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Governor of Idaho
Great Seal of the State of Idaho
Incumbent Brad Little since January 7, 2019
Residence	The Idaho House
Term length	Four years, no term limit
Inaugural holder	George L. Shoup
Formation	October 1, 1890
Deputy	Brad Little
Salary	$117,000 (2013)[1]
Website	gov.idaho.gov

The Governor of Idaho is the head of the executive branch of Idaho's state government^[2] and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.^[3] The governor has the duty to see state laws are executed, power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Idaho Legislature.^[3]

Idaho Territory had 16 territorial governors appointed by the President of the United States from the territory's organization in 1863 until the formation of the state of Idaho in 1890. Four of these never took office, resigning before reaching the territory.

Thirty-one individuals have held the office of governor of Idaho since the state's admission to the Union in 1890, two of whom—C. A. Bottolfsen and Cecil Andrus—served non-consecutive terms. The state's first governor, George L. Shoup, had the shortest term of three months, and Cecil Andrus served as governor the longest at 14 years. Four governors resigned, but none have died while in office. The current governor is Republican Brad Little, who took office on January 7, 2019.

Governors

Governors of the Territory of Idaho

Idaho Territory was created from Dakota Territory, Nebraska Territory, and Washington Territory on March 4, 1863.^[4]

Due to the long distance between Washington, D.C. and Boise, there was often a lengthy gap between a governor being appointed and his arrival in the territory; four resigned before even arriving.

Governors of the Territory of Idaho

No.	Governor		Term in office	Appointed by	Notes
1		William H. Wallace	July 1863[5][6] – December 1863[5]	Abraham Lincoln	[a]
2		Caleb Lyon	August 1, 1864[5][6] – April 1866[8]
3		David W. Ballard	June 14, 1866[9] – July 1870[10]	Andrew Johnson
—		Samuel Bard	Appointed March 30, 1870[11]	Ulysses S. Grant	[b]
—		Gilman Marston	Appointed June 7, 1870[11]		[c]
—		Alexander H. Conner	Appointed January 12, 1871[11]		[d]
4		Thomas M. Bowen	July 1871[12] – August 15, 1871[12]		[e]
5		Thomas W. Bennett	December 1871[13] – December 4, 1875[14]		[f]
6		David P. Thompson	April 1876[16] – May 1876[16]		[g]
7		Mason Brayman	July 1876[17] – July 24, 1880[18]		[h]
—		John Philo Hoyt	Appointed June 8, 1878[20] Appointed August 7, 1878[21]	Rutherford B. Hayes	[i]
8		John Baldwin Neil	August 3, 1880[22] – March 2, 1883[23]
9		John N. Irwin	April 1883[24] – December 20, 1883[24]	Chester A. Arthur	[j]
10		William M. Bunn	June 26, 1884[26] – July 3, 1885[27]		[k]
11		Edward A. Stevenson	September 29, 1885[28] – April 1, 1889[29]	Grover Cleveland
12		George L. Shoup	April 30, 1889[30] – July 3, 1890	Benjamin Harrison

Governors of the State of Idaho

Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890. Since then, the state has had 32 governors, two of whom served non-consecutive terms. The terms for governor and lieutenant governor are four years, commencing on the first Monday in the January following the election. Prior to 1946, the offices were elected to terms of two years.^[31] If the office of governor is vacant or the governor is out of state or unable to discharge his duties, the lieutenant governor acts as governor until such time as the disability is removed.^[32] If both the offices of governor and lieutenant governor are vacant or both those officers are unable to fulfill their duties, the President pro tempore of the Idaho Senate is next in line, and then the Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives.^[33] After the change to four-year terms, self-succession (re-election) was not initially allowed; newly elected Governor Robert E. Smylie, formerly the state's attorney general, successfully lobbied the 1955 legislature to propose an amendment to the state constitution to allow gubernatorial re-election, which was approved by voters in the 1956 general election.^[34][35] There is no limit to the number of terms a governor may serve.^[36]

Governors of the State of Idaho

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor[l]
1			George L. Shoup	October 1, 1890 – December 18, 1890 (resigned)[m]	Republican	1890		N. B. Willey
2			N. B. Willey	December 18, 1890 – January 2, 1893 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Lieutenant Governor acting as Governor		John S. Gray
3			William J. McConnell	January 2, 1893 – January 4, 1897 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1892		F. B. Willis
						1894		F. J. Mills
4			Frank Steunenberg	January 4, 1897 – January 7, 1901 (not candidate for election)	Democratic[n]	1896		George F. Moore[n]
						1898		J. H. Hutchinson[n]
5			Frank W. Hunt	January 7, 1901 – January 5, 1903 (lost election)	Democratic	1900		Thomas F. Terrell
6			John T. Morrison	January 5, 1903 – January 2, 1905 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1902		James M. Stevens
7			Frank R. Gooding	January 2, 1905 – January 4, 1909 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1904		Burpee L. Steeves
						1906		Ezra A. Burrell
8			James H. Brady	January 4, 1909 – January 2, 1911 (lost election)	Republican	1908		Lewis H. Sweetser
9			James H. Hawley	January 2, 1911 – January 6, 1913 (lost election)	Democratic	1910
10			John M. Haines	January 6, 1913 – January 4, 1915 (lost election)	Republican	1912		Herman H. Taylor[o]
11			Moses Alexander	January 4, 1915 – January 6, 1919 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1914
						1916		Ernest L. Parker
12			D. W. Davis	January 6, 1919 – January 1, 1923 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1918		Charles C. Moore
						1920
13			Charles C. Moore	January 1, 1923 – January 3, 1927 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1922		H. C. Baldridge
						1924
14			H. C. Baldridge	January 3, 1927 – January 5, 1931 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1926		O. E. Hailey
						1928		W. B. Kinne (died October 1, 1929)
							Vacant
								O. E. Hailey (appointed October 25, 1929)
15			C. Ben Ross	January 5, 1931 – January 4, 1937 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1930		G. P. Mix
						1932		George Hill
						1934		G. P. Mix
16			Barzilla W. Clark	January 4, 1937 – January 2, 1939 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1936		Charles C. Gossett
17			C. A. Bottolfsen	January 2, 1939 – January 6, 1941 (lost election)	Republican	1938		Donald S. Whitehead
18			Chase A. Clark	January 6, 1941 – January 4, 1943 (lost election)	Democratic	1940		Charles C. Gossett
19			C. A. Bottolfsen	January 4, 1943 – January 1, 1945 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1942		Edwin Nelson
20			Charles C. Gossett	January 1, 1945 – November 17, 1945 (resigned)[p]	Democratic	1944		Arnold Williams
21			Arnold Williams	November 17, 1945 – January 6, 1947 (lost election)	Democratic	Lieutenant Governor acting as Governor	Vacant
								A. R. McCabe (appointed March 20, 1946)
22			C. A. Robins	January 6, 1947 – January 1, 1951 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1946 [q]		Donald S. Whitehead
23			Leonard B. Jordan	January 1, 1951 – January 3, 1955 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1950		Edson H. Deal
24			Robert E. Smylie	January 3, 1955 – January 2, 1967 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1954		J. Berkeley Larsen
						1958		W. E. Drevlow[r]
						1962
25			Don Samuelson	January 2, 1967 – January 4, 1971 (lost election)	Republican	1966		Jack M. Murphy[o]
26			Cecil Andrus	January 4, 1971 – January 24, 1977 (resigned)[s]	Democratic	1970
						1974		John V. Evans
27			John V. Evans	January 24, 1977 – January 5, 1987 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	Lieutenant Governor acting as Governor	Vacant
								William J. Murphy (appointed January 28, 1977)
						1978		Phil Batt[o]
						1982		David H. Leroy[o]
28			Cecil Andrus	January 5, 1987 – January 2, 1995 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1986		Butch Otter[o] (resigned January 3, 2001)
						1990
29			Phil Batt	January 2, 1995 – January 4, 1999 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1994
30			Dirk Kempthorne	January 4, 1999 – May 26, 2006 (resigned)[t]	Republican	1998
							Vacant
								Jack Riggs (appointed January 30, 2001)
						2002		Jim Risch
31			Jim Risch	May 26, 2006 – January 1, 2007 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Lieutenant Governor acting as Governor	Vacant
								Mark Ricks (appointed June 15, 2006)
32			Butch Otter	January 1, 2007 – January 7, 2019 (not candidate for election)	Republican	2006		Jim Risch (resigned January 3, 2009)
							Vacant
								Brad Little (appointed January 6, 2009)
						2010
						2014
33			Brad Little	January 7, 2019 – present[u]	Republican	2018		Janice McGeachin

Notes

References

General

Constitution

Specific

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of Idaho.

• Office of the Governor of Idaho