List of Governors of Oregon

This article lists the individuals who have served as Governor of Oregon from the establishment of the Provisional Government in 1843 to the present day.

Number of Governors of Oregon by party affiliation

Party	Governors
Democratic	22
Republican	20
Whig	1
Independent	1

Governors

Provisional Government

Meetings at Champoeg led up to the first constitution of the Oregon Country and several petitions for U.S. territorial status. The resulting acts also created this body as a provisional government for the region. The first executives of this government were a three-person, elected committee known as the Executive Committee. In 1845, elections for a chief executive were held. The first person in Oregon to hold the title of governor was George Abernethy, a prominent businessman.

#	Name	Picture	Term
1	First Executive Committee		1843–1844
2	Second Executive Committee		1844–1845
3	George Abernethy		1845–1848

Governors of the Territory of Oregon

Oregon became a U.S. Territory in 1848. Like most other U.S. territorial governments, Oregon's territorial governor was appointed by the President of the United States. As transportation and communications were not as reliable or as fast as 21st-century methods, there were times when a departing governor left office and a new governor could not yet take over. This resulted in several local individuals acting as territorial governor until the new executive was appointed and arrived to take office.

President Polk initially appointed Brigadier General James Shields to be Oregon's first territorial governor and Shields was confirmed by the Senate, but he declined the position and Joseph Lane was appointed in his place.

#	Governor			Took office	Left office	Appointed by	Party
1			Joseph Lane	March 3, 1849	June 18, 1850	James Polk	Democratic
–			Kintzing Prichette	June 18, 1850	August 18, 1850	Acting Governor	Democratic
2			John P. Gaines	August 18, 1850	May 16, 1853	Zachary Taylor	Whig
–			Joseph Lane	May 16, 1853	May 19, 1853	Acting Governor	Democratic
–			George Law Curry	May 19, 1853	December 2, 1853	Acting Governor	Democratic
3			John W. Davis	December 2, 1853	August 1, 1854	Franklin Pierce	Democratic
4			George Law Curry	August 1, 1854	March 3, 1859	Franklin Pierce	Democratic

Governors of the State of Oregon

Parties

      Democratic       Republican

#	Governor			Took office	Left office	Party	Terms [note 1]
1			John Whiteaker	March 3, 1859	September 10, 1862	Democratic	1
2			A. C. Gibbs	September 10, 1862	September 12, 1866	Republican	1
3			George L. Woods	September 12, 1866	September 14, 1870	Republican	1
4			La Fayette Grover	September 14, 1870	February 1, 1877	Democratic	1 ^1⁄2 [note 2]
5			Stephen F. Chadwick	February 1, 1877	September 11, 1878	Democratic	^1⁄2
6			W. W. Thayer	September 11, 1878	September 13, 1882	Democratic	1
7			Z. F. Moody	September 13, 1882	January 12, 1887	Republican	1
8			Sylvester Pennoyer	January 12, 1887	January 14, 1895	Democratic	2
9			William Paine Lord	January 14, 1895	January 9, 1899	Republican	1
10			T. T. Geer	January 9, 1899	January 15, 1903	Republican	1
11			George Chamberlain	January 15, 1903	March 1, 1909	Democratic	1 ^1⁄3 [note 2]
12			Frank W. Benson	March 1, 1909	June 17, 1910	Republican	^1⁄3 [note 3]
13			Jay Bowerman	June 17, 1910	January 11, 1911	Republican	^1⁄3
14			Oswald West	January 11, 1911	January 12, 1915	Democratic	1
15			James Withycombe	January 12, 1915	March 3, 1919	Republican	1 ^1⁄2 [note 4]
16			Ben W. Olcott	March 3, 1919	January 8, 1923	Republican	^1⁄2
17			Walter M. Pierce	January 8, 1923	January 10, 1927	Democratic	1
18			I. L. Patterson	January 10, 1927	December 22, 1929	Republican	^1⁄2 [note 4]
19			A. W. Norblad	December 22, 1929	January 12, 1931	Republican	^1⁄2
20			Julius L. Meier	January 12, 1931	January 14, 1935	Independent	1
21			Charles H. Martin	January 14, 1935	January 9, 1939	Democratic	1
22			Charles A. Sprague	January 9, 1939	January 11, 1943	Republican	1
23			Earl Snell	January 11, 1943	October 30, 1947	Republican	1 ^1⁄3 [note 4]
24			John H. Hall	October 30, 1947	January 10, 1949	Republican	^1⁄3
25			Douglas McKay	January 10, 1949	December 17, 1952	Republican	^1⁄3 + ^1⁄2 [note 5]
26			Paul L. Patterson	December 27, 1952	February 1, 1956	Republican	^1⁄2 + ^1⁄3 [note 4]
27			Elmo Smith	February 1, 1956	January 14, 1957	Republican	^1⁄3
28			Robert D. Holmes	January 14, 1957	January 12, 1959	Democratic	^1⁄3
29			Mark Hatfield	January 12, 1959	January 9, 1967	Republican	2
30			Tom McCall	January 9, 1967	January 13, 1975	Republican	2
31			Robert W. Straub	January 13, 1975	January 8, 1979	Democratic	1
32			Victor G. Atiyeh	January 8, 1979	January 12, 1987	Republican	2
33			Neil Goldschmidt	January 12, 1987	January 14, 1991	Democratic	1
34			Barbara Roberts	January 14, 1991	January 9, 1995	Democratic	1
35			John Kitzhaber	January 9, 1995	January 13, 2003	Democratic	2
36			Ted Kulongoski	January 13, 2003	January 10, 2011	Democratic	2
37			John Kitzhaber	January 10, 2011	February 18, 2015	Democratic	1 ^1⁄2 [note 6] [note 7]
38			Kate Brown	February 18, 2015	Incumbent	Democratic	^1⁄2

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, and other governorships held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Oregon except where noted.

* Denotes those offices that the governor resigned to take.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held	Source
		House	Senate
Joseph Lane	1848–1850 1853–1853		S	Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon Territory	[1]
John P. Gaines	1850–1853			U.S. Representative from Kentucky	[2]
John W. Davis	1853–1854			U.S. Representative from Indiana; United States Commissioner to China	[3]
John Whiteaker	1859–1862	H			[4]
George L. Woods	1911–1915			Governor of Utah Territory	[5]
La Fayette Grover	1866–1877	H	S*		[6]
William Paine Lord	1895–1899			United States Minister to Argentina	[7]
George Chamberlain	1903–1909		S*		[8]
Walter M. Pierce	1923–1927	H			[9]
Charles H. Martin	1935–1939	H			[10]
Douglas McKay	1949–1952			United States Secretary of the Interior*	[11]
Mark Hatfield	1959–1967		S		[12]
Neil Goldschmidt	1987–1991			United States Secretary of Transportation	[13]

Living former U.S. governors of Oregon

As of May 2015, there are four former U.S. governors of Oregon who are currently living at this time, the oldest U.S. governor of Oregon being Barbara Roberts (served 1991–1995, born 1936). The most recent death of a former U.S. governor of Oregon and also the death of a former U.S. governor of Oregon who served most recently was of Victor Atiyeh, who served from January 8, 1979 until he left office on January 12, 1987 and died on July 20, 2014 at the age of ninety-one.^[14]

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
Neil Goldschmidt	1987–1991	June 16, 1940
Barbara Roberts	1991–1995	December 21, 1936
John Kitzhaber	1995–2003 2011–2015	March 5, 1947
Ted Kulongoski	2003–2011	November 5, 1940

Notes

1. The fractional terms of some governors are not to be understood absolutely literally; rather, they are meant to show single terms during which multiple governors served, due to resignations, deaths and the like.
2. Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate
3. Resigned due to ill health
4. Died while in office
5. Resigned to take the position as United States Secretary of the Interior
6. Also served two consecutive terms from 1995 to 2003.
7. Resigned due to an ethics scandal.

References

General

• "Governors of Oregon". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011.
• "Governor Records". Oregon State Archives. Retrieved July 15, 2010.

Constitution

• "Constitution of Oregon". Oregon Legislature. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
• "1857 Constitution of Oregon". Oregon Blue Book. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved July 15, 2010.

Specific

1. "Lane, Joseph". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
2. "Gaines, John Pollard". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
3. "Davis, John Wesley". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
4. "Whiteaker, John". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
5. "George Lemuel Woods". Utah History to Go. State of Utah. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
6. "Grover, La Fayette". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
7. "Former U.S. Ambassadors to Argentina". Embassy of the United States, Argentina. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
8. "Chamberlain, George Earle". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
9. "Pierce, Walter Marcus". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
10. "Martin, Charles Henry". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
11. "Past Secretaries of the Department of the Interior". U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
12. "Hatfield, Mark". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
13. "Biographical Sketches of the Secretaries of Transportation". U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
14. Mapes, Jeff (July 20, 2014). "Republican Vic Atiyeh, who guided Oregon through economic upheaval, dies at 91". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

External links

• Office of the Governor of Oregon