List of lieutenant governors of Minnesota

This is a list of lieutenant governors of the U.S. state of Minnesota.

In 1886 elections were moved from odd years to even years. Beginning with the 1962 election, the term of the lieutenant governor increased from two to four years. Prior to the 1974 election, governors and lieutenant governors were elected on separate ballots. Marlene Johnson, elected in 1982 as the running mate of Rudy Perpich, was the first female lieutenant governor of Minnesota. All of her successors in that office have also been women.

Parties

      Democratic/Democratic Farmer Labor       Farmer Labor       Republican/Independent Republican       Reform/Independence

No.	Lt. Governor	Took office	Left office	Party
1	William Holcombe	May 24, 1858	January 2, 1860	Democratic
2	Ignatius L. Donnelly	January 2, 1860	March 4, 1863	Republican
3	Henry Adoniram Swift	March 4, 1863	July 10, 1863	Republican
	Vacant	July 10, 1863	January 11, 1864
4	Charles D. Sherwood	January 11, 1864	January 8, 1866	Republican
5	Thomas H. Armstrong	January 8, 1866	January 7, 1870	Republican
6	William H. Yale	January 7, 1870	January 9, 1874	Republican
7	Alphonso Barto	January 9, 1874	January 7, 1876	Republican
8	James Wakefield	January 7, 1876	January 10, 1880	Republican
9	Charles A. Gilman	January 10, 1880	January 4, 1887	Republican
10	Albert E. Rice	January 4, 1887	January 5, 1891	Republican
11	Gideon S. Ives	January 5, 1891	January 3, 1893	Republican
12	David Marston Clough	January 3, 1893	January 31, 1895	Republican
13	Frank A. Day	January 31, 1895	January 5, 1897	Republican
14	John L. Gibbs	January 5, 1897	January 3, 1899	Republican
15	Lyndon Ambrose Smith	January 3, 1899	January 5, 1903	Republican
16	Ray W. Jones	January 5, 1903	January 7, 1907	Republican
17	Adolph Olson Eberhart	January 7, 1907	September 21, 1909	Republican
18	Edward Everett Smith	September 25, 1909	January 3, 1911	Republican
19	Samuel Y. Gordon	January 3, 1911	January 7, 1913	Republican
20	Joseph A. A. Burnquist	January 7, 1913	December 30, 1915	Republican
	Vacant	December 30, 1915	October 28, 1916
21	George H. Sullivan	October 28, 1916	January 2, 1917	Republican
22	Thomas Frankson	January 2, 1917	January 4, 1921	Republican
23	Louis L. Collins	January 4, 1921	January 6, 1925	Republican
24	William I. Nolan	January 6, 1925	June 1929	Republican
25	Charles Edward Adams	June 25, 1929	January 6, 1931	Republican
26	Henry M. Arens	January 6, 1931	January 3, 1933	Farmer Labor
27	Konrad K. Solberg	January 3, 1933	January 8, 1935	Farmer Labor
28	Hjalmar Petersen	January 8, 1935	August 24, 1936	Farmer Labor
*	William B. Richardson^1	August 24, 1936	January 1, 1937	Republican
29	Gottfrid Lindsten	January 5, 1937	January 2, 1939	Farmer Labor
30	C. Elmer Anderson	January 2, 1939	January 4, 1943	Republican
31	Edward John Thye	January 4, 1943	April 27, 1943	Republican
32	Archie H. Miller	May 6, 1943	January 2, 1945	Republican
33	C. Elmer Anderson	January 2, 1945	September 27, 1951	Republican
	Vacant	September 27, 1951	January 5, 1953
34	Ancher Nelsen	January 5, 1953	May 1, 1953	Republican
	Vacant	May 1, 1953	September 3, 1954
35	Donald O. Wright^2	September 3, 1954	January 3, 1955	Republican
36	Karl Rolvaag	January 3, 1955	January 8, 1963	Democratic Farmer Labor
37	Alexander M. Keith	January 8, 1963	January 2, 1967	Democratic Farmer Labor
38	James B. Goetz	January 2, 1967	January 4, 1971	Republican
39	Rudy Perpich	January 4, 1971	December 29, 1976	Democratic Farmer Labor
40	Alec G. Olson^3	December 29, 1976	January 4, 1979	Democratic Farmer Labor
41	Lou Wangberg	January 4, 1979	January 3, 1983	Independent Republican
42	Marlene Johnson	January 3, 1983	January 7, 1991	Democratic Farmer Labor
43	Joanell Dyrstad	January 7, 1991	January 3, 1995	Independent Republican
44	Joanne Benson	January 3, 1995	January 4, 1999	IR/Republican
45	Mae Schunk	January 4, 1999	January 6, 2003	Reform/Independence
46	Carol Molnau	January 6, 2003	January 3, 2011	Republican
47	Yvonne Prettner Solon	January 3, 2011	January 5, 2015	Democratic Farmer Labor
48	Tina Smith	January 5, 2015	Present	Democratic Farmer Labor

1 Richardson was actually president pro tem of the Minnesota Senate; became acting lieutenant governor when lieutenant governor Hjalmar Petersen became governor on the death of Floyd B. Olson, but Richardson was never sworn in.

2 Wright was president pro tem of the Minnesota Senate and assumed the office of lieutenant governor in 1954 after Lieutenant Governor Ancher Nelsen resigned to become administrator of the Rural Electric Administration.

3 As president of the Minnesota Senate, Olson assumed office of lieutenant governor when Rudy Perpich then lieutenant governor became governor on the resignation of Wendell Anderson, who had appointed himself to the U.S. Senate on resignation of Walter Mondale who had been elected vice president.

Note on Minnesota political parties names

• Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party: On April 15, 1944 the state Democratic party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party merged and created the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). It is affiliated with the national Democratic party.
• Republican Party of Minnesota: From November 15, 1975 to September 23, 1995 the name of the state Republican party was the Independent Republican party (IR). The party has always been affiliated with the national Republican party.
• Independence Party of Minnesota: The party was founded under this name in 1992. In 1995 the IPM affiliated with the national Reform Party and renamed itself the Reform Party of Minnesota. In 2000 the Reform Party of Minnesota disaffiliated with the national Reform party and returned to the name Independence party.

Living former U.S. Lieutenant Governors of Minnesota

As of January 2015, there are ten former U.S. lieutenant governors of Minnesota who are currently living at this time, the oldest U.S. lieutenant governor being Alexander M. Keith (served 1963–1967, born 1928). The most recent death of a former U.S. lieutenant governor of Minnesota was that of C. Elmer Anderson (served 1939–1943 and 1945–1951, born 1912), on January 22, 1998.

Lt. Governor	Lt. Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
Alexander M. Keith	1963–1967	November 22, 1928
James B. Goetz	1967–1971	May 28, 1936
Alec G. Olson	1976–1979	September 11, 1930
Lou Wangberg	1979–1983	March 27, 1941
Marlene Johnson	1983–1991	January 11, 1946
Joanell Dyrstad	1991–1995	October 15, 1942
Joanne Benson	1995–1999	January 4, 1943
Mae Schunk	1999–2003	May 21, 1934
Carol Molnau	2003–2011	September 17, 1949
Yvonne Prettner Solon	2011–2015	February 3, 1946

See also

• List of Governors of Minnesota

References

• Minnesota Lieutenant Governors 1858- Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
• MHS.org's list