List of governors of Idaho

The Governor of Idaho is the head of the executive branch of Idaho's government.^[2] He is also the commander-in-chief of the state's militia.^[3] The job of the governor is to see that the state laws are obeyed. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Idaho Legislature.^[3]

Governor of Idaho
Incumbent Brad Little since January 6, 2019
Residence	The Idaho House
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	George L. Shoup
Formation	July 3, 1890
Deputy	Janice McGeachin
Salary	$110,734 (2011)[1]
Website	gov.idaho.gov

Idaho Territory had 16 territorial governors chosed by the President of the United States from 1863 until it became a state in 1890. Four of these never took office. They resigned before they got to Idaho.

Thirty people have been Governor of Idaho since it became a state in 1890. Two of these—C. A. Bottolfsen and Cecil D. Andrus—served non-consecutive terms. The state's first governor was George Laird Shoup. He had the shortest term - three months. Cecil D. Andrus served as governor the longest at 14 years. Four governors resigned. None have died while in office. There have been 21 Republican and 12 Democratic governors. The current governor is Brad Little. He took office on January 6, 2019. His current term will expire in January 2023.

Governors

Governors of the Territory of Idaho

William H. Wallace, first Governor of Idaho Territory

George Laird Shoup, last Governor of Idaho Territory and first Governor of the State of Idaho

Idaho Territory was created from Dakota Territory, Nebraska Territory, and Washington Territory on March 4, 1863. At first, the territory included all of modern-day Idaho and Montana, and most of Wyoming. On May 26, 1864, Montana Territory was separated from Idaho Territory, and most of the Wyoming portion was became part of Dakota Territory. The area east of the 111th meridian became part of the new Wyoming Territory on July 25, 1868. This gave Idaho Territory its final borders.^[4]

Because of the long distance between Washington, D.C. and Boise, there was often a long time between a governor being chosen and his arrival in the territory.

Governor	Took office	Left office	Appointed by	Notes
William H. Wallace	July 1863[5][6]	December 1863[5]	Abraham Lincoln	Resigned. [a]
Caleb Lyon	August 1, 1864[5][6]	April 1866[8]	Abraham Lincoln
David W. Ballard	June 14, 1866[9]	July 1870[10]	Andrew Johnson
Samuel Bard	Appointed March 30, 1870[11]	—	Ulysses S. Grant	Resigned without serving. [b]
Gilman Marston	Appointed June 7, 1870[11]	—	Ulysses S. Grant	Resigned without serving. [c]
Alexander H. Conner	Appointed January 12, 1871[11]	—	Ulysses S. Grant	Appointed, but declined the offer.[d]
Thomas M. Bowen	July 1871[12]	August 15, 1871[12]	Ulysses S. Grant	Resigned. [e]
Thomas W. Bennett	December 1871[13]	December 4, 1875[14]	Ulysses S. Grant	Resigned. [f]
David P. Thompson	April 1876[16]	May 1876[16]	Ulysses S. Grant	Resigned. [g]
Mason Brayman	July 1876[17]	July 24, 1880[18]	Ulysses S. Grant	Suspended in June 1878 pending appointment of Hoyt; allowed to serve remainder of term after Hoyt declined the appointment. [h]
John P. Hoyt	Appointed June 8, 1878[20] Appointed August 7, 1878[21]	—	Rutherford B. Hayes	Initial appointment overturned after Hoyt took too long to respond to the offer. Second appointment declined by Hoyt. [i]
John Baldwin Neil	August 3, 1880[22]	March 2, 1883[23]	Rutherford B. Hayes
John N. Irwin	April 1883[24]	Dec 20, 1883[24]	Chester A. Arthur	Effectively resigned in July, 1883. [j]
William M. Bunn	June 26, 1884[26]	July 3, 1885[27]	Chester A. Arthur	Resigned. [k]
Edward A. Stevenson	September 29, 1885[28]	April 1, 1889[29]	Grover Cleveland	[l]
George Laird Shoup	April 30, 1889[30]	July 3, 1890	Benjamin Harrison

Governors of the State of Idaho

Idaho became a state on July 3, 1890. Since then, the state has had 31 governors. Two of these served non-consecutive terms. The terms for governor and lieutenant governor are four years. It starts on the first Monday in the January after the election. Before 1946, the offices were elected to terms of two years.^[31] If there is no governor or the governor is out of state or cannot do his duties, the lieutenant governor acts as governor.^[32] If neither the governor and lieutenant governor can do their duties, the President pro tempore of the Idaho Senate is next in line. After that person, the Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives would act as governor.^[33] There is no limit to the number of terms a governor may serve.^[34]

  Democratic (12)   Republican (21)

D. W. Davis, 12th Governor of Idaho

Cecil D. Andrus, 26th Governor of Idaho and 42nd United States Secretary of the Interior

Dirk Kempthorne, 30th Governor of Idaho and 49th United States Secretary of the Interior

Jim Risch, 31st Governor of Idaho and current United States Senator from Idaho

#[m]	Governor		Took office	Left office	Party	Lt. Governor		Terms[n]
1		George Laird Shoup	October 1, 1890	December 18, 1890	Republican		N. B. Willey	​1⁄2[o]
2		N. B. Willey	December 18, 1890	January 2, 1893	Republican		John S. Gray	​1⁄2[p]
3		William J. McConnell	January 2, 1893	January 4, 1897	Republican		F. B. Willis	2
							F. J. Mills
4		Frank Steunenberg	January 4, 1897	January 7, 1901	Democratic		George F. Moore[q]	2[r]
							J. H. Hutchinson[s]
5		Frank W. Hunt	January 7, 1901	January 5, 1903	Democratic		Thomas F. Terrell	1
6		John T. Morrison	January 5, 1903	January 2, 1905	Republican		James M. Stevens	1
7		Frank R. Gooding	January 2, 1905	January 4, 1909	Republican		Burpee L. Steeves	2
							Ezra A. Burrell
8		James H. Brady	January 4, 1909	January 2, 1911	Republican		Lewis H. Sweetser	1
9		James H. Hawley	January 2, 1911	January 6, 1913	Democratic		Lewis H. Sweetser	1
10		John M. Haines	January 6, 1913	January 4, 1915	Republican		Herman H. Taylor	1
11		Moses Alexander	January 4, 1915	January 6, 1919	Democratic		Herman H. Taylor[t]	2
							Ernest L. Parker
12		D. W. Davis	January 6, 1919	January 1, 1923	Republican		Charles C. Moore	2
13		Charles C. Moore	January 1, 1923	January 3, 1927	Republican		H. C. Baldridge	2
14		H. C. Baldridge	January 3, 1927	January 5, 1931	Republican		O. E. Hailey	2
							W. B. Kinne[u]
							O. E. Hailey
15		C. Ben Ross	January 5, 1931	January 4, 1937	Democratic		G. P. Mix	3
							George E. Hill
							G. P. Mix
16		Barzilla W. Clark	January 4, 1937	January 2, 1939	Democratic		Charles C. Gossett	1
17		C. A. Bottolfsen	January 2, 1939	January 6, 1941	Republican		Donald S. Whitehead	1
18		Chase A. Clark	January 6, 1941	January 4, 1943	Democratic		Charles C. Gossett	1
19		C. A. Bottolfsen	January 4, 1943	January 1, 1945	Republican		Edwin Nelson	1
20		Charles C. Gossett	January 1, 1945	November 17, 1945	Democratic		Arnold Williams	​1⁄2[v]
21		Arnold Williams	November 17, 1945	January 6, 1947	Democratic		A. R. McCabe	​1⁄2[p]
22		C. A. Robins	January 6, 1947	January 1, 1951	Republican		Donald S. Whitehead	1[w]
23		Leonard B. Jordan	January 1, 1951	January 3, 1955	Republican		Edson H. Deal	1
24		Robert E. Smylie	January 3, 1955	January 2, 1967	Republican		J. Berkeley Larsen	3
							W. E. Drevlow[x]
25		Don Samuelson	January 2, 1967	January 4, 1971	Republican		Jack M. Murphy	1
26		Cecil D. Andrus	January 4, 1971	January 24, 1977	Democratic		Jack M. Murphy[t]	1​1⁄2[y]
							John V. Evans
27		John V. Evans	January 24, 1977	January 5, 1987	Democratic		William J. Murphy	2​1⁄2[z]
							Phil Batt[t]
							David H. Leroy[t]
28		Cecil D. Andrus	January 5, 1987	January 2, 1995	Democratic		C.L. "Butch" Otter[t]	2
29		Phil Batt	January 2, 1995	January 4, 1999	Republican		C.L. "Butch" Otter	1
30		Dirk Kempthorne	January 4, 1999	May 26, 2006	Republican		C.L. "Butch" Otter[aa]	1​1⁄2[ab]
							Jack Riggs
							Jim Risch
31		Jim Risch	May 26, 2006	January 1, 2007	Republican		Mark Ricks	​1⁄2[p]
32		C.L. "Butch" Otter	January 1, 2007	January 6, 2019	Republican		Jim Risch	2
							Brad Little
33		Brad Little	January 6, 2019	Incumbent	Republican		Janice McGeachin	2
							Scott Bedke

Other high offices held

Sixteen of Idaho's governors have served higher federal offices or as governors of other states. Nine have served in the U.S. Senate, and three have served in the U.S. House. Two governors have been U.S. Secretaries of the Interior. One served as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Six governors (marked with *) resigned to take a new office.

Also, two people who were appointed governor of Idaho Territory but never took office held other high offices. Gilman Marston was a representative and senator from New Hampshire.^[41] John Philo Hoyt was Governor of Arizona Territory.^[42]

All representatives and senators listed represented Idaho except where noted.

Name	Gubernatorial term	Other offices held	Sources
William H. Wallace	1863–1864	Delegate from Idaho Territory*, Delegate from Washington Territory, appointed Governor of Washington Territory but did not take office	[7]
Caleb Lyon	1864–1866	Representative from New York	[43]
Thomas M. Bowen	1871	Senator from Colorado	[44]
Thomas W. Bennett	1871–1875	Delegate from Idaho Territory*	[15]
David P. Thompson	1875–1876	Minister to the Ottoman Empire	[45]
John N. Irwin	1883	Governor of Arizona Territory	[46]
George Laird Shoup	1889–1890	Senator*	[36]
William J. McConnell	1893–1897	Senator	[47]
Frank R. Gooding	1905–1909	Senator	[48]
James H. Brady	1909–1911	Senator	[49]
Charles C. Gossett	1945	Senator*	[50]
Leonard B. Jordan	1951–1955	Senator	[51]
Cecil D. Andrus	1971–1977, 1987–1995	Secretary of the Interior*	[38]
Dirk Kempthorne	1999–2006	Senator, Secretary of the Interior*	[40]
Jim Risch	2006–2007	Senator	[52]
C.L. "Butch" Otter	2007–2019	Representative	[39]
Brad Little	2019–present	Lieutenant Governor	[53]

Living former governors

As of January 2019^[update], four former governors were alive. The most recent death of a former governor was that of Cecil D. Andrus (1971–1977; 1987–1995). He died at age 85 on August 24, 2017.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
Phil Batt	1995–1999	(1927-03-04) March 4, 1927 (age 98)
Dirk Kempthorne	1999–2006	(1951-10-29) October 29, 1951 (age 73)
Jim Risch	2006–2007	(1943-05-03) May 3, 1943 (age 82)
Butch Otter	2007–2019	(1942-05-03) May 3, 1942 (age 83)

Notes

1. Resigned to take an elected seat as delegate from Idaho Territory.^[7]
2. Appointed governor but resigned in April 1870 to become postmaster of Atlanta, Georgia, before arriving in Idaho.^[10]
3. Appointed governor but resigned in December 1870 before arriving in Idaho.^[10]
4. Appointed governor but declined the offer.^[10]
5. Upon arriving in Idaho, Bowen did not like the looks of the landscape, so he decided to stay only a few weeks.^[12]
6. Resigned to take an elected seat as delegate from Idaho Territory.^[15]
7. Thompson left Idaho in May 1876 to attend the Republican National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. He resigned in Cincinnati after he learned federal officers could not hold government contracts.^[16]
8. Brayman was suspended by President Hayes on June 8, 1878 and John P. Hoyt was appointed Governor of Idaho. After Hoyt refused the appointment, Brayman was allowed to serve out the remainder of his term.^[19]
9. Appointed governor on June 8, 1878, but was rejected by the United States Senate for taking too long to respond to the offer. Appointed again on August 7, 1878, but declined the offer after researching the suspension of Governor Brayman. He ended up accepting a position on the Washington Territorial Supreme Court.^[19]
10. Irwin left Idaho Territory in May 1883, never to return. He returned his paychecks from July 1883 through December 1883 to the U.S. Treasury.^[25]
11. Bunn left Idaho on April 17, 1885 for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he subsequently resigned on July 3, 1885.^[24]
12. Stevenson was a resident of Idaho when President Cleveland called him to Washington, D.C. for an interview and to personally witness his appointment.^[28]
13. Based on C.L. "Butch" Otter saying he would be the 32nd governor of the state,^[35] the official count includes repeat governors.
14. 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.
15. Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.^[36]
16. As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term.
17. Moore was part of a fusion ticket that was also endorsed by the Populist Party.^[21]
18. Steunenberg was part of a fusion ticket that was also endorsed by the Populist Party.^[21]
19. Hutchinson was part of a fusion ticket that was also endorsed by the Silver Republican Party.^[21]
20. Represented the Republican Party.
21. Died in office.^[21]
22. Gossett resigned to let Lieutenant Governor Williams succeed him and then appoint him to the United States Senate.^[37]
23. Robins served the first term after terms were lengthened to four years.
24. Represented the Democratic Party.
25. Resigned to be United States Secretary of the Interior.^[38]
26. As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term, and was subsequently elected in his own right.
27. Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States House of Representatives.^[39]
28. Resigned to be United States Secretary of the Interior.^[40]