List of governors of Michigan

Michigan was part of New France until the Treaty of Paris transferred ownership of the region to Great Britain. During the period of French rule, it was governed by the Lieutenants General of New France until 1627, the Governors of New France from 1627 to 1663, and the Governors General of New France until the transfer to Great Britain. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, ceded the territory that is now Michigan to the United States as part of the end of the Revolutionary War, but Britain did not release the territory to the United States until 1796 (Lower Peninsula), 1818 (Upper Peninsula) and 1827 (Drummond Island). During the period of British rule, their governors administered the area as part of the territorial holdings of British Indian Reserve, 1763-1774; Quebec, 1774-1791, and Lower Canada (Ontario), from 1791.[8]

Prior to becoming a separate territory in 1805, Michigan was administered as part of the Northwest Territory, 1789-1800; then divided between the Ohio Country and the new Indiana Territory, 1800-1803 (when the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula was transferred to Indiana upon Ohio achieving statehood). On June 30, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was created, with General William Hull as the first territorial governor.[8][9] Originally, the territory included only the Lower Peninsula and eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula. The rest of the Upper Peninsula remained part of Indiana Territory until creation of Illinois Territory in 1809. The entire Upper Peninsula was not attached to Michigan Territory until Illinois became a state in 1818, Indiana having become a state in 1816.

Governors of the Territory of Michigan

Governors of the Territory of Michigan

No.	Governor		Term in office	Appointed by
1		William Hull	March 1, 1805 – October 29, 1813	Thomas Jefferson
2		Lewis Cass	October 29, 1813 – August 6, 1831	James Madison
3		George Bryan Porter	August 6, 1831 – July 6, 1834[lower-alpha 1]	Andrew Jackson
–		Stevens T. Mason	July 6, 1834[lower-alpha 1] – September 19, 1835	—
4		John S. Horner	September 19, 1835 – July 3, 1836[lower-alpha 2]	Andrew Jackson

Governors of the State of Michigan

Michigan was admitted to the Union on January 26, 1837. The original 1835 Constitution of Michigan provided for the election of a governor and a lieutenant governor every 2 years.[12] The fourth and current constitution of 1963 increased this term to four years.[13] There was no term limit on governors until a constitutional amendment effective in 1993 limited governors to two terms.[14]

Should the office of governor become vacant, the lieutenant governor becomes governor, followed in order of succession by the Secretary of State and the Attorney General.[15] Prior to the current constitution, the duties of the office would devolve upon the lieutenant governor, without that person actually becoming governor.[16] The term begins at noon on January 1 of the year following the election.[17] Prior to the 1963 constitution, the governor and lieutenant governor were elected through separate votes, allowing them to be from different parties. In 1963, this was changed, so that votes are cast jointly for a governor and lieutenant governor of the same party.[13][18]

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor[lower-alpha 3]
1			Stevens T. Mason	November 3, 1835 – January 7, 1840	Democratic	1835 [lower-alpha 2]		Edward Mundy
						1837
2			William Woodbridge	January 7, 1840 – February 23, 1841	Whig	1839 [lower-alpha 4]		James Wright Gordon
3			James Wright Gordon	February 23, 1841 – January 3, 1842	Whig	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Thomas J. Drake
4			John S. Barry	January 3, 1842 – January 5, 1846	Democratic	1841		Origen D. Richardson
						1843
5			Alpheus Felch	January 5, 1846 – March 3, 1847	Democratic	1845 [lower-alpha 5]		William L. Greenly
6			William L. Greenly	March 4, 1847 – January 3, 1848	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Charles P. Bush
7			Epaphroditus Ransom	January 3, 1848 – January 7, 1850	Democratic	1847		William M. Fenton
8			John S. Barry	January 7, 1850 – January 1, 1852	Democratic	1849
9			Robert McClelland	January 1, 1852 – March 7, 1853	Democratic	1851 [lower-alpha 6]		Calvin Britain
						1852 [lower-alpha 7]		Andrew Parsons
10			Andrew Parsons	March 8, 1853 – January 3, 1855	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		George Griswold
11			Kinsley S. Bingham	January 3, 1855 – January 5, 1859	Republican	1854		George Coe
						1856
12			Moses Wisner	January 5, 1859 – January 2, 1861	Republican	1858		Edmund Burke Fairfield
13			Austin Blair	January 2, 1861 – January 3, 1865	Republican	1860		James M. Birney (resigned April 3, 1861)
								Joseph R. Williams (died June 15, 1861)
								Henry T. Backus
						1862		Charles S. May
14			Henry H. Crapo	January 3, 1865 – January 6, 1869	Republican	1864		Ebenezer O. Grosvenor
						1866		Dwight May
15			Henry P. Baldwin	January 6, 1869 – January 1, 1873	Republican	1868		Morgan Bates
						1870
16			John J. Bagley	January 1, 1873 – January 3, 1877	Republican	1872		Henry H. Holt
						1874
17			Charles Croswell	January 3, 1877 – January 1, 1881	Republican	1876		Alonzo Sessions
						1878
18			David Jerome	January 1, 1881 – January 1, 1883	Republican	1880		Moreau S. Crosby[lower-alpha 8]
19			Josiah Begole	January 1, 1883 – January 1, 1885	Democratic	1882
20			Russell A. Alger	January 1, 1885 – January 1, 1887	Republican	1884		Archibald Buttars
21			Cyrus G. Luce	January 1, 1887 – January 1, 1891	Republican	1886		James H. MacDonald
						1888		William Ball
22			Edwin B. Winans	January 1, 1891 – January 1, 1893	Democratic	1890		John Strong
23			John Treadway Rich	January 1, 1893 – January 1, 1897	Republican	1892		J. Wight Giddings
						1894		Alfred Milnes (resigned June 1, 1895)
								Joseph R. McLaughlin
24			Hazen S. Pingree	January 1, 1897 – January 1, 1901	Republican	1896		Thomas B. Dunstan
						1898		Orrin W. Robinson
25			Aaron T. Bliss	January 1, 1901 – January 1, 1905	Republican	1900
						1902		Alexander Maitland
26			Fred M. Warner	January 1, 1905 – January 2, 1911	Republican	1904
						1906		Patrick H. Kelley
						1908
27			Chase Osborn	January 2, 1911 – January 1, 1913	Republican	1910		John Q. Ross[lower-alpha 8]
28			Woodbridge N. Ferris	January 1, 1913 – January 1, 1917	Democratic	1912
						1914		Luren Dickinson[lower-alpha 8]
29			Albert Sleeper	January 1, 1917 – January 1, 1921	Republican	1916
						1918
30			Alex J. Groesbeck	January 1, 1921 – January 1, 1927	Republican	1920		Thomas Read
						1922
						1924		George W. Welsh
31			Fred W. Green	January 1, 1927 – January 1, 1931	Republican	1926		Luren Dickinson
						1928
32			Wilber M. Brucker	January 1, 1931 – January 1, 1933	Republican	1930
33			William Comstock	January 1, 1933 – January 1, 1935	Democratic	1932		Allen E. Stebbins
34			Frank Fitzgerald	January 1, 1935 – January 1, 1937	Republican	1934		Thomas Read
35			Frank Murphy	January 1, 1937 – January 1, 1939	Democratic	1936		Leo J. Nowicki
36			Frank Fitzgerald	January 1, 1939 – March 16, 1939	Republican	1938 [lower-alpha 9]		Luren Dickinson
37			Luren Dickinson	March 16, 1939 – January 1, 1941	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Matilda Dodge Wilson
38			Murray Van Wagoner	January 1, 1941 – January 1, 1943	Democratic	1940		Frank Murphy
39			Harry Kelly	January 1, 1943 – January 1, 1947	Republican	1942		Eugene C. Keyes
						1944		Vernon J. Brown
40			Kim Sigler	January 1, 1947 – January 1, 1949	Republican	1946		Eugene C. Keyes
41			G. Mennen Williams	January 1, 1949 – January 1, 1961	Democratic	1948		John W. Connolly
						1950		William C. Vandenberg[lower-alpha 8]
						1952		Clarence A. Reid[lower-alpha 8]
						1954		Philip Hart
						1956
						1958		John Swainson
42			John Swainson	January 1, 1961 – January 1, 1963	Democratic	1960		T. John Lesinski[lower-alpha 10]
43			George W. Romney	January 1, 1963 – January 22, 1969	Republican	1962
						1964		William Milliken
						1966 [lower-alpha 11][lower-alpha 12]
44			William Milliken	January 22, 1969 – January 1, 1983	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Thomas F. Schweigert
						1970		James H. Brickley
						1974		James Damman
						1978		James H. Brickley
45			James Blanchard	January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1991	Democratic	1982		Martha Griffiths
						1986
46			John Engler	January 1, 1991 – January 1, 2003	Republican	1990		Connie Binsfeld
						1994
						1998		Dick Posthumus
47			Jennifer Granholm	January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2011	Democratic	2002		John D. Cherry
						2006
48			Rick Snyder	January 1, 2011 – January 1, 2019	Republican	2010		Brian Calley
						2014
49			Gretchen Whitmer	January 1, 2019 – Incumbent[lower-alpha 13]	Democratic	2018		Garlin Gilchrist

Several governors also held other high positions within the state and federal governments. Eight governors served as U.S. House of Representatives members, while seven held positions in the U.S. Senate, all representing Michigan. Others have served as ambassadors, U.S. Cabinet members, and state and federal Supreme Court justices.

* Denotes those offices for which the governor resigned the governorship.

As of November 2022, there are four living former governors of Michigan. The most recent death of a former governor was that of William Milliken (served 1969-83) on October 18, 2019, aged 97. Milliken was also the most recently serving governor of Michigan to have died. The state's living former governors are:

General

• "Former Governor Biographies: Michigan". National Governors Association. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
• "Chronology of Michigan History" (PDF). Michigan Manual 2003–2004. Michigan Legislative Council. Retrieved January 2, 2013.

Constitutions

• "Constitution of 1835". Michigan Legislative Council. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
• "Constitution of 1850". Michigan Legislative Council. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
• "Constitution of 1908". Michigan Legislative Council. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
• "Constitution of 1963". Michigan Legislative Council. Retrieved January 3, 2013.

Specific