Governor of Mississippi
Seal of Mississippi
Incumbent Tate Reeves since January 14, 2020
Style	Governor (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Status	Head of State Head of Government
Residence	Mississippi Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	David Holmes
Formation	Constitution of Mississippi
Succession	Every four years, unless reelected
Deputy	Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
Salary	$122,160 (2013)[1]
Website	Official website

The governor of Mississippi is the head of the executive branch of Mississippi's state government^[2] and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.^[2] The Governor has a duty to enforce state laws,^[3] and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Mississippi Legislature,^[4] to convene the legislature at any time,^[5] and, except in cases of treason or impeachment, to grant pardons and reprieves.^[6]

To be elected governor, a person must be at least 30 years old, and must have been a citizen of the United States for twenty years and a resident of Mississippi for at least five years at the time of inauguration.^[7] The Constitution of Mississippi, ratified in 1890, calls for a four-year term for the governor, elected since via the two-round system since a 2020 referendum. Prior to this, the governor was elected by an electoral college composed of the districts represented in the Mississippi House of Representatives, with a contingent election held in the House in the event no candidate received a majority of district electors. He or she may be reelected once (prior to a 1987 amendment to the state Constitution, governors were limited to one term).^[2][8] The original Constitution of 1817 had only a two-year term for governor; this was expanded to four years in the 1868 Constitution.^[9] The lieutenant governor is elected at the same time as the governor and serves as president of the Mississippi Senate.^[10] When the office of governor becomes vacant for any reason, the lieutenant governor becomes governor for the remainder of the term.^[11]

The governor of Mississippi also appoints the members of the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees.

History

Since Mississippi became a U.S. state, it has had 64 governors, including 50 Democrats, 7 Republicans and 7 from other parties. Democrats dominated after retaking control of the state legislature; they passed a Constitution in 1890 that disfranchised most African Americans, excluding them from the political system for nearly 70 years, effectively making it a one-party state. The state's longest-serving governor was John M. Stone, who served two terms over ten years (his second term was extended to six years by a transitional provision in the 1890 Constitution).^[12] The shortest-serving governor was James Whitfield, who served ​ months from 1851 to 1852. 10 governors (David Holmes, Gerard Brandon, Charles Lynch, John A. Quitman, John J. Pettus, Adelbert Ames, John Marshall Stone, Theodore G. Bilbo, Dennis Murphree, and Hugh L. White) have served non-consecutive terms. The current governor is Republican Tate Reeves, who took office January 14, 2020.

Governors of the Territory of Mississippi (1798-1817)

• Prior to the Compact of 1802, parts of what is now Mississippi were claimed by the state of Georgia; see List of Governors of Georgia for this period.
• Prior to 1813, the panhandle of Mississippi was part of the Mobile District of the Spanish territory of West Florida; see List of Colonial Governors of Florida.

Political parties

  Democratic-Republican   Federalist

#	Governor			Took office	Left office	Party
1			Winthrop Sargent	May 7, 1798	May 25, 1801	Federalist
2			William C. C. Claiborne	May 25, 1801	March 1, 1805	Democratic-Republican
3			Robert Williams	March 1, 1805	March 7, 1809	Democratic-Republican
4			David Holmes	March 7, 1809	December 10, 1817	Democratic-Republican

Governors of the U.S. state of Mississippi (1817-present)

Political parties

  No party/Provisional   Democratic-Republican   Democratic   Republican   Union Democratic   Whig

#	Governor			Took office	Left office	Party	Lt. Governor		Term	Notes
1			David Holmes	December 10, 1817	January 5, 1820	Democratic-Republican		Duncan Stewart	1	[N 1]
2			George Poindexter	January 5, 1820	January 7, 1822	Democratic-Republican		James Patton	2
3			Walter Leake	January 7, 1822	November 17, 1825	Democratic-Republican		David Dickson	3	[N 2]
								Gerard Brandon	4
4			Gerard Brandon	November 17, 1825	January 7, 1826	Democratic	--			[N 3]
5			David Holmes	January 7, 1826	July 25, 1826	Democratic		Gerard Brandon	5	[N 4]
6			Gerard Brandon	July 25, 1826	January 9, 1832	Democratic	--
								Abram M. Scott	6
									7
7			Abram M. Scott	January 9, 1832	July 12, 1833	National Republican		Fountain Winston[N 5]	8	[N 2]
							--
8			Charles Lynch	July 12, 1833	November 20, 1833	National Republican	--			[N 6]
9			Hiram Runnels	November 20, 1833	November 20, 1835	Democratic	--		9
10			John A. Quitman	December 3, 1835	January 7, 1836	Whig	--			[N 6]
11			Charles Lynch	January 7, 1836	January 8, 1838	Whig	--		10
12			Alexander G. McNutt	January 8, 1838	January 10, 1842	Democratic	--		11
									12
13			Tilghman Tucker	January 10, 1842	January 10, 1844	Democratic	--		13
14			Albert G. Brown	January 10, 1844	January 10, 1848	Democratic	--		14
									15
15			Joseph W. Matthews	January 10, 1848	January 10, 1850	Democratic	--		16
16			John A. Quitman	January 10, 1850	February 3, 1851	Democratic	--		17	[N 7]
17			John Isaac Guion	February 3, 1851	November 4, 1851	Democratic	--			[N 8]
18			James Whitfield	November 24, 1851	January 10, 1852	Democratic	--			[N 9]
19			Henry S. Foote	January 10, 1852	January 5, 1854	Union Democratic	--		18	[N 10]
20			John J. Pettus	January 5, 1854	January 10, 1854	Democratic	--			[N 9]
21			John J. McRae	January 10, 1854	November 16, 1857	Democratic	--		19	[N 11]
									20
22			William McWillie	November 16, 1857	November 21, 1859	Democratic	--		21
23			John J. Pettus	November 21, 1859	November 16, 1863	Democratic	--		22
									23
24			Charles Clark	November 16, 1863	May 22, 1865	Democratic	--		24	[N 12]
25			William L. Sharkey	June 13, 1865	October 16, 1865	Provisional	--			[N 13][N 14]
26			Benjamin G. Humphreys	October 16, 1865	June 15, 1868	Democratic	--			[N 15]
									25
27			Adelbert Ames	June 15, 1868	March 10, 1870	Military	--			[N 13][N 16]
28			James L. Alcorn	March 10, 1870	November 30, 1871	Republican		Ridgley C. Powers	26	[N 17]
29			Ridgley C. Powers	November 30, 1871	January 4, 1874	Republican		Alexander K. Davis[N 18]		[N 19]
30			Adelbert Ames	January 4, 1874	March 29, 1876	Republican			27	[N 20]
31			John M. Stone	March 29, 1876	January 29, 1882	Democratic	--			[N 21]
								William H. Sims	28
32			Robert Lowry	January 2, 1882	January 13, 1890	Democratic		G. D. Shands	29
									30
33			John M. Stone	January 13, 1890	January 20, 1896	Democratic		M. M. Evans	31	[N 22]
34			Anselm J. McLaurin	January 20, 1896	January 16, 1900	Democratic		J. H. Jones	32
35			Andrew H. Longino	January 16, 1900	January 19, 1904	Democratic		James T. Harrison	33
36			James K. Vardaman	January 19, 1904	January 21, 1908	Democratic		John Prentiss Carter	34
37			Edmond Noel	January 21, 1908	January 16, 1912	Democratic		Luther Manship	35
38			Earl L. Brewer	January 16, 1912	January 18, 1916	Democratic		Theodore G. Bilbo	36
39			Theodore G. Bilbo	January 18, 1916	January 18, 1920	Democratic		Lee M. Russell	37
40			Lee M. Russell	January 18, 1920	January 18, 1924	Democratic		Homer H. Casteel	38
41			Henry L. Whitfield	January 22, 1924	March 18, 1927	Democratic		Dennis Murphree	39	[N 2]
42			Dennis Murphree	March 18, 1927	January 16, 1928	Democratic	--			[N 19]
43			Theodore G. Bilbo	January 16, 1928	January 19, 1932	Democratic		Cayton B. Adam	40
44			Martin Sennet Conner	January 19, 1932	January 21, 1936	Democratic		Dennis Murphree	41
45			Hugh L. White	January 21, 1936	January 16, 1940	Democratic		Jacob Buehler Snider	42
46			Paul B. Johnson Sr.	January 16, 1940	December 26, 1943	Democratic		Dennis Murphree	43	[N 2]
47			Dennis Murphree	December 26, 1943	January 18, 1944	Democratic	--			[N 19]
48			Thomas L. Bailey	January 18, 1944	November 2, 1946	Democratic		Fielding L. Wright	44	[N 2]
49/50[N 23]			Fielding L. Wright	November 2, 1946	January 22, 1952	Democratic	--			[N 24]
								Sam Lumpkin	45
51			Hugh L. White	January 22, 1952	January 17, 1956	Democratic		Carroll Gartin	46
52			James P. Coleman	January 17, 1956	January 19, 1960	Democratic			47
53			Ross Barnett	January 19, 1960	January 21, 1964	Democratic		Paul B. Johnson, Jr.	48
54			Paul B. Johnson Jr.	January 21, 1964	January 16, 1968	Democratic		Carroll Gartin	49
							--
55			John Bell Williams	January 16, 1968	January 18, 1972	Democratic		Charles L. Sullivan	50
56			William Waller	January 18, 1972	January 20, 1976	Democratic		William F. Winter	51
57			Cliff Finch	January 20, 1976	January 22, 1980	Democratic		Evelyn Gandy	52
58			William Winter	January 22, 1980	January 10, 1984	Democratic		Brad Dye	53
59			William Allain	January 10, 1984	January 12, 1988	Democratic			54
60			Ray Mabus	January 12, 1988	January 14, 1992	Democratic			55
61			Kirk Fordice	January 14, 1992	January 11, 2000	Republican		Eddie Briggs	56
								Ronnie Musgrove	57
62			Ronnie Musgrove	January 11, 2000	January 13, 2004	Democratic		Amy Tuck[N 25]	58
63			Haley Barbour	January 13, 2004	January 10, 2012	Republican			59
								Phil Bryant	60
64			Phil Bryant	January 10, 2012	January 14, 2020	Republican		Tate Reeves	61
									62
65			Tate Reeves	January 14, 2020	Incumbent	Republican		Delbert Hosemann	63

Succession

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional, confederate, other governorships, and other federal offices held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Mississippi except where noted. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Living former Governors of Mississippi

As of December 2020^[update], there are four living former Mississippi governors, the oldest Governor of Mississippi being Haley Barbour (served 2004-2012, born 1947). The most recent Governor of Mississippi to die was William Winter (served 1980-1984, born 1923) on December 18, 2020. The most recently serving governor of Mississippi to die was Kirk Fordice (served 1992-2000) on September 7, 2004.

See also

• Mississippi
• List of Lieutenant Governors of Mississippi

Notes

References

General

Constitutions

Specific