List of governors of Illinois

The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Illinois. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Illinois's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Illinois Legislature, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment.[2] The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.

Governor of Illinois
Incumbent
J. B. Pritzker

since January 14, 2019
ResidenceIllinois Governor's Mansion
Term lengthFour years, no term limits
Inaugural holderShadrach Bond
FormationOctober 6, 1818 (1818-10-06)
Salary$177,412 (2015)[1]
Websitewww2.illinois.gov/gov/

Since becoming a state in 1818, 43 people have served as governor of Illinois; before statehood, it had only 1 territorial governor, Ninian Edwards. The longest-serving governor was James R. Thompson, who was elected to four terms lasting 14 years, from 1977 to 1991. Only one governor, Richard J. Oglesby, has served multiple separate terms, having been elected in 1864, 1872, and 1884.

One governor, Rod Blagojevich, was impeached and removed from office in 2009. Unique among the states is the notable fact that four of Illinois' seven governors between 1961 and 2009 were imprisoned for various forms of corruption while in office.[3][4] The current governor is J. B. Pritzker, who took office on January 14, 2019.[5]

Governors

Governor of the Territory of Illinois

Illinois Territory was formed on March 1, 1809, from Indiana Territory. It had only one governor appointed by the President of the United States before it became a state, Ninian Edwards. From March to June 1809, Territorial Secretary Nathaniel Pope served as acting governor until Edwards arrived in Illinois.[6]

Governor of the Territory of Illinois
Portrait Governor Term in office Appointed by
Ninian Edwards March 1, 1809

October 6, 1818
James Madison

Governors of the State of Illinois

Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, consisting of the southern portion of Illinois Territory; the remainder was assigned to Michigan Territory.[7]

The first Illinois Constitution, ratified in 1818, provided that a governor be elected every 4 years[8] for a term starting on the first Monday in the December following an election.[9] The constitution of 1848 moved the start of the term to the second Monday in January starting in 1849, thus shortening the term won in the 1844 election to 2 years.[10] Governors were not allowed to succeed themselves[11] until the 1870 constitution, which removed this limit.

The office of lieutenant governor was created in the first constitution,[12] to exercise the power of governor if that office becomes vacant.[13] The 1848 constitution changed this to say the power "devolves" upon the lieutenant governor in case of a vacancy.[14] The current constitution of 1970 made it so that, in the event of a vacancy, the lieutenant becomes governor,[15] and the governor and lieutenant governor are now elected on the same ticket.[16] If the governor feels seriously impeded in performing their job, they can inform the secretary of state and the next in the line of succession, who becomes acting governor until the governor can resume office.[15]

Governors of the State of Illinois
No.[lower-alpha 1] Governor Term in office Party Election Lt. Governor[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]
1   Shadrach Bond October 6, 1818

December 5, 1822
(term limited)
Independent 1818   Pierre Menard
2 Edward Coles December 5, 1822

December 6, 1826
(term limited)
Independent 1822 Adolphus Hubbard
3   Ninian Edwards December 6, 1826

December 6, 1830
(term limited)
Adams-Clay
Republican
1826   William Kinney
4 John Reynolds December 6, 1830

November 17, 1834
(resigned)[lower-alpha 4]
National Republican 1830 Zadok Casey
(resigned March 1, 1833)
William Lee D. Ewing
(acting)
5 William Lee D. Ewing November 17, 1834

December 3, 1834
(successor took office)
Democratic Lieutenant
Governor
acting as
Governor
Vacant
6 Joseph Duncan December 3, 1834

December 7, 1838
(term limited)
Whig 1834 Alexander M. Jenkins[lower-alpha 5]
(resigned December 9, 1836)
William H. Davidson[lower-alpha 5]
(acting)
7 Thomas Carlin December 7, 1838

December 8, 1842
(term limited)
Democratic 1838 Stinson Anderson
8 Thomas Ford December 8, 1842

December 9, 1846
(term limited)
Democratic 1842 John Moore
9 Augustus C. French December 9, 1846

January 10, 1853
(term limited)
Democratic 1846[lower-alpha 6] Joseph Wells
1848 William McMurtry
10 Joel Aldrich Matteson January 10, 1853

January 12, 1857
(term limited)
Democratic 1852 Gustav Koerner
11 William Henry Bissell January 12, 1857

March 18, 1860
(died in office)
Republican 1856 John Wood
12 John Wood March 18, 1860

January 14, 1861
(not candidate for election)
Republican Lieutenant
Governor
acting as
Governor
Thomas Marshall[lower-alpha 5]
(acting)
13 Richard Yates January 14, 1861

January 16, 1865
(term limited)
Republican 1860 Francis Hoffmann
14 Richard J. Oglesby January 16, 1865

January 11, 1869
(term limited)
Republican 1864 William Bross
15 John M. Palmer January 11, 1869

January 13, 1873
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1868 John Dougherty
14 Richard J. Oglesby January 13, 1873

January 23, 1873
(resigned)[lower-alpha 7]
Republican 1872 John Lourie Beveridge
16 John Lourie Beveridge January 23, 1873

January 8, 1877
(not candidate for election)
Republican Lieutenant
Governor
acting as
Governor
John Early
(acting)
(term ended January 8, 1875)
Archibald A. Glenn[lower-alpha 5]
(acting)
17 Shelby Moore Cullom January 8, 1877

February 5, 1883
(resigned)[lower-alpha 8]
Republican 1876 Andrew Shuman
1880 John Marshall Hamilton
18 John Marshall Hamilton February 5, 1883

January 30, 1885
(not candidate for election)
Republican Lieutenant
Governor
acting as
Governor
William J. Campbell
(acting)
14 Richard J. Oglesby January 30, 1885

January 14, 1889
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1884 John C. Smith
19 Joseph W. Fifer January 14, 1889

January 10, 1893
(lost election)
Republican 1888 Lyman Beecher Ray
20 John Peter Altgeld January 10, 1893

January 11, 1897
(lost election)
Democratic 1892 Joseph B. Gill
21 John Riley Tanner January 11, 1897

January 14, 1901
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1896 William Northcott
22 Richard Yates Jr. January 14, 1901

January 9, 1905
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1900
23 Charles S. Deneen January 9, 1905

February 3, 1913
(lost election)
Republican 1904 Lawrence Yates Sherman
1908 John G. Oglesby
24 Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne February 3, 1913

January 8, 1917
(lost election)
Democratic 1912 Barratt O'Hara
25 Frank Orren Lowden January 8, 1917

January 10, 1921
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1916 John G. Oglesby
26 Len Small January 10, 1921

January 14, 1929
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1920 Fred E. Sterling
1924
27 Louis Lincoln Emmerson January 14, 1929

January 9, 1933
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1928
28 Henry Horner January 9, 1933

October 6, 1940
(died in office)
Democratic 1932 Thomas Donovan
1936 John Henry Stelle
29 John Henry Stelle October 6, 1940

January 13, 1941
(not candidate for election)
Democratic Lieutenant
Governor
acting as
Governor
Vacant
30 Dwight H. Green January 13, 1941

January 10, 1949
(lost election)
Republican 1940 Hugh W. Cross
1944
31 Adlai Stevenson II January 10, 1949

January 12, 1953
(not candidate for election)
Democratic 1948 Sherwood Dixon
32 William Stratton January 12, 1953

January 9, 1961
(lost election)
Republican 1952 John William Chapman
1956
33 Otto Kerner Jr. January 9, 1961

May 21, 1968
(resigned)[lower-alpha 9]
Democratic 1960 Samuel H. Shapiro
1964
34 Samuel H. Shapiro May 21, 1968

January 13, 1969
Democratic Lieutenant
Governor
acting as
Governor
Vacant
35 Richard B. Ogilvie January 13, 1969

January 8, 1973
(lost election)
Republican 1968 Paul Simon[lower-alpha 5]
36 Dan Walker January 8, 1973

January 10, 1977
(not candidate for election)
Democratic 1972 Neil Hartigan
37 James R. Thompson January 10, 1977

January 14, 1991
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1976[lower-alpha 10] Dave O'Neal
(resigned July 31, 1981)
1978
Vacant
1982 George Ryan
1986
38 Jim Edgar January 14, 1991

January 11, 1999
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1990 Bob Kustra
(resigned July 1, 1998)
1994
Vacant
39 George Ryan January 11, 1999

January 13, 2003
(not candidate for election)
Republican 1998 Corinne Wood
40 Rod Blagojevich January 13, 2003

January 29, 2009
(impeached and removed)[lower-alpha 11]
Democratic 2002 Pat Quinn
2006
41 Pat Quinn January 29, 2009

January 12, 2015
(lost election)
Democratic Succeeded from
Lieutenant
Governor
Vacant
2010 Sheila Simon
42 Bruce Rauner January 12, 2015

January 14, 2019
(lost election)
Republican 2014 Evelyn Sanguinetti
43 J. B. Pritzker January 14, 2019

present[lower-alpha 12]
Democratic 2018 Juliana Stratton

See also

Notes

  1. Based on the official site labeling Bruce Rauner as the 42nd governor,[17] it is assumed the official numbering includes repeat governors only once; subsequent terms are marked with their original number italicized.
  2. Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
  3. When the lieutenant governor is serving as governor, the Illinois Blue Book considers the president pro tempore of the senate to be acting lieutenant governor. However, this only applies to acting lieutenant governors before 1883; after that, there are no acting lieutenant governors noted, and instead these are marked vacant. It is unknown why this changed; the constitution does not appear to have any relevant changes around that time.[18]
  4. Reynolds resigned to take elected seat in the United States House of Representatives.[19]
  5. Represented the Democratic Party
  6. The election schedule was shifted after this term, shortening it to two years.[10]
  7. Oglesby resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.[20][21]
  8. Cullom resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.[22]
  9. Kerner resigned to take seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.[23][24]
  10. The schedule for the 1970 constitution provided that the 1976 election would be for a two-year term, shifting the election schedule away from presidential election years.[25]
  11. Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office on charges of corruption.[26][27]
  12. Pritzker's first term expires on January 9, 2023.

References

General
  • "Illinois: Past Governors Bios". National Governors Association. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  • "Illinois Blue Book" (PDF). Illinois Secretary of State. pp. 359–360. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
Constitutions
Specific
  1. "Governors' Salaries, 2015". The Council of State Governments. June 25, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  2. IL Const. art. V
  3. "4 of Illinois' last 7 governors went to prison". Kankakee Daily Journal. 2013-01-30. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  4. "4 out of previous 7 Illinois governors (Kerner, Walker, Ryan and Blagojevich) went to prison". WLS-TV Eyewitness News. 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  5. "Election Results". Elections.il.gov. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  6. Robert P. Howard (1988), Mostly Good and Competent Men: Illinois Governors, 1818–1988, Illinois Issues and the Illinois State Historical Society, 39–40.
  7. 3 Stat. 536
  8. 1818 Const. art. III, § 2
  9. 1818 Const. art. III, § 3
  10. 1848 Const. art. IV, § 3
  11. 1818 Const. art. III, § 3
  12. 1818 Const. art. III, § 13
  13. 1818 Const. art. III, § 18
  14. 1848 Const. art. IV, § 19
  15. IL Const. art. V, § 6
  16. IL Const. art. V, § 4
  17. "About the Governor". State of Illinois. Archived from the original on 2018-04-26. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  18. Illinois Blue Book, p. 360
  19. "John Reynolds". National Governors Association. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  20. "Richard James Oglesby". National Governors Association. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  21. "Nomination of Gov. Oglesby for United States Senator". The New York Times. January 10, 1873. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  22. "Shelby Moore Cullom". National Governors Association. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  23. "Otto Kerner". National Governors Association. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  24. "Otto Kerner Goes to Jail Today, His Once‐Shining Career at End". The New York Times. July 29, 1974. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  25. Lousin, Ann (2011). The Illinois State Constitution. Oxford University Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780199766925.
  26. "Rod R. Blagojevich". National Governors Association. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  27. "Blagojevich Ousted by Illinois State Senate". The New York Times. January 29, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2018.


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