List of governors of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania was one of the original Thirteen Colonies and was admitted as a state on December 12, 1787.^[6] Before it declared its independence, Pennsylvania was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Presidents of the Supreme Executive Council

The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 created the Supreme Executive Council as the state's executive branch, with a president as its head.^[7] The president was chosen annually by the council, though with no specific term dates.^[8]

The constitution created the position of "vice-president", though no provision was made if the office of the president became vacant, which occurred four times later. Contemporary sources continue to label the chief executive in such times as the vice-president, without any notion of succeeding in the presidency. One acting president, George Bryan, was subsequently recognized later as a full-fledged governor, due to his acting as president for over six months.

Presidents of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania

No.	President		Term in office	Vice-President
1		Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735–1778) [9]	March 5, 1777[10] – May 23, 1778 (died in office)	George Bryan
2		George Bryan (1731–1791) [11]	May 23, 1778[10] – December 22, 1778 (left office)	acting as president[a]
3		Joseph Reed (1741–1785) [12]	December 22, 1778[10] – November 15, 1781 (term-limited)[b]	George Bryan (resigned October 11, 1779)
				Matthew Smith (resigned November 15, 1779)
				William Moore
4		William Moore (1735–1793) [15]	November 15, 1781[10] – November 7, 1782 (left office)	James Potter
5		John Dickinson (1732–1808) [16]	November 7, 1782[10] – October 18, 1785 (term-limited)[b]	James Ewing
				James Irvine (resigned October 10, 1785)
				Charles Biddle
6		Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) [17]	October 18, 1785[10] – November 5, 1788 (term-limited)[b]
				Peter Muhlenberg (resigned October 14, 1788)
				David Redick
7		Thomas Mifflin (1744–1800) [18][19]	November 5, 1788[10] – December 21, 1790 (became state governor)	George Ross

Governors of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

The 1790 constitution abolished the council and replaced the president with a governor,^[20] and established a three-year term for governor commencing on the third Tuesday of the December following the election, with governors not allowed to serve more than nine out of any twelve years.^[21] The 1838 constitution moved the start of the term to the third Tuesday of the January following the election, and allowed governors to only serve six out of any nine years.^[22] The 1874 constitution lengthened the term to four years, and prohibited governors from succeeding themselves.^[23] The current constitution of 1968 changed this to allow governors to serve two consecutive terms, with no lifetime limit.^[24]

Under the 1968 constitution, Milton Shapp was the first governor to serve two terms, and Tom Corbett was the first incumbent governor to lose a re-election bid.

If the office of governor becomes vacant through death, resignation, or conviction on impeachment, the lieutenant governor becomes governor for the remainder of the term; if the office is only temporarily vacant due to disability of the governor, the lieutenant governor only acts out the duties of governor.^[25] Should both offices be vacant, the president pro tempore of the state senate becomes governor.^[26] The position of a lieutenant governor was created in the 1874 constitution; prior to then, the speaker of the senate would act as governor in cases of vacancy. Originally, the lieutenant governor could only act as governor; it was not until the 1968 constitution that the lieutenant governor could actually become the sitting governor in that fashion. The office of governor has been vacant for an extended period once before, a 17-day gap in 1848 between the resignation of the previous governor and the swearing in of his acting successor. Governors and lieutenant governors are elected on the same political party ticket.^[27]

Governors of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor[c][d]
1			Thomas Mifflin (1744–1800) [18][19]	December 21, 1790[28] – December 17, 1799 (term-limited)[e]	None[f]	1790	Office did not exist
					Democratic- Republican[31]	1793
						1796
2			Thomas McKean (1734–1817) [32][33]	December 17, 1799[34] – December 20, 1808 (term-limited)[e]	Democratic- Republican[g]	1799
						1802
						1805
3			Simon Snyder (1759–1819) [37][38]	December 20, 1808[39] – December 16, 1817 (term-limited)[e]	Democratic- Republican[40]	1808
						1811
						1814
4			William Findlay (1768–1846) [41][42]	December 16, 1817[43] – December 19, 1820 (lost election)	Democratic- Republican[40]	1817
5			Joseph Hiester (1752–1832) [44][45]	December 19, 1820[46] – December 16, 1823 (did not run)	Democratic- Republican[h]	1820
6			John Andrew Shulze (1775–1852) [48][49]	December 16, 1823[50] – December 15, 1829 (did not run)	Democratic- Republican[40]	1823
						1826
7			George Wolf (1777–1840) [51][52]	December 15, 1829[53] – December 15, 1835 (lost election)	Democratic- Republican[40]	1829
						1832
8			Joseph Ritner (1780–1869) [54][55]	December 15, 1835[56] – January 15, 1839 (lost election)	Anti-Masonic[40]	1835
9			David R. Porter (1788–1867) [57][58]	January 15, 1839[59] – January 21, 1845 (term-limited)[i]	Democratic[40]	1838
						1841
10			Francis R. Shunk (1788–1848) [61][62]	January 21, 1845[63] – July 9, 1848 (resigned)[j]	Democratic[40]	1844
						1847
11			William F. Johnston (1808–1872) [64][65]	July 9, 1848[k] – January 20, 1852 (lost election)	Whig[40]	Speaker of the Senate acting
						1848
12			William Bigler (1814–1880) [69][70]	January 20, 1852[71] – January 16, 1855 (lost election)	Democratic[40]	1851
13			James Pollock (1810–1890) [72][73]	January 16, 1855[74] – January 19, 1858 (did not run)[72]	Whig[l]	1854
14			William F. Packer (1807–1870) [75][76]	January 19, 1858[77] – January 15, 1861 (did not run)	Democratic[40]	1857
15			Andrew Gregg Curtin (d. 1894) [78][79]	January 15, 1861[80] – January 15, 1867 (term-limited)[i]	Republican[40]	1860
						1863
16			John W. Geary (1819–1873) [81][82]	January 15, 1867[83] – January 21, 1873 (term-limited)[i]	Republican[40]	1866
						1869
17			John F. Hartranft (1830–1889) [84][85]	January 21, 1873[86] – January 21, 1879 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1872
						1875		John Latta
18			Henry M. Hoyt (1830–1892) [88][89]	January 21, 1879[90] – January 16, 1883 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1878		Charles Warren Stone
19			Robert E. Pattison (1850–1904) [91][92]	January 16, 1883[93] – January 18, 1887 (term-limited)[m]	Democratic[40]	1882		Chauncey Forward Black
20			James A. Beaver (1837–1914) [94][95]	January 18, 1887[96] – January 20, 1891 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1886		William T. Davies
19			Robert E. Pattison (1850–1904) [91][92]	January 20, 1891[97] – January 15, 1895 (term-limited)[m]	Democratic[40]	1890		Louis Arthur Watres
21			Daniel H. Hastings (1849–1903) [98][99]	January 15, 1895[100] – January 17, 1899 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1894		Walter Lyon
22			William A. Stone (1846–1920) [101][102]	January 17, 1899[103] – January 20, 1903 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1898		John P. S. Gobin
23			Samuel W. Pennypacker (1843–1916) [104][105]	January 20, 1903[106] – January 15, 1907 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1902		William M. Brown
24			Edwin Sydney Stuart (1853–1937) [107][108]	January 15, 1907[109] – January 17, 1911 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1906		Robert S. Murphy
25			John K. Tener (1863–1946) [110][111]	January 17, 1911[112] – January 19, 1915 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1910		John Merriman Reynolds
26			Martin Grove Brumbaugh (1862–1930) [113][114]	January 19, 1915[115] – January 21, 1919 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1914		Frank B. McClain
27			William Cameron Sproul (1870–1928) [116][117]	January 21, 1919[118] – January 16, 1923 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1918		Edward E. Beidleman
28			Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946) [119][120]	January 16, 1923[121] – January 18, 1927 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1922		David J. Davis
29			John Stuchell Fisher (1867–1940) [122][123]	January 18, 1927[124] – January 20, 1931 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1926		Arthur James
28			Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946) [119][120]	January 20, 1931[125] – January 15, 1935 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1930		Edward C. Shannon
30			George Howard Earle III (1890–1974) [126][127]	January 15, 1935[128] – January 17, 1939 (term-limited)[m]	Democratic[40]	1934		Thomas Kennedy
31			Arthur James (1883–1973) [129][130]	January 17, 1939[131] – January 19, 1943 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1938		Samuel S. Lewis
32			Edward Martin (1879–1967) [132][133]	January 19, 1943[134] – January 2, 1947 (resigned)[n]	Republican[40]	1942		John C. Bell Jr.
33			John C. Bell Jr. (1892–1974) [135][136]	January 2, 1947[137] – January 21, 1947 (successor took office)	Republican[40]	Succeeded from lieutenant governor	Vacant
34			James H. Duff (1883–1969) [138][139]	January 21, 1947[140] – January 16, 1951 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1946		Daniel Strickler
35			John S. Fine (1893–1978) [141][142]	January 16, 1951[143] – January 18, 1955 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1950		Lloyd H. Wood
36			George M. Leader (1918–2013) [144][145]	January 18, 1955[146] – January 20, 1959 (term-limited)[m]	Democratic[40]	1954		Roy E. Furman
37			David L. Lawrence (1889–1966) [147][148]	January 20, 1959[149] – January 15, 1963 (term-limited)[m]	Democratic[40]	1958		John Morgan Davis
38			William Scranton (1917–2013) [150][151]	January 15, 1963[152] – January 17, 1967 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1962		Raymond P. Shafer
39			Raymond P. Shafer (1917–2006) [153][154]	January 17, 1967[155] – January 19, 1971 (term-limited)[m]	Republican[40]	1966		Raymond J. Broderick
40			Milton Shapp (1912–1994) [156][157]	January 19, 1971[158] – January 16, 1979 (term-limited)[o]	Democratic[40]	1970		Ernest Kline
						1974
41			Dick Thornburgh (1932–2020) [160]	January 16, 1979[161] – January 20, 1987 (term-limited)[o]	Republican[160]	1978		William Scranton III
						1982
42			Bob Casey Sr. (1932–2000) [162]	January 20, 1987[163] – January 17, 1995 (term-limited)[o]	Democratic[162]	1986		Mark Singel[p]
						1990
43			Tom Ridge (b. 1945) [165]	January 17, 1995[166] – October 5, 2001 (resigned)[q]	Republican[165]	1994		Mark Schweiker
						1998
44			Mark Schweiker (b. 1953) [167]	October 5, 2001[168] – January 21, 2003 (did not run)	Republican[167]	Succeeded from lieutenant governor		Robert Jubelirer
45			Ed Rendell (b. 1944) [169]	January 21, 2003[170] – January 18, 2011 (term-limited)[o]	Democratic[169]	2002		Catherine Baker Knoll (died November 12, 2008)
						2006
								Joe Scarnati[r] (acting)
46			Tom Corbett (b. 1949) [171]	January 18, 2011[172] – January 20, 2015 (lost election)	Republican[171]	2010		Jim Cawley
47			Tom Wolf (b. 1948) [173]	January 20, 2015[174] – January 17, 2023 (term-limited)[o]	Democratic[173]	2014		Mike Stack
						2018		John Fetterman (resigned January 3, 2023)
								Kim Ward[r] (acting)
48			Josh Shapiro (b. 1973) [175]	January 17, 2023[176] – Incumbent[s]	Democratic[175]	2022		Austin Davis

• Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States#Pennsylvania
• List of Pennsylvania gubernatorial elections
• List of Pennsylvania state legislatures
• List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania

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• Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania Politicals