List of governors of Arizona

The governor of Arizona is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arizona. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Arizona State Legislature; to convene the legislature; with the exception of cases of impeachment. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. Arizona is one of the few states that currently does not have a governor's mansion or other official residence.

Twenty-four people have served as governor over 28 distinct terms. All of the repeat governors were in the state's earliest years, when George W. P. Hunt and Thomas Edward Campbell alternated as governor for 17 years and, after a two-year gap, Hunt served another term. One governor, Evan Mecham, was impeached by the Arizona House of Representatives and subsequently removed from office following his conviction in the Arizona Senate. Another, Fife Symington, resigned upon being convicted of a felony. The longest-serving governor was Hunt, who was elected seven times and served just under fourteen years. The longest single stint was that of Bruce Babbitt, who was elected to two four-year terms after succeeding to the office following the death of his predecessor, Wesley Bolin, serving nearly nine years total. Bolin had the shortest tenure, dying less than five months after succeeding as governor. Arizona has had five female governors, the most in the United States, and was the first—and until 2019 (when Michelle Lujan Grisham succeeded Susana Martinez in neighboring New Mexico) the only—state where female governors served consecutively.

The current governor as of January 2, 2023, is Democrat Katie Hobbs.

List of governors

Confederate Arizona

In Tucson between April 2 and April 5, 1860, a convention of settlers from the southern half of New Mexico Territory drafted a provisional constitution for "Arizona Territory", three years before the United States would create such a territory. This proposed territory consisted of the part of New Mexico Territory south of 33° 40' north. On April 2, they elected a governor, Lewis S. Owings. The provisional territory was to exist until such time as an official territory was created, but that proposal was rejected by Congress at the time.

On March 16, 1861, soon before the American Civil War broke out, a convention in Mesilla voted that the provisional territory should secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. Lewis S. Owings remained on as the provisional governor of the territory.

The Confederacy took ownership of the territory on August 1, 1861, when forces led by Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor won decisive control of the territory, and Baylor proclaimed himself governor. Arizona Territory was formally organized in the Confederacy on January 18, 1862. On March 20, 1862, Baylor issued an order to kill all the adult Apache and take their children into slavery. no new governor was appointed.

Territory of Arizona

Arizona Territory was formed on February 24, 1863, from New Mexico Territory, remaining a territory for 49 years.

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible sticky-header-multi" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Governors of the Territory of Arizona

!scope="col" data-sort-type="number"|

!scope="colgroup" colspan="2"|Governor

!scope="col"|Term in office

!scope="col"|Appointing President

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|—

|data-sort-value="Gurley, John"|75px

|John A. Gurley

| – August 19, 1863

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|1

|data-sort-value="Goodwin, John"|75px

|John Noble Goodwin

| – April 10, 1866

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|2

|data-sort-value="McCormick, Richard"|75px

|Richard Cunningham McCormick

| – March 4, 1869

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|3

|data-sort-value="Safford, Anson"|75px

|Anson P. K. Safford

| – April 5, 1877

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|4

|data-sort-value="Hoyt, John"|75px

|John Philo Hoyt

| – June 14, 1878

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|5

|data-sort-value="Fremont, John"|75px

|John C. Frémont

| – October 11, 1881

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|6

|data-sort-value="Tritle, Frederick"|75px

|Frederick Augustus Tritle

| – October 7, 1885

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|7

|data-sort-value="Zulick, C. Meyer"|75px

|C. Meyer Zulick

| – March 28, 1889

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|8

|data-sort-value="Wolfley, Lewis"|75px

|Lewis Wolfley

| – August 20, 1890

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|9

|data-sort-value="Irwin, John"|75px

|John N. Irwin

| – April 19, 1892

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|10

|data-sort-value="Murphy, Oakes"|75px

|Oakes Murphy

| – April 13, 1893

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|11

|data-sort-value="Hughes, L. C."|75px

|L. C. Hughes

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|12

|data-sort-value="Franklin, Benjamin"|75px

|Benjamin Joseph Franklin

| – July 22, 1897

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|13

|data-sort-value="McCord, Myron"|75px

|Myron H. McCord

| – August 1, 1898

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|14

|data-sort-value="Murphy, Oakes"|75px

|Oakes Murphy

| – July 1, 1902

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|15

|data-sort-value="Brodie, Alexander"|75px

|Alexander Oswald Brodie

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|16

|data-sort-value="Kibbey, Joseph"|75px

|Joseph Henry Kibbey

| – April 15, 1909

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|17

|data-sort-value="Sloan, Richard"|75px

|Richard Elihu Sloan

| – February 14, 1912

State of Arizona

The state of Arizona was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, the last of the contiguous states to be admitted.

The state constitution of 1912 called for the election of a governor every two years. The term was increased to four years by a 1968 amendment. The constitution originally included no term limit, but an amendment passed in 1992 allows governors to succeed themselves only once; If the governor is out of the state or impeached, the next elected officer in the line of succession becomes acting governor until the governor returns or is cleared. Nominees will be chosen by each party's gubernatorial nominee, with the governor and lieutenant governor then chosen by general election voters on a joint ticket.

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible sticky-header-multi" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Governors of the State of Arizona

!scope="col" data-sort-type="number"|

!scope="colgroup" colspan="3"|Governor

!scope="col"|Term in office

!scope="col"|Party

!scope="col"|Election

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|1

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Hunt, George"|75px

|rowspan="2" style="background:;"| 

|rowspan="2"|George W. P. Hunt

|rowspan="2"| – January 1, 1917

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1911

|- style="height:2em;"

|1914

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|2

|data-sort-value="Campbell, Thomas"|75px

|style="color:inherit;background:;"|

|Thomas Edward Campbell

| – December 25, 1917

|Republican

|rowspan="2"|1916