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
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