| Post: | Governor |
| Body: | Idaho |
| Insignia: | Seal of Idaho.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 110 |
| Insigniacaption: | Great Seal of the State of Idaho |
| Termlength: | Four years, no term limit |
| Residence: | None |
| Incumbent: | Brad Little |
| Incumbentsince: | January 7, 2019 |
| Department: | Government of Idaho |
| Formation: | October 1, 1890 |
| Deputy: | Lieutenant Governor of Idaho |
| Salary: | $117,000 (2013)[1] |
| Inaugural: | George L. Shoup |
The governor of Idaho is the head of government of Idaho[2] and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The officeholder has the duty to see state laws are executed, power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Idaho Legislature.[3] The current governor of Idaho is Brad Little, a Republican, who took office on January 7, 2019.
Thirty-one individuals have held the office of governor of Idaho since the state's admission to the Union in 1890, two of whom served non-consecutive terms. The state's first governor, George L. Shoup, had the shortest term, of three months; Cecil Andrus had the longest, of 14 years.
Idaho Territory was created from Dakota Territory, Nebraska Territory, and Washington Territory on March 4, 1863.
There were sixteen territorial governors appointed by the president of the United States from the territory's organization in 1863 until the formation of the state of Idaho in 1890. Due to the long distance from Washington, D.C. to Boise, there was often a lengthy gap between a governor being appointed and his arrival in the territory; four resigned before even arriving.
| Governor | Term in office | Appointed by | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | data-sort-value="Wallace, William" | William H. Wallace | - December 1863 | |||
| 2 | data-sort-value="Lyon, Caleb" | Caleb Lyon | - June 14, 1866 | |||
| 3 | data-sort-value="Ballard, David" | David W. Ballard | - July 16, 1870 | |||
| — | data-sort-value="Bard, Samuel" | Samuel Bard | - June 5, 1870 | |||
| — | data-sort-value="Marston, Gilman" | Gilman Marston | - December 3, 1870 | |||
| — | data-sort-value="Conner, Alexander" | Alexander H. Conner | - April 19, 1871 | |||
| 4 | data-sort-value="Bowen, Thomas" | Thomas M. Bowen | - September 30, 1871 | |||
| 5 | data-sort-value="Bennett, Thomas" | Thomas W. Bennett | - December 4, 1875 | |||
| 6 | data-sort-value="Thompson, David" | David P. Thompson | - July 1, 1876 | |||
| 7 | data-sort-value="Brayman, Mason" | Mason Brayman | - July 24, 1880 | |||
| 8 | data-sort-value="Neil, John" | John Baldwin Neil | - March 2, 1883 | |||
| 9 | data-sort-value="Irwin, John" | John N. Irwin | - December 20, 1883 | |||
| 10 | data-sort-value="Bunn, William" | William M. Bunn | - July 3, 1885 | |||
| 11 | data-sort-value="Stevenson, Edward" | Edward A. Stevenson | - April 1, 1889 | |||
| 12 | data-sort-value="Shoup, George" | George L. Shoup | - December 8, 1890 |
Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890. The terms for governor and lieutenant governor are 4 years, commencing on the first Monday in the January following the election.[4] Prior to 1946, the offices were elected to terms of two years.[5] If the office of governor is vacant or the governor is out of state or unable to discharge his duties, the lieutenant governor acts as governor until such time as the disability is removed.[6] If both the offices of governor and lieutenant governor are vacant or both those officers are unable to fulfill their duties, the President pro tempore of the Idaho Senate is next in line, and then the Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives.[7] After the change to four-year terms, self-succession (re-election) was not initially allowed; newly elected Governor Robert E. Smylie, formerly the state's attorney general, successfully lobbied the 1955 legislature to propose an amendment to the state constitution to allow gubernatorial re-election, which was approved by voters in the 1956 general election.[8] [9] There is no limit to the number of terms a governor may serve.[10] The governor and the lieutenant governor are elected at the same time but not on the same ticket.
| Governor | Term in office | Party | Election | Lt. Governor | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | data-sort-value="Shoup, George" | George L. Shoup [11] | - December 19, 1890 | Republican | 1890 | ||||
| 2 | data-sort-value="Willey, N. B." | N. B. Willey [12] | [13] - January 2, 1893 | Republican | |||||
| 3 | William J. McConnell [14] | [15] - January 4, 1897 | Republican | 1892 | |||||
| 1894 | |||||||||
| 4 | Frank Steunenberg [16] | [17] - January 7, 1901 | Democratic | 1896 | |||||
| 1898 | |||||||||
| 5 | data-sort-value="Hunt, Frank" | Frank W. Hunt [18] | [19] - January 5, 1903 | Democratic | 1900 | ||||
| 6 | data-sort-value="Morrison, John" | John T. Morrison [20] | [21] - January 2, 1905 | Republican | 1902 | ||||
| 7 | Frank R. Gooding [22] | [23] - January 4, 1909 | Republican | 1904 | |||||
| 1906 | |||||||||
| 8 | data-sort-value="Brady, James" | James H. Brady [24] | [25] - January 2, 1911 | Republican | 1908 | ||||
| 9 | data-sort-value="Hawley, James" | James H. Hawley [26] | [27] - January 6, 1913 | Democratic | 1910 | ||||
| 10 | data-sort-value="Haines, John" | John M. Haines [28] | [29] - January 4, 1915 | Republican | 1912 | ||||
| 11 | Moses Alexander [30] | [31] - January 6, 1919 | Democratic | 1914 | |||||
| 1916 | |||||||||
| 12 | D. W. Davis [32] | [33] - January 1, 1923 | Republican | 1918 | |||||
| 1920 | |||||||||
| 13 | Charles C. Moore [34] | [35] - January 3, 1927 | Republican | 1922 | |||||
| 1924 | |||||||||
| 14 | H. C. Baldridge [36] | [37] - January 5, 1931 | Republican | 1926 | |||||
| 1928 | |||||||||
| Vacant | |||||||||
| 15 | C. Ben Ross [38] | [39] - January 4, 1937 | Democratic | 1930 | |||||
| 1932 | |||||||||
| 1934 | |||||||||
| 16 | data-sort-value="Clark, Barzilla" | Barzilla W. Clark [40] | [41] - January 2, 1939 | Democratic | 1936 | ||||
| 17 | data-sort-value="Bottolfsen, C. A." | C. A. Bottolfsen [42] | [43] - January 6, 1941 | Republican | 1938 | ||||
| 18 | data-sort-value="Clark, Chase" | Chase A. Clark [44] | [45] - January 4, 1943 | Democratic | 1940 | ||||
| 19 | data-sort-value="Bottolfsen, C. A." | C. A. Bottolfsen | [46] - January 1, 1945 | Republican | 1942 | ||||
| 20 | data-sort-value="Gossett, Charles" | Charles C. Gossett [47] | [48] - November 17, 1945 | Democratic | 1944 | ||||
| 21 | Arnold Williams [49] | [50] - January 6, 1947 | Democratic | Vacant | |||||
| 22 | data-sort-value="Robins, C. A." | C. A. Robins [51] | [52] - January 1, 1951 | Republican | 1946 | ||||
| 23 | data-sort-value="Jordan, Leonard" | Leonard B. Jordan [53] | [54] - January 3, 1955 | Republican | 1950 | ||||
| 24 | Robert E. Smylie [55] | [56] - January 2, 1967 | Republican | 1954 | |||||
| 1958 | |||||||||
| 1962 | |||||||||
| 25 | data-sort-value="Samuelson, Don" | Don Samuelson [57] | [58] - January 4, 1971 | Republican | 1966 | ||||
| 26 | Cecil Andrus [59] | [60] - January 24, 1977 | Democratic | 1970 | |||||
| 1974 | |||||||||
| 27 | John Evans [61] | [62] - January 5, 1987 | Democratic | Vacant | |||||
| 1978 | |||||||||
| 1982 | |||||||||
| 28 | Cecil Andrus | [63] - January 2, 1995 | Democratic | 1986 | |||||
| 1990 | |||||||||
| 29 | data-sort-value="Batt, Phil" | Phil Batt [64] | [65] - January 4, 1999 | Republican | 1994 | ||||
| 30 | Dirk Kempthorne [66] | [67] - May 26, 2006 | Republican | 1998 | |||||
| Vacant | |||||||||
| 2002 | |||||||||
| 31 | Jim Risch [68] | [69] - January 1, 2007 | Republican | Vacant | |||||
| 32 | Butch Otter [70] | - January 7, 2019 [71] | Republican | 2006 | |||||
| Vacant | |||||||||
| 2010 | |||||||||
| 2014 | |||||||||
| 33 | Brad Little [72] | [73] - Incumbent | Republican | 2018 | |||||
| 2022 | |||||||||