Facts and History
Governors of
Virginia
Governors of Virginia serve a single four-year term as allowed by the Constitution of Virginia. A governor can be re-elected by popular vote again only after a break in service. Mills Godwin, Jr. achieved that feat most recently by serving from 1966-70 and again from 1974-78.
Below is a listing of the more recent Governors of Virginia. For more extensive information, visit your local library or the Library of Virginia.
| Commonwealth of Virginia: | July 5, 1776 |
| US Statehood: | June 25, 1788 |
| Secession from the Union: | May 17, 1861 |
| West Virginia separated from Virginia: | June 20, 1863 |
| Readmission to the United States: | January 26, 1870 |
| Commonwealth Governors |
Term Began |
Term Ended |
Party Affiliation |
| Patrick Henry | 1776 | 1779 | N/A |
| Thomas Jefferson | 1779 | 1781 | N/A |
| William Fleming (Acting - June 4-June 12) | 1781 | 1781 | N/A |
| Thomas Nelson, Jr. (Acting - June 12 -November 1781) | 1781 | 1781 | N/A |
| David Jameson (Acting - November 22-30) | 1781 | 1781 | N/A |
| Benjamin Harrison | 1781 | 1784 | N/A |
| Patrick Henry | 1784 | 1786 | N/A |
| Edmund Randolph | 1786 | 1788 | N/A |
| State Governors |
Term Began |
Term Ended |
Party Affiliation |
| Beverley Randolph | 1788 | 1791 | N/A |
| Henry Lee | 1791 | 1794 | Federalist |
| Robert Brooke | 1794 | 1796 | Democrat-Republican |
| James Wood | 1796 | 1799 | Federalist |
| Hardin Burnley (Acting - December 7-11) | 1799 | 1799 | N/A |
| John Pendleton (Acting - December 11-19) | 1799 | 1799 | N/A |
| James Monroe | 1799 | 1802 | Democrat-Republican |
| John Page | 1802 | 1805 | Democrat-Republican |
| William H. Cabell | 1805 | 1808 | Democrat-Republican |
| John Tyler, Sr. | 1808 | 1811 | Democrat-Republican |
| George William Smith (Acting, January 15-19) | 1811 | 1811 | Democrat-Republican |
| James Monroe (Acting, January 19-April 3) | 1811 | 1811 | Democrat-Republican |
| George William Smith (Acting, April 3-Dec. 6) | 1811 | 1811 | Democrat-Republican |
| George William Smith (Acting, December 6-26) | 1811 | 1811 | Democrat-Republican |
| Peyton Randolph (Acting - 7 days) | 1811 | 1812 | Democrat-Republican |
| James Barbour | 1812 | 1814 | Democrat-Republican |
| Wilson Cary Nicholas | 1814 | 1816 | Democrat-Republican |
| James P. Preston | 1816 | 1819 | Democrat-Republican |
| Thomas Mann Randolph | 1819 | 1822 | Democrat-Republican |
| James Pleasants, Jr. | 1822 | 1825 | Democrat-Republican |
| John Tyler, Jr. | 1825 | 1827 | Democrat-Republican |
| William B. Giles | 1827 | 1830 | Democrat-Republican |
| John Floyd | 1830 | 1834 | Democrat-Republican |
| Littleton Waller Tazewell | 1834 | 1836 | Democrat-Republican |
| Wyndham Robertson (Acting) | 1836 | 1837 | Whig |
| David Campbell | 1837 | 1840 | Democrat |
| Thomas Walker Gilmer | 1840 | 1841 | Whig |
| John Mercer Patton (Acting, March 20 - 31) | 1841 | 1841 | Whig |
| John Rutherfoord (Acting) | 1841 | 1842 | Democrat |
| John M. Gregory (Acting) | 1842 | 1843 | Whig |
| James McDowell | 1843 | 1846 | Whig |
| William Smith | 1846 | 1849 | Democrat |
| John Buchanan Floyd | 1849 | 1852 | Democrat |
| Joseph Johnson | 1852 | 1856 | Democrat |
| Henry Alexander Wise | 1856 | 1860 | Democrat |
| John Letcher | 1860 | 1864 | Democrat |
| William Smith | 1864 | 1865 | Democrat |
| Francis Harrison Pierpont (Provisional) | 1865 | 1868 | Republican |
| Henry H. Wells (Provisional) | 1868 | 1869 | Republican (Unionist) |
| Gilbert C. Walker | 1869 | 1874 | Republican |
| James Lawson Kemper | 1874 | 1878 | Democrat |
| Frederick W. M. Holliday | 1878 | 1882 | Democrat |
| William E. Cameron | 1882 | 1886 | Democrat |
| Fitzhugh Lee | 1886 | 1890 | Democrat |
| Philip W. McKinney | 1890 | 1894 | Democrat |
| Charles T. O'Ferrall | 1894 | 1898 | Democrat |
| James Hoge Tyler | 1898 | 1902 | Democrat |
| Andrew Jackson Montague | 1902 | 1906 | Democrat |
| Claude A. Swanson, Governor | 1906 | 1910 | Democrat |
| William Hodges Mann | 1910 | 1914 | Democrat |
| Henry Carter Stuart | 1914 | 1918 | Democrat |
| Westmoreland Davis | 1918 | 1922 | Democrat |
| E. Lee Trinkle | 1922 | 1926 | Democrat |
| Harry Flood Byrd, Sr. | 1926 | 1930 | Democrat |
| John Garland Pollard | 1930 | 1934 | Democrat |
| George C. Peery | 1934 | 1938 | Democrat |
| James H. Price | 1938 | 1942 | Democrat |
| Colgate W. Darden, Jr. | 1942 | 1946 | Democrat |
| William M. Tuck | 1946 | 1950 | Democrat |
| John S. Battle | 1950 | 1954 | Democrat |
| Thomas B. Stanley | 1954 | 1958 | Democrat |
| J. Lindsay Almond, Jr. | 1958 | 1962 | Democrat |
| Albertis S. Harrison, Jr. | 1962 | 1966 | Democrat |
| Mills E. Godwin, Jr. | 1966 | 1970 | Democrat |
| A. Linwood Holton, Jr. | 1970 | 1974 | Republican |
| Mills E. Godwin, Jr. | 1974 | 1978 | Republican |
| John Dalton | 1978 | 1982 | Republican |
| Charles S. Robb | 1982 | 1986 | Democrat |
| Gerald L. Baliles | 1986 | 1990 | Democrat |
| L. Douglas Wilder | 1990 | 1994 | Democrat |
| George F. Allen | 1994 | 1998 | Republican |
| James (Jim) Gilmore III | 1998 | 2002 | Republican |
| Mark Warner | 2002 | 2006 | Democrat |
| Tim Kaine | 2006 | Democrat |
