Lieutenant Governor (state executive office)
In the United States, the office of lieutenant governor is the second-highest executive office in a state and is nominally subordinate to the governor. In the U.S., the main duty of the lieutenant governor is to act as governor should the governor be temporarily absent from the office. In addition, the lieutenant governor generally succeeds a governor who dies, resigns or is removed in trial by the legislative branch. In most states, the lieutenant governor then becomes governor, with the title and its associated salary, office, and privileges. In a few states, like Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor instead becomes "acting governor" until the next election.
Other than this primary constitutional duty, most state constitutions do not prescribe the duties of the lieutenant governor in detail.
In Hawaii, the lieutenant governor serves concurrently as the secretary of state. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the president of the Senate also serves as lieutenant governor and is elected from within the legislature.
Five states do not have a lieutenant governor position. Those states are Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Wyoming.
Political parties
The chart below shows the party affiliations of U.S. lieutenant governors. For other state executive offices, click here.
| Office | Vacant | Total seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Lieutenant Governors | 20 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 43 |
| Counts current as of March 2025 This count excludes territories and Tennessee and West Virginia, where the president of the Senate also serves as lieutenant governor and is elected from within the legislature. If you see an error, please email us | |||||
Current officeholders
List of Current Lieutenant Governors
List of lieutenant governors by state:[1][2]
Comparison across states
Selection process
In 26 states, the lieutenant governor is selected on a ticket with the governor, meaning that lieutenant gubernatorial candidates serve as running mates to gubernatorial candidates, with the winning gubernatorial candidate's running mate becoming lieutenant governor. In eight of these states, there are separate primaries for governor and lieutenant governor, with the winning candidate in each primary appearing on the general election ticket. In the remaining 18 states, gubernatorial candidates may pick their own running mates in a similar fashion to presidential candidates. In 17 states, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the title of lieutenant governor is given to the president of the state Senate.[3]
- Lt. gov. nominated in separate primary and elected in separate general election (17): Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington
- Lt. gov. nominated in separate primary but runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial nominee in general election (7): Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
- Lt. gov. chosen by gubernatorial candidate before primary and runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial candidate in both the primary and general election (9): Alaska, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah
- Lt. gov. chosen by gubernatorial nominee after primary and runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial nominee in the general election (10): Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota
- Lt. gov. is a member of the legislature (2): Tennessee, West Virginia
- Lt. gov. office does not exist in state (5): Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wyoming
Partisan affiliation
In 26 states, the lieutenant governor is involved with the legislative process as the presiding officer of the state Senate. In 24 of those states, the lieutenant governor also has the power to cast a tiebreaking vote in the Senate, although some states limit this ability to votes on specific issues.[4]
Gubernatorial delegation
In 24 states, the governor may formally transfer a portion of their power to the lieutenant governor.[4]
Acting governor
In 29 states, the lieutenant governor serves as acting governor while the governor is out of the state; three of these states place limits on this role.[4]
Term limits
To view term limits for a particular state, hover your mouse over that state.
Historical elections
In 1977, the Democratic Party held a total of 34 lieutenant governorships to the Republican Party's 10. The Democratic lead in lieutenant governorships would be maintained until the midterm elections of 1994, which gave the Republican Party control of 23 lieutenant governorships to the Democrats' 21. The midterm elections of 2006 led to the Democratic Party regaining its lead in lieutenant governorships, with 23 to the Republicans' 21. However, the Republican Party regained its lead in the 2008 elections. After that election, lieutenant governorships trended Republican, with the party reaching a high water mark of 32 lieutenant governorships to Democrats' 13 in 2015 and 2016.
Election history
2025
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2025
Two states are holding elections for lieutenant governor in 2025:
2024
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2024
Nine states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2024:
2023
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2023
Three states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2023:
2022
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2022
Thirty states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2022:
2021
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2021
Two states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2021:
2020
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2020
Nine states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2020:
2019
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2019
Three states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2019:
2018
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2018
Thirty states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2018:
2017
Two states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2017:
2016
- See also: Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2016
Nine states held elections for lieutenant governor in 2016:
2015
- See also: State executive official elections, 2015
Three states held scheduled elections for lieutenant governor: Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.
2014
- Main article: See also: State executive official elections, 2014
Thirty states held regularly scheduled lieutenant gubernatorial elections in the 2014 electoral cycle:
2013
- Main article: State executive official elections, 2013
Two states held regularly scheduled lieutenant gubernatorial elections in the 2013 electoral cycle: New Jersey and Virginia. The general election took place November 5, 2013. There was no partisan switch in New Jersey, with Republican incumbent Kim Guadagno easily winning re-election on a ticket with Gov. Chris Christie. In Virginia, however, the seat switched from Republican to Democrat - Ralph Northam (D) was elected to succeed incumbent Bill Bolling (R), who declined to run for re-election.
2012
- Main article: State executive official elections, 2012
Nine states held lieutenant gubernatorial elections in 2012: Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Washington. Of these nine states, the lieutenant governor and governor are elected on a single ticket in four - Indiana, Montana, North Dakota and Utah.
Two seats switched parties in 2012 - in Montana, John E. Walsh (D) succeeded John Bohlinger (R) who was term-limited, and in an extremely close race in North Carolina, Dan Forest (R) defeated Linda Coleman (D). Following the 2012 elections, Republicans held 30 seats while Democrats held 14.
2011
- Main article: Lieutenant Governor elections, 2011
Three states - Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi - held lieutenant gubernatorial elections in the 2011 electoral cycle.
Additionally, West Virginia held a special election following a court order. However, as the Lieutenant Governor of West Virginia is a title accorded to the legislator elected as Senate President, their 2011 election did not actually include a ballot line for the lieutenant governor.
2010
- Main article: Lieutenant Governor elections, 2010
Thirty-one states elected lieutenant governors in November 2010, a lower number than the record 37 gubernatorial races held that year due to the fact that six U.S. states at the time did not have an office of the lieutenant governor and that one state, Tennessee, automatically makes its Senate President Pro Tem into the lieutenant governor.
Ultimately, 21 of those 31 races would go to the GOP in what turned in to a wave election for the party. Fifteen races were on a shared ticket with the governor, five were on a semi-shared ticket - that is, the candidates ran separately in the primary and jointly in the general, and 11 were entirely separate elections.
Because 11 of the 17 states that conduct entirely separate elections for the governor and the lieutenant governor were on the 2010 slate, the possibility existed for increasing the number of split tickets. In the end, that happened in both Arkansas, where voters elected a Democratic governor and a Republican lieutenant governor, and in Rhode Island, with the election of an independent governor and a Democratic lieutenant governor. After the 2010 election, Arkansas and Rhode Island joined Missouri and Montana as being governed by two parties in the executive.
Success running for governor
An April 2013 Governing article looked at how lieutenant governors have performed in gubernatorial elections in recent history. According to the article, lieutenant governors made 55 attempts on the governor's office since the early 1990s. Of these 55 attempts, 17 won and 38 lost—a success rate of 31 percent.[5]
Governing's research covered about 25 years of electoral history. In that timeframe, Democratic lieutenant governors ran 37 times and Republican lieutenant governors ran 17 times, while only one independent lieutenant governor made a bid. Democratic lieutenant governors performed slightly better than their Republican counterparts overall, winning 35 percent of their gubernatorial contests, compared with 24 percent of Republicans. Those who ran unsuccessfully for governor often had difficulty recovering afterward. As the article notes, most of the losing lieutenant governors never won high office again.[5]
Virginia's lieutenant governors stood out for their relatively strong record of success. Since 1977, incumbent lieutenant governors in Virginia sought the governorship nine times and won four of them. In Virginia, governors are not allowed to serve two consecutive terms in office. This provides lieutenant governors with an advantage. University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato explained the situation, stating, "It's a part-time, poorly paid post whose occupants mainly spend their time running for governor." And due to Virginia's system, Sabato added, "being seen as in the wings is a big plus."[5]
See also
- State executive offices
- Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2022
- Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2023
- Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2024
- State executive official elections, 2022
- State executive official elections, 2023
- State executive official elections, 2024
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ In Hawaii, the lieutenant governor serves concurrently as the secretary of state. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the president of the Senate also serves as lieutenant governor and is elected from within the legislature.
- ↑ Five states do not have a lieutenant governor position. Those states are Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Wyoming.
- ↑ National Lieutenant Governors Association, "Methods of Election," accessed February 22, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Council of State Governments, "Book of the States 2017 - Lieutenant Governors: Powers and Duties," accessed December 3, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Governing, "How Successful Are Lieutenant Governors Seeking the Governorship?" April 12, 2013
| |||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
