The governor of Nevada is the head of government of the U.S. state of Nevada. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the Nevada state government. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Nevada Legislature, to convene the legislature at any time, as well as, except in cases of treason or impeachment, to grant pardons and reprieves.
The governor serves a four-year term. An amendment in 1970 limits them to two terms, even if they are non-consecutive. The lieutenant governor of Nevada is officially not elected on the same ticket as the governor. Should there be a vacancy in the office of governor, the powers devolve onto the lieutenant governor.
The current governor is Republican Joe Lombardo, who took office on January 2, 2023.
List of governors
Territory of Nevada
Nevada Territory was formed on March 2, 1861, from Utah Territory. It had only one governor appointed by the president of the United States before it became a state.
Before it was organized as a territory, a local convention in Genoa elected Isaac Roop provisional governor, taking office on December 15, 1859.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Governor of the Territory of Nevada
!scope="col" data-sort-type="number"|
!scope="colgroup" colspan="2"|Governor
!scope="col"|Term in office
!scope="col"|Appointed by
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|1
|75px
|James W. Nye<br><br>
|March 22, 1861<br />–<br />December 5, 1864<br>
|Abraham Lincoln
|}
State of Nevada
Nevada was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864. There have been thirty one governors since. The longest-serving governor was Bob Miller, who served two and a half terms from 1989 to 1999; the shortest-serving governor was Frank Bell, who acted as governor for the remaining four months of Charles C. Stevenson's term upon the governor's death. The current governor is Joe Lombardo, who took office on January 2, 2023.
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible sticky-header-multi" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Governors of the State of Nevada
!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
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|1
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Blasdel, Henry"|75px
|rowspan="2" style="background: ;"|
|rowspan="2"|Henry G. Blasdel<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />January 2, 1871<br>
|rowspan="2"|Republican
|1864
|rowspan="2" style="background: ;"|
|
|- style="height:2em;"
|1866
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|2
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Bradley, Lewis"|75px
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="2"|Lewis R. Bradley<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />January 7, 1879<br>
|rowspan="2"|Democratic
|1870
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|
|- style="height:2em;"
|1874
|rowspan="2"|
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|3
|data-sort-value="Kinkead, John"|75px
|style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|John Henry Kinkead<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 1, 1883<br>
|Republican
|1878
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|4
|data-sort-value="Adams, Jewett"|75px
|style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|Jewett W. Adams<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 3, 1887<br>
|Democratic
|1882
|rowspan="6" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="3" scope="rowgroup"|5
|rowspan="3" data-sort-value="Stevenson, Charles"|75px
|rowspan="5" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="3"|Charles C. Stevenson<br><br>
|rowspan="3"|<br />–<br />September 21, 1890<br>
|rowspan="3"|Republican
|rowspan="3"|1886
|<br>
|- style="height:2em;"
|<br>
|- style="height:2em;"
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|6
|data-sort-value="Bell, Frank"|75px
|Frank Bell<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 5, 1891<br>
|Republican
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Acting as governor
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|7
|data-sort-value="Colcord, Roswell"|75px
|Roswell K. Colcord<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 8, 1895<br>
|Republican
|1890
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|8
|data-sort-value="Jones, John"|75px
|rowspan="6" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|John Edward Jones<br><br>
|<br />–<br />April 10, 1896<br>
|Silver
|1894
|rowspan="6" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|9
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Sadler, Reinhold"|75px
|rowspan="2"|Reinhold Sadler<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />January 5, 1903<br>
|rowspan="2"|Silver
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Acting as governor
|- style="height:2em;"
|1898
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|10
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Sparks, John"|75px
|rowspan="2"|John Sparks<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />May 22, 1908<br>
|rowspan="2"|Silver-<br>Democratic
|1902
|
|- style="height:2em;"
|1906
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|11
|data-sort-value="Dickerson, Denver"|75px
|Denver S. Dickerson<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 2, 1911<br>
|Silver-<br>Democratic
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Acting as governor
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|12
|data-sort-value="Oddie, Tasker"|75px
|style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|Tasker Oddie<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 4, 1915<br>
|Republican
|1910
|rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|13
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Boyle, Emmet"|75px
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="2"|Emmet D. Boyle<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />January 1, 1923<br>
|rowspan="2"|Democratic
|1914
|rowspan="3"|
|- style="height:2em;"
|1918
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|14
|data-sort-value="Scrugham, James"|75px
|James G. Scrugham<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 3, 1927<br>
|Democratic
|1922
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|15
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Balzar, Fred"|75px
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="2"|Fred B. Balzar<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />March 21, 1934<br>
|rowspan="2"|Republican
|1926
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="2"|
|- style="height:2em;"
|1930
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|16
|data-sort-value="Griswold, Morley"|75px
|Morley Griswold<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 7, 1935<br>
|Republican
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Acting as governor
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|17
|data-sort-value="Kirman, Richard"|75px
|rowspan="5" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|Richard Kirman Sr.<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 2, 1939<br>
|Democratic
|1934
|rowspan="6" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|18
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Carville, Edward"|75px
|rowspan="2"|Edward P. Carville<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />July 24, 1945<br>
|rowspan="2"|Democratic
|1938
|
|- style="height:2em;"
|1942
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|19
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Pittman, Vail"|75px
|rowspan="2"|Vail Pittman<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />January 2, 1951<br>
|rowspan="2"|Democratic
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|
|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Acting as governor
|- style="height:2em;"
|1946
|rowspan="2"|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|20
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Russell, Charles"|75px
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="2"|Charles H. Russell<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />January 5, 1959<br>
|rowspan="2"|Republican
|1950
|- style="height:2em;"
|1954
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="2"|<br>
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="3" scope="rowgroup"|21
|rowspan="3" data-sort-value="Sawyer, Grant"|75px
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="3"|Grant Sawyer<br><br>
|rowspan="3"|<br />–<br />January 2, 1967<br>
|rowspan="3"|Democratic
|rowspan="2"|1958
|- style="height:2em;"
|style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|<br>
|- style="height:2em;"
|1962
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|22
|data-sort-value="Laxalt, Paul"|75px
|style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|Paul Laxalt<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 4, 1971<br>
|Republican
|1966
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|23
|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="O'Callaghan, Mike"|75px
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|rowspan="2"|Mike O'Callaghan<br><br>
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />January 1, 1979<br>
|rowspan="2"|Democratic
|1970
|rowspan="6" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|
|- style="height:2em;"
|1974
|
|- style="height:2em;"
!scope="row"|24
|data-sort-value="List, Robert"|75px
|style="color:inherit;background: ;"|
|Robert List<br><br>
|<br />–<br />January 3, 1983<br>
|Republican
|rowspan="2"|<br />–<br />January 3, 1989<br>