List of Ohio Governors - The History Junkie

Ohio became the 17th state of the union in 1803 during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Prior to statehood, it had been part of the Northwest Territories and governed or overseen by military leaders.

The first was Revolutionary War General Arthur St. Clair, who was a staunch Federalist. St. Clair had intentions of creating two new states that would help the Federalists maintain power in the electoral system. However, he would be replaced, and Charles W. Byrd was put in place the final year before statehood.

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Powers
Succession
Term Limits
FAQs of Ohio Governors

After Byrd was put into place and Ohio achieved statehood, the Democratic-Republicans won its first gubernatorial election when Edward Tiffin (the city of Tiffin, Ohio, is named after him) became the first of the Ohio Governors.

The Democratic-Republicans would control the governorship from 1803 - 1826. After 1826, the state would flip back and forth.

Ohio would be considered a swing state for many years, especially during the 20th century. However, the state has voted Republican after the governorship of Ted Strickland, which ended in 2011.

Powers

The governor is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard.

The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Ohio State Legislature, the power to convene the legislature, and the power to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.

Other duties and privileges of the office include:

Executing all laws and requiring written information on any office from the head of that office
Making an annual address to the General Assembly with recommendations for legislation
Convening extraordinary sessions of the legislature with limited purposes
Adjourning the legislature when the two chambers cannot agree to do so themselves, not to include the privilege of adjourning the legislature past the sine die set for the regular session
Keeping and using "The Great Seal of the State of Ohio"
Signing and sealing all commissions granted in the name of the state of Ohio
Nominating, in the event of a vacancy in the Lieutenant Governor's office, a new officer, subject to a confirmatory vote of both chambers of the legislature
Making vacancy appointments for all "key state officers" (the Auditor, the Treasurer, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General. Such appointments are for the remainder of the term when the next general election is less than 40 days away and until the next general election otherwise
Accepting a report from the head of each executive department at least once a year, not later than five days before the regular session of the legislature convenes, and including the substance of those reports in the annual address to the legislature
Making all appointments not otherwise provided for, with the advice and consent of the Senate, unless the Senate refuses to act, in which case the Governor's appointee takes offices by default

Succession

If one of the Ohio Governors died, resigned, or was convicted of impeachment, the lieutenant governor would then assume the office of governor. This has occurred many times in Ohio history.

If the lieutenant governor's office also became vacant, then the governship would fall to the president of the senate.

If both offices become vacant, then a special election will take place.

Since 1978, the governor and lieutenant governor have been elected on the same ticket; prior to then, they could be members of different parties. This was usually the case prior to the change.

Term Limits

Ohio's first constitution was ratified in 1803 and allowed governors to serve two three-year terms, limited to six of any eight years commencing on the first Monday in December following an election.

The constitution was amended in 1851 to remove the term limit and shift the start of the term to the second Monday in January following an election.

In 1908, Ohio made another change to its gubernatorial elections when it switched from holding elections in odd-numbered years to even-numbered years. This would stagger the elections to be held two years after a presidential election.

In 1957, the constitution was amended to lengthen the term to four years. Governors were allowed to run for re-election once and then were required to wait four years after their second term in a row to run again.

	NAME	PARTY	COUNTY	YEARS
	Arthur St. Clair	Military		1788 - 1802
	Charles W. Byrd	Democratic-Republican		1802 - 1803
1	Edward Tiffin	Democratic-Republican	Ross	1803 - 1807
2	Thomas Kirker	Democratic-Republican	Adams	1807 - 1808
3	Samuel Huntington	Democratic-Republican	Trumbull	1808 - 1810
4	Return J. Meigs Jr.	Democratic-Republican	Washington	1810 - 1814
5	Othniel Looker	Democratic-Republican	Hamilton	1814
6	Thomas Worthington	Democratic-Republican	Ross	1814 - 1818
7	Ethan Allen Brown	Democratic-Republican	Hamilton	1818 - 1822
8	Allen Trimble	Federalist	Highland	1822
9	Jeremiah Morrow	Democratic-Republican	Warren	1822 - 1826
10	Allen Trimble	Federalist	Highland	1826 - 1830
11	Duncan McArthur	Federalist	Ross	1830 -1832
12	Robert Lucas	Democratic-Republican	Pike	1832 - 1836
13	Joseph Vance	Whig	Champaign	1836 - 1838
14	Wilson Shannon	Democrat	Belmont	1838 - 1840
15	Thomas Corwin	Whig	Warren	1840 - 1842
16	Wilson Shannon	Democrat	Belmont	1842 - 1844
17	Thomas W. Bartley	Democrat	Richland	1844
18	Mordecai Bartley	Whig	Richland	1844 - 1846
19	William Bebb	Whig	Butler	1846 - 1848
20	Seabury Ford	Whig	Geauga	1848 - 1850
21	Reuben Wood	Democrat	Cuyahoga	1850 - 1853
22	William Medill	Democrat	Fairfield	1853 - 1856
23	Samuel P. Chase	Republican	Hamilton	1856 - 1860
24	William Dennison Jr.	Republican	Franklin	1860 - 1862
25	David Tod	Republican	Mahoning	1862- 1864
26	Jon Brough	Republican	Cuyahoga	1864 - 1865
27	Charles Anderson	Republican	Montgomery	1865 - 1866
28	Jacob Dolson Cox	Republican	Hamilton	1866 - 1868
29	Rutherford B. Hayes	Republican	Hamilton	1868 - 1872
30	Edward F. Noyes	Republican	Hamilton	1872 - 1874
31	William Allen	Democrat	Ross	1874 - 1876
32	Rutherford B. Hayes	Republican	Sandusky	1876 - 1877
33	Thomas L. Young	Republican	Hamilton	1877 - 1878
34	Richard M. Bishop	Democrat	Hamilton	1878 - 1880
35	Charles Foster	Republican	Seneca	1880 - 1884
36	George Hoadly	Democrat	Hamilton	1884 - 1886
37	Joseph B. Foraker	Republican	Hamilton	1886 - 1890
38	James E. Campbell	Democrat	Butler	1890 - 1892
39	William McKinley	Republican	Stark	1892 - 1896
40	Asa Bushnell	Republican	Clark	1896 -1900
41	George K. Nash	Republican	Medina	1900 - 1904
42	Myron T. Herrick	Republican	Lorain	1904 - 1906
43	John M. Pattison	Democrat	Clermont	1906
44	Andrew L. Harris	Republican	Preble	1906 - 1909
45	Judson Harmon	Democrat	Hamilton	1909 - 1913
46	James M. Cox	Democrat	Montgomery	1913 - 1915
47	Frank B. Willis	Republican	Delaware	1915 - 1917
48	James M. Cox	Democrat	Montgomery	1917 - 1921
49	Harry L. Davis	Republican	Cuyahoga	1921 - 1923
50	A. Victor Donahey	Democrat	Tuscarawas	1923 - 1929
51	Myers Y. Cooper	Republican	Hamilton	1929 - 1931
52	George White	Democrat	Washington	1931 - 1935
53	Martin L. Davey	Democrat	Portage	1935 - 1939
54	John W. Bricker	Republican	Franklin	1939 - 1945
55	Frank Lausche	Democrat	Cuyahoga	1945 - 1947
56	Thomas J. Herbert	Republican	Cuyahoga	1947 - 1949
57	Frank Lausche	Democrat	Cuyahoga	1949 - 1957
58	John W. Brown	Republican	Medina	1957
59	C. William O'Neil	Republican	Washington	1957 - 1959
60	Michael Disalle	Democrat	Lucas	1959 - 1963
61	James Rhodes	Republican	Franklin	1963 - 1971
62	John Gilligan	Democrat	Hamilton	1971 - 1975
63	Jim Rhodes	Republican	Franklin	1975 - 1983
64	Richard Celeste	Democrat	Cuyahoga	1983 - 1991
65	George Voinovich	Republican	Cuyahoga	1991 - 1998
66	Nancy Hollister	Republican	Washington	1998 - 1999
67	Bob Taft	Republican	Franklin	1999 - 2007
68	Ted Strickland	Democrat	Scioto	2007 - 2011
69	John Kasich	Republican	Delaware	2011 - 2019
70	Mike DeWine	Republican	Greene	2019 - Present