson		September 27, 1951	January 2, 1955	Republican	vacant
						Ancher Nelsen vacant		48
						Donald O. Wright
29	Orville L. Freeman		January 5, 1955	January 2, 1961	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Karl F. Rolvaag		49
								50
								51
30	Elmer L. Andersen		January 2, 1961	March 25, 1963	Republican	Karl F. Rolvaag		52
31	Karl F. Rolvaag		March 25, 1963	January 2, 1967	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Alexander M. Keith		53
32	Harold LeVander		January 2, 1967	January 4, 1971	Republican	James B. Goetz		54
33	Wendell R. Anderson		January 4, 1971	December 29, 1976	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Rudy Perpich		55
						Rudy Perpich		56
34	Rudy Perpich		December 29, 1976	January 4, 1979	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Alec G. Olson
35	Al Quie		January 4, 1979	January 3, 1983	Independent-Republican	Lou Wangberg		57
36	Rudy Perpich		January 3, 1983	January 7, 1991	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Marlene Johnson		58
								59
37	Arne H. Carlson		January 7, 1991	January 4, 1999	Independent-Republican/ Republican	Joanell M. Dyrstad		60
						Joanne E. Benson		61
38	James Janos (Jesse Ventura)		January 4, 1999	January 6, 2003	Reform/Independence	Mae A. Schunk		62
39	Tim Pawlenty		January 6, 2003	Incumbent (Term expires January 3, 2011)	Republican	Carol Molnau		63
								64

Notes

Notes on Minnesota political party names

• Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party: In 1944 the state Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party merged and created the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party.
• Republican Party of Minnesota: From November 1975 to September 1995 the name of the state Republican party was the Independent-Republican party (I-R). The party has always been affiliated with the national Republican Party.
• Independence Party of Minnesota: The party was founded under this name in 1992. In 1995 the IPM affiliated with the national Reform Party and renamed itself the Reform Party of Minnesota. In 2000 the Reform Party of Minnesota disaffiliated with the national Reform Party and returned to the name Independence Party.

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Minnesota expect where noted. * denotes offices that the governor resigned to take.

Name	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
Alexander Ramsey	1849–1853 (territorial) 1860–1863	H	S*	U.S. Secretary of War
Willis A. Gorman	1853–1857 (territorial)			U.S. Representative (Indiana)
Henry H. Sibley	1858–1860			U.S. Congressional Delegate (Wisconsin Territory, Minnesota Territory)
Cushman K. Davis	1874–1876		S
Knute Nelson	1893–1895	H	S*
John Lind	1899–1901	H
Winfield S. Hammond	1915	H
Theodore Christianson	1925–1931	H
Elmer A. Benson	1937–1939		S
Edward J. Thye	1943–1947		S
Luther W. Youngdahl	1947–1951			U.S. District Court Judge*
Orville L. Freeman	1955–1961			U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Karl F. Rolvaag	1963–1967			U.S. Ambassador to Iceland
Wendell R. Anderson	1971–1976		S*
Al Quie	1979–1983	H

Living former governors

As of August 2007, four former governors were alive, the oldest being Al Quie (1979–1983, born 1923). The most recent governor to die was Elmer L. Andersen (1961–1963), on November 15 2004. The most recently-serving governor to die was Rudy Perpich (1976–1979, 1983–1991), on September 21 1995.

Name	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
Wendell R. Anderson	1971–1976	February 1 1933
Al Quie	1979–1983	September 18 1923
Arne H. Carlson	1991–1999	September 24 1934
Jesse Ventura	1999–2003	July 15 1951

See also

• List of Minnesota gubernatorial elections
• List of Lieutenant Governors of Minnesota
• Minnesota Governor's Residence
• U.S. Congressional Delegations from Minnesota

References

General

• Governors of Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-17..
• Lieutenant Governors of Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-17..
• Minnesota Governors, 1849 - Present. Office of the Governor, State of Minnesota. Retrieved on 2007-05-17..Specific
• Constitution of the State of Minnesota. Retrieved on 2007-05-18..
• Amendments to the Minnesota Constitution Proposed to the Voters since 1858. Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved on 2007-05-18..
• 2007-2008 MN Legislative Manual. Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved on 2007-05-18..

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