List of lieutenant governors of Colorado
The lieutenant governor of Colorado is the second-highest-ranking member of the executive department of the Government of Colorado, United States, below the governor of Colorado. The lieutenant governor of Colorado, who acts as governor of Colorado in the absence of the officeholder and succeeds to the governorship in case of vacancy, is elected on a partisan ticket.
Lieutenant Governor of Colorado | |
---|---|
Government of Colorado | |
Style | The Honorable |
Term length | Four years, renewable once |
Inaugural holder | Lafayette Head |
Formation | 1877 |
Salary | $93,360 per year |
Website |
After the 1966 general election, the Constitution of Colorado was amended to require the joint election of governor and lieutenant governor — candidates running as a ticket.[1] Prior to this amendment, the lieutenant governor candidate was elected separately from the governor during the same election—sometimes resulting in a governor and a lieutenant governor from different political parties.
The current lieutenant governor is Dianne Primavera, a Democrat, who took office 8 January 2019.
Lieutenant governors
No. | Lieutenant Governor | Term in office | Party | Election | Governor[lower-alpha 1] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lafayette Head | August 1, 1876 – January 14, 1879 |
Republican | 1876 | John Long Routt | |||
2 | Horace Tabor | January 14, 1879 – January 9, 1883 |
Republican | 1878 | Frederick Walker Pitkin | |||
1880 | ||||||||
3 | William H. Meyer | January 9, 1883 – January 13, 1885 |
Republican | 1882 | James Benton Grant[lower-alpha 2] | |||
4 | Peter W. Breene | January 13, 1885 – January 11, 1887 |
Republican | 1884 | Benjamin Harrison Eaton | |||
5 | Norman H. Meldrum | January 11, 1887 – January 8, 1889 |
Democratic | 1886 | Alva Adams | |||
6 | William Grover Smith | January 8, 1889 – January 13, 1891 |
Republican | 1888 | Job Adams Cooper | |||
7 | William Story | January 13, 1891 – January 10, 1893 |
Republican | 1890 | John Long Routt | |||
8 | David H. Nichols | January 10, 1893 – January 8, 1895 |
Populist | 1892 | Davis Hanson Waite | |||
9 | Jared L. Brush | January 8, 1895 – January 10, 1899 |
Republican | 1894 | Albert McIntire | |||
1896 | Alva Adams[lower-alpha 2] | |||||||
10 | Francis Patrick Carney | January 10, 1899 – January 8, 1901 |
Populist | 1898 | Charles Spalding Thomas[lower-alpha 2] | |||
11 | David C. Coates | January 8, 1901 – January 13, 1903 |
Democratic | 1900 | James Bradley Orman | |||
12 | Warren A. Haggott | January 13, 1903 – January 10, 1905 |
Republican | 1902 | James Hamilton Peabody | |||
13 | Arthur Cornforth | January 10, 1905 – March 17, 1905 |
Democratic | 1904 [lower-alpha 3] |
Alva Adams | |||
14 | Jesse Fuller McDonald | March 17, 1905 – March 17, 1905 |
Republican | James Hamilton Peabody | ||||
(13) | Arthur Cornforth | March 17, 1905 – July 5, 1905 |
Democratic | Jesse Fuller McDonald | ||||
15 | Fred W. Parks | July 5, 1905 – January 8, 1907 |
Republican | |||||
16 | Erastus Harper | January 8, 1907 – January 12, 1909 |
Republican | 1906 | Henry Augustus Buchtel | |||
17 | Stephen R. Fitzgarrald | January 12, 1909 – January 12, 1915 |
Democratic | 1908 | John F. Shafroth | |||
1910 | ||||||||
1912 | Elias M. Ammons | |||||||
18 | Moses E. Lewis | January 12, 1915 – January 9, 1917 |
Republican | 1914 | George Alfred Carlson | |||
19 | James Pulliam | January 9, 1917 – January 14, 1919 |
Democratic | 1916 | Julius Caldeen Gunter | |||
20 | George Stephan | January 14, 1919 – January 11, 1921 |
Republican | 1918 | Oliver Henry Shoup | |||
21 | Earl Cooley | January 11, 1921 – January 9, 1923 |
Republican | 1920 | ||||
22 | Robert F. Rockwell | January 9, 1923 – January 13, 1925 |
Republican | 1922 | William Ellery Sweet[lower-alpha 2] | |||
23 | Sterling Byrd Lacy | January 13, 1925 – January 11, 1927 |
Democratic | 1924 | Clarence Morley[lower-alpha 4] | |||
24 | George Milton Corlett | January 11, 1927 – January 13, 1931 |
Republican | 1926 | Billy Adams[lower-alpha 2] | |||
1928 | ||||||||
25 | Edwin C. Johnson | January 13, 1931 – January 10, 1933 |
Democratic | 1930 | ||||
26 | Ray Herbert Talbot | January 10, 1933 – January 1, 1937 |
Democratic | 1932 | Edwin C. Johnson | |||
1934 [lower-alpha 5] | ||||||||
— | Vacant | January 1, 1937 – January 12, 1937 |
— | Ray Herbert Talbot | ||||
27 | Frank Hayes | January 12, 1937 – January 10, 1939 |
Democratic | 1936 | Teller Ammons | |||
28 | John Charles Vivian | January 10, 1939 – January 12, 1943 |
Republican | 1938 | Ralph Lawrence Carr | |||
1940 | ||||||||
29 | William Eugene Higby | January 12, 1943 – January 14, 1947 |
Republican | 1942 | John Charles Vivian | |||
1944 | ||||||||
30 | Homer L. Pearson | January 14, 1947 – January 11, 1949 |
Democratic | 1946 | William Lee Knous | |||
31 | Walter Walford Johnson | January 11, 1949 – April 15, 1950 |
Democratic | 1948 [lower-alpha 6] | ||||
32 | Charles P. Murphy | April 15, 1950 – January 9, 1951 |
Republican | Walter Walford Johnson | ||||
33 | Gordon Allott | January 9, 1951 – January 11, 1955 |
Republican | 1950 | Daniel I. J. Thornton | |||
1952 | ||||||||
34 | Stephen McNichols | January 11, 1955 – January 8, 1957 |
Democratic | 1954 | Edwin C. Johnson | |||
35 | Frank L. Hays | January 8, 1957 – January 13, 1959 |
Republican | 1956 | Stephen McNichols | |||
36 | Robert Lee Knous | January 13, 1959 – January 10, 1967 |
Democratic | 1958 | ||||
1962 | John Arthur Love[lower-alpha 4] | |||||||
37 | Mark Anthony Hogan | January 10, 1967 – January 12, 1971 |
Democratic | 1966[lower-alpha 4] | ||||
38 | John D. Vanderhoof | January 12, 1971 – July 16, 1973 |
Republican | 1970 [lower-alpha 7] | ||||
39 | Ted L. Strickland | July 16, 1973 – January 14, 1975 |
Republican | John D. Vanderhoof | ||||
40 | George L. Brown | January 14, 1975 – January 10, 1979 |
Democratic | 1974 | Richard Lamm | |||
41 | Nancy E. Dick | January 10, 1979 – January 13, 1987 |
Democratic | 1978 | ||||
1982 | ||||||||
42 | Mike Callihan | January 13, 1987 – May 10, 1994 |
Democratic | 1986 | Roy Romer | |||
1990 | ||||||||
— | Vacant | May 10, 1994 – May 11, 1994 |
— | |||||
43 | Samuel H. Cassidy | May 11, 1994 – January 3, 1995 |
Democratic | |||||
44 | Gail Schoettler | January 3, 1995 – January 12, 1999 |
Democratic | 1994 | ||||
45 | Joe Rogers | January 12, 1999 – January 14, 2003 |
Republican | 1998 | Bill Owens | |||
46 | Jane E. Norton | January 14, 2003 – January 9, 2007 |
Republican | 2002 | ||||
47 | Barbara O'Brien | January 9, 2007 – January 11, 2011 |
Democratic | 2006 | Bill Ritter | |||
48 | Joseph García | January 11, 2011 – May 12, 2016 |
Democratic | 2010 | John Hickenlooper | |||
2014 [lower-alpha 8] | ||||||||
49 | Donna Lynne | May 12, 2016 – January 8, 2019 |
Democratic | |||||
50 | Dianne Primavera | January 8, 2019 – present |
Democratic | 2018 [lower-alpha 9] |
Jared Polis |
Notes
- Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
- Represented the Democratic Party.
- The 1904 gubernatorial election was rife with fraud and controversy. Adams and Cornforth won election, but soon after Adams took office the Republican legislature declared Peabody to be the actual winner, on the condition that Peabody immediately resign. Since Peabody had been governor for a few moments before resigning, it was his lieutenant governor, McDonald, that succeeded to the governorship. Cornforth, as president pro tempore of the senate, acted as lieutenant governor until the Colorado Supreme Court declared that Parks, who had been elected president pro tempore of the senate on April 3, 1905, was the rightful acting lieutenant governor.[2]
- Represented the Republican Party.
- Johnson resigned and Talbot succeeded him, rendering the office vacant for the remainder of the term.
- Knous resigned and Johnson succeeded him; as president of the senate, Murphy succeeded Johnson.
- Love resigned and Vanderhoof succeeded him; as president of the senate, Strickland succeeded Vanderhoof.
- García resigned to be President of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education; Lynne was nominated and confirmed to succeed him.
- Primavera's second term began on January 10, 2023.
References
- General
- Mike Mauer, Molly Otto, Gay Roesch, "Presidents and Speakers of the Colorado General Assembly." Denver: Colorado Legislative Council, 2013. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-12. Retrieved 2015-08-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Constitutions
- "Constitution of the State of Colorado, as amended, annotated". Michie's Legal Resources. 1876. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
- "Constitution of the State of Colorado" (PDF). Colorado State Archives. 1876. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
- Specific
- Oesterle, Dale A.; Collins, Richard B. (2011). The Colorado State Constitution. Oxford University Press. p. 102. ISBN 9780199778843.
- "Cornforth is Deposed, Parks Lieutenant Governor". New Castle, Colorado: New Castle Nonpareil. July 8, 1905. Retrieved November 28, 2018.