List of governors of Texas

The governor of Texas is the chief executive officer of the U.S. state of Texas and the commander in chief of the state’s military forces. The incumbent, Greg Abbott, is the forty-eighth governor to serve in the office since Texas' statehood in 1845.

When compared to those of other states, the governorship of Texas has been described as one of relative weakness. In some respects, it is the lieutenant governor of Texas, who presides over the Texas Senate, who possesses greater influence to exercise their prerogatives.

The governor is inaugurated on the third Tuesday of January every four years along with the lieutenant governor, and serves a term of four years. Prior to the present laws, in 1845, the state's first constitution established the office of governor, serving a term of two years, but no more than four years of every six. The 1861 constitution, following secession from the Union, established the first Monday of November following election as the term's start. Following the end of the American Civil War, the 1866 constitution increased term length to four years, limiting overall service to no more than eight years of every twelve, moving the term's start to the first Thursday following organization of the legislature, or "as soon thereafter as practicable." The constitution of 1869, enacted during Reconstruction, removed term limitations, to this day making Texas one of sixteen states, territory or jurisdiction (including the U.S. Territory Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia with no limit on gubernatorial terms. The present constitution of 1876 returned terms to two years, but a 1972 amendment again returned them to four.

In the case of a vacancy in the office, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. Prior to a 1999 amendment, the lieutenant governor only acted as governor until the expiration of the term to which he succeeded. The governor and the lieutenant governor are not officially elected on the same ticket.

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

|+ Governors of the State of Texas

!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;"

!scope="row"|1

|data-sort-value="Henderson, J."|75px

|rowspan="8" style="background: ;"| 

|J. Pinckney Henderson

| – December 21, 1847

|Democratic

|1845

|rowspan="4" style="background: ;"| 

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|2

|data-sort-value="Wood, George"|75px

|George Tyler Wood

| – December 21, 1849

|Democratic

|1847

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

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

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Bell, Peter"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Peter Hansborough Bell

|rowspan="2"| – November 23, 1853

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1849

|- style="height:2em;"

|1851

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|4

|data-sort-value="Henderson, James."|75px

|James W. Henderson

| – December 21, 1853

|Democratic

|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|

|colspan="2" style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Vacant

|- style="height:2em;"

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

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Pease, Elisha"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Elisha M. Pease

|rowspan="2"| – December 21, 1857

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1853

|rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1855

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|6

|data-sort-value="Runnels, Hardin"|75px

|Hardin Richard Runnels

| – December 21, 1859

|Democratic

|1857

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|7

|data-sort-value="Houston, Sam"|75px

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

|Sam Houston

| – March 16, 1861

|Independent

|1859

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|8

|data-sort-value="Clark, Edward"|75px

|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|

|Edward Clark

| – November 7, 1861

|Democratic

|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|

|colspan="2" style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Vacant

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|9

|data-sort-value="Lubbock, Francis"|75px

|Francis Lubbock

| – November 5, 1863

|Democratic

|1861

|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|10

|data-sort-value="Murrah, Pendleton"|75px

|Pendleton Murrah

| – June 17, 1865

|Democratic

|1863

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|11

|data-sort-value="Hamilton, Andrew"|75px

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

|Andrew Jackson Hamilton

| – August 9, 1866

|colspan="2" style="background:#EEEEEE;"|

|colspan="2" style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Vacant

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|12

|data-sort-value="Throckmorton, James"|75px

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

|James W. Throckmorton

| – July 30, 1867

|Democratic

|1866

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

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|13

|data-sort-value="Pease, Elisha"|75px

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

|Elisha M. Pease – September 30, 1869

|colspan="2" style="background:#EEEEEE;"|

|rowspan="3" colspan="2" style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Vacant

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|—

|colspan="3"|Vacant

| – January 15, 1874

|Republican

|1869

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|15

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

|rowspan="56" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|

|rowspan="2"|Richard Coke

|rowspan="2"| – December 1, 1876

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1873

|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1876

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|16

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

|Richard B. Hubbard

| – January 21, 1879

|Democratic

|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|

|colspan="2" style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Vacant

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|17

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Roberts, Oran"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Oran Milo Roberts

|rowspan="2"| – January 16, 1883

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1878

|rowspan="20" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1880

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|18

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Ireland, John"|75px

|rowspan="2"|John Ireland

|rowspan="2"| – January 18, 1887

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1882

|- style="height:2em;"

|1884

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|19

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Ross, Lawrence"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Lawrence Sullivan Ross

|rowspan="2"| – January 20, 1891

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1886

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1888

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|20

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Hogg, Jim"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Jim Hogg

|rowspan="2"| – January 15, 1895

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1890

|- style="height:2em;"

|1892

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|21

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Culberson, Charles"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Charles A. Culberson

|rowspan="2"| – January 17, 1899

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1894

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1896

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|22

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Sayers, Joseph"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Joseph D. Sayers

|rowspan="2"| – January 20, 1903

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1898

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1900

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|23

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Lanham, S. W. T."|75px

|rowspan="2"|S. W. T. Lanham

|rowspan="2"| – January 15, 1907

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1902

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1904

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|24

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Campbell, Thomas"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Thomas Mitchell Campbell

|rowspan="2"| – January 17, 1911

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1906

|rowspan="3"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1908

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|25

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Colquitt, Oscar"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Oscar Branch Colquitt

|rowspan="2"| – January 19, 1915

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1910

|- style="height:2em;"

|1912

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|26

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Ferguson, James"|75px

|rowspan="2"|James E. Ferguson

|rowspan="2"| – September 22, 1917

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1914

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1916

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|27

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Hobby, William"|75px

|rowspan="2"|William P. Hobby

|rowspan="2"| – January 18, 1921

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|style="background:#EEEEEE;"|

|colspan="2" style="background:#EEEEEE;"|Vacant

|- style="height:2em;"

|1918

|rowspan="12" style="color:inherit;background: ;"|

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|28

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Neff, Pat"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Pat Morris Neff

|rowspan="2"| – January 20, 1925

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1920

|- style="height:2em;"

|1922

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|29

|data-sort-value="Ferguson, Miriam"|75px

|Miriam A. Ferguson

| – January 18, 1927

|Democratic

|1924

|rowspan="3"|

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|30

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Moody, Dan"|75px

|rowspan="2"|Dan Moody

|rowspan="2"| – January 20, 1931

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1926

|- style="height:2em;"

|1928

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|31

|data-sort-value="Sterling, Ross"|75px

|Ross S. Sterling

| – January 17, 1933

|Democratic

|1930

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

!scope="row"|32

|data-sort-value="Ferguson, Miriam"|75px

|Miriam A. Ferguson – January 15, 1935

|Democratic

|1932

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|33

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Allred, James"|75px

|rowspan="2"|James Burr V Allred

|rowspan="2"| – January 17, 1939

|rowspan="2"|Democratic

|1934

|rowspan="2"|

|- style="height:2em;"

|1936

|- style="height:2em;"

!rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup"|34

|rowspan="2" data-sort-value="O'Daniel, W. Lee"|75px

|rowspan="2"|W. Lee O'Daniel

|rowspan="2"| – August 4, 1941