List of governors of Florida

thumb|[[Ron DeSantis has been governor since January 8, 2019.]]

The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Florida and is the commander-in-chief of the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard.

The current officeholder is Ron DeSantis, a member of the Republican Party who took office on January 8, 2019.

List of governors

Military governor

The United States acquired Spanish Florida from Spain by the terms of the Adams–Onís Treaty, which took effect February 22, 1821, after its ratification by both parties to the treaty. Parts of West Florida had already been assigned to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi; the remainder and East Florida were governed by a military commissioner with the powers of governor until the territory was organized and incorporated.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ United States Commissioner and Governor of East and West Florida.

|March 10, 1821 – December 31, 1821

|James Monroe

Territory of Florida

Florida Territory was organized on March 30, 1822, combining East and West Florida.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Governors of the Territory of Florida

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

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

!scope="col"|Term in office

!scope="col"|Appointed by

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="3" scope="rowgroup"|1

|rowspan="3" data-sort-value="Duval, William"|75px

|rowspan="3"|William Pope Duval

|rowspan="3"| – April 17, 1834

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|2

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

|John Eaton

| – March 16, 1836

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|3

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Call, Richard"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Richard K. Call

|rowspan="2"| – December 2, 1839

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|4

|data-sort-value="Reid, Robert"|75px

|Robert R. Reid

| – March 19, 1841

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|5

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Call, Richard"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Richard K. Call

and confirmed by the Senate on August 11. – August 11, 1844

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|6

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

|John Branch

| – June 25, 1845

State of Florida

The State of Florida was admitted to the Union on March 3, 1845. It seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, and joined the Confederate States of America on February 8, 1861, as a founding member. Following the end of the American Civil War, it was part of the Third Military District. Florida was readmitted to the Union on June 25, 1868.

The Florida Constitution of 1838 provided that a governor be elected every 4 years, who was not allowed to serve consecutive terms. The secessionist constitution of 1861 would have reduced this to two years and removed the term limit, but the state fell to the Union before the first election under that constitution. The rejected constitution of 1865 and the ratified constitution of 1868 maintained the four-year term, though without the earlier term limit, which was reintroduced in the 1885 constitution. The current constitution of 1968 states that should the governor serve, or would have served had he not resigned, more than six years in two consecutive terms, he cannot be elected to the succeeding term. The start of a term was set in 1885 at the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the January following the election,

Originally, the president of the state senate acted as governor should that office be vacant. The 1865 and 1868 constitutions created the office of lieutenant governor, who would similarly act as governor. This office was abolished in 1885, with the president of the senate again taking on that duty. The 1968 constitution recreated the office of lieutenant governor, who now becomes governor in the absence of the governor. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket. It elected three Republican governors following Reconstruction, but after the Democratic Party re-established control, 90 years passed before voters chose another Republican. Since 1998, it has been a strongly Republican state.

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

|+ Governors of the State of Florida

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

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

!scope="col"|Term in office

!scope="col"|Party

!scope="col"|Election

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