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 successfully impeached, and one, 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.
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,[9] 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.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12]Arizona Territory was formally organized in the Confederacy on January 18, 1862.[13] On March 20, 1862, Baylor issued an order to kill all the adult Apache and take their children into slavery.[12] When Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis learned of this order, he strongly disapproved and demanded an explanation. Baylor wrote a letter December 29, 1862, to justify his decision, and after this was received, Davis relieved Baylor of his post and commission, calling his letter an "avowal of an infamous crime". By that time, the Confederate government of Arizona Territory was in exile in San Antonio, Texas, as the territory had been effectively lost to Union forces in July 1862;[14] no new governor was appointed.
The state constitution of 1912 called for the election of a governor every two years.[124] The term was increased to four years by a 1968 amendment.[125][126] The constitution originally included no term limit,[127] but an amendment passed in 1992 allows governors to succeed themselves only once;[124] before this, four governors were elected more than twice in a row. Gubernatorial terms begin on the first Monday in the January following the election.[124] Governors who have served the two term limit can run again after four years out of office.
Arizona is one of the few states which does not have a lieutenant governor. Instead, in the event of a vacancy in the office of governor, the secretary of state, if elected, succeeds to the office. If the secretary of state was appointed rather than elected, or is otherwise ineligible to hold the office of governor, the next elected and eligible person in the line of succession assumes the office. The state constitution specifies the line of succession to be the Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer and Superintendent of Public Instruction, in that order.[128] 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.[128] In either case, any partial term counts toward the limit of two consecutive terms.
The line of succession has reached beyond the secretary of state only once, when Attorney General Bruce Babbitt became governor upon the death of Wesley Bolin. Rose Mofford had been appointed secretary of state to replace Bolin after Bolin succeeded to the governorship. Bolin had become governor when Raúl Héctor Castro resigned to accept appointment as ambassador to Argentina. Mofford later became acting governor after Evan Mecham was impeached by the House of Representatives, and succeeded to the governorship when Mecham was removed from office after his conviction by the Senate.
Starting with the 2026 election cycle, Arizona will have a lieutenant governor, pursuant to a 2022 amendment to the constitution.[129] 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.[129] If the offices of governor and the lieutenant governor become vacant at the same time, the amended law provisions of the state constitution are that the secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer or the superintendent of public instruction will assume the office of governor and then appoint the lieutenant governor pending state legislative approval.[130]
^The range given is from the date the governor was confirmed by the Senate, or appointed by the President during a Senate recess, to the date the governor's successor was confirmed, unless noted.
^Gurley was nominated on March 7, 1863,[16] and was confirmed by the Senate on March 10,[17] but died on August 19, before he could take office.[18][19]
^Goodwin was appointed on August 21, 1863,[21] during a Senate recess; nominated on January 7, 1864;[22] and confirmed by the Senate on February 4, 1864.[23] He established the territorial government on December 29, 1863.[24][25]
^Safford was nominated on April 3, 1869,[36] confirmed by the Senate on April 8,[37] and took office on July 9.[38] He was reconfirmed by the Senate on March 18, 1873.[39]
^While some sources say Safford resigned due to health and personal concerns,[35] President Hayes' nomination of his successor John Philo Hoyt specified, "vice A. P. K. Safford, whose term of office has expired."[40]
^Hoyt was appointed on April 5, 1877,[42] during a Senate recess; nominated on October 17,[40] and confirmed by the Senate on October 29.[43] Despite already being in the territory when appointed, he did not take office until May 30, due to involvement as secretary of the territory in litigation over moving the territorial capital.[41][44]
^McMullin states that Hoyt was asked to resign on June 11, 1878,[41] the day Hayes nominated Hoyt to be governor of Idaho Territory and Frémont to succeed him as governor of Arizona Territory.[45]
^Frémont was nominated on June 11, 1878,[47] confirmed by the Senate on June 14,[48] and took office on October 6.[46][49]
^Frémont resigned; he spent little time in the territory, and the Secretary of the Territory eventually asked him to resume his duties or resign, and he chose resignation.[50]
^Tritle was nominated on January 27, 1882,[52] confirmed by the Senate on February 6,[53] and took office on March 8.[50][54][55]
^Tritle resigned after Grover Cleveland was elected president, so that the Democrat could appoint a Democrat as governor.[51][56]
^Zulick was appointed on October 15, 1885,[58] during a Senate recess; nominated on December 10, 1885;[59] and confirmed by the Senate on May 5, 1886.[60] He took office on November 2, 1885.[61][62]
^Wolfley was nominated on March 14, 1889,[64] confirmed by the Senate on March 28,[65] and took office on April 8.[66][67]
^Wolfley resigned due to a disagreement with the federal government on arid land policy.[63][68][69]
^Irwin was nominated on September 29, 1890,[71] confirmed by the Senate on October 1, 1890,[72] and took office on January 20, 1891.[73]
^Irwin resigned to handle family business out of state.[74][75]
^Murphy was nominated on April 22, 1892,[77] and confirmed by the Senate on May 9.[78] As he was secretary of the territory, he did not take office until his successor to that office was confirmed, which occurred on June 2.[79]
^While some sources say Murphy resigned before Hughes took office,[76] contemporary news reported that Murphy handed the office directly to Hughes on April 13, 1893.[80]
^Hughes was nominated on April 5, 1893,[82] confirmed by the Senate on April 8,[83] and took office on April 13.[80]
^Hughes had abolished many territorial offices, and unhappy officials successfully petitioned President Cleveland to remove him.[84][81][85]
^Franklin was nominated on March 30, 1896,[87] confirmed by the Senate on April 8,[88] and took office on April 18.[86][89][90]
^His successor having been sworn in out of state, and given instruction from the federal government, Franklin resigned the office and handed over duties to the secretary of the territory, Charles H. Akers.[91]
^McCord was nominated on May 20, 1897,[93] and confirmed on July 17.[94] He was sworn in as governor in Virginia on July 21,[95] though Charles H. Akers was still acting governor of the territory until McCord arrived on July 28.[96]
^Murphy was appointed on July 16, 1898,[98] during a Senate recess; nominated on December 8;[98] and confirmed by the Senate on December 14.[99] He took office on August 1.[100][101][102]
^Kibbey was nominated on February 10, 1905,[113] confirmed by the Senate on February 27,[114] and took office on March 7,[112][115] for a term to expire February 27, 1909.[116] Though he was renominated on December 16, 1908,[116] the Senate did not confirm him before the end of the session.[117]
^Sloan was nominated on April 8, 1908,[119] confirmed by the Senate on April 15,[120] and took office on May 1.[121][122][123]
^The governor's website labeled Katie Hobbs as the 24th governor;[131] based on this, each governor is numbered only once, regardless of how many distinct terms they served. Repeat terms are listed with the governor's original number in italics.
^ abInitial results showed that Campbell had won by 30 votes, but Hunt challenged the results, claiming that several precincts had experienced fraudulent voting.[138] The Arizona Supreme Court named Campbell governor on January 27, 1917, and forced Hunt to surrender his office.[139] Hunt continued fighting in court, and on December 22, was declared the winner of the election by 43 votes.[140] Campbell vacated the office three days later.[133]
^The secretary of state at the time of Bolin's death had been appointed, not elected, and thus not in the line of succession according to the Arizona constitution,[128] making Attorney General Babbitt governor.[188]
^Mecham was impeached and removed from office on charges of obstruction of justice and misuse of government funds,[190] though he was later acquitted.[192]
^Symington resigned after being convicted of bank fraud; the conviction was later overturned and he was pardoned by President Bill Clinton.[195][197]
^Arizona adopted runoff voting after Evan Mecham won with only 43% of the vote in 1986. The 1990 election was very close, and a runoff was held on February 26, 1991, which Symington won, and he was inaugurated on March 6.[198]
^ abUnder a 1992 amendment to the constitution, governors who have served two successive terms are not eligible again until another full term has passed.[201]
^There was a question as to whether Brewer, who had served part of one term and one full term, would be prohibited from running for a third term; she decided not to run.[206]
^Goff, John S. (1985). Arizona Territorial Officials Volume III: The Delegates to Congress 1863–1912. Cave Creek, Arizona: Black Mountain Press. p. 32. OCLC12559708.
^Nicolson, John (1974). The Arizona of Joseph Pratt Allyn. University of Arizona Press. p. 39. ISBN0-8165-0386-9. Retrieved October 11, 2008. McCormick was appointed April 10 and took the oath of office July 9, 1866.
^Goff, John S. (1985). Arizona Territorial Officials Volume III: The Delegates to Congress 1863–1912. Cave Creek, Arizona: Black Mountain Press. p. 60. OCLC12559708.
^"Resignation of the Governor of Arizona". The New York Times. March 3, 1869. Retrieved January 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Gov. Mccormick, of Arizona, delegate elect to the Forty-first Congress, tendered his resignation as Governor of that Territory to-day.
^"none". Arizona Weekly Enterprise. March 18, 1882. p. 2. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Governor F. A. Tritle today qualified before Judge French in all legal requirements, and is now governor of the Territory of Arizona.
^ abRalph E. Hughes v. Douglas K. MartinArchived 2008-10-14 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), (Arizona Supreme Court 2002-08-20). “Nelson involved two allegedly conflicting amendments both approved by voters in the 1968 election, to Article 5 of the Arizona Constitution. ... The other amendment, proposition 104, extended the term of offices of the executive department, including the office of state auditor, from two years to four years.”
^Lydon, Christopher (November 3, 1974). "Democrats Likely to Make Larger Than Usual Gain". The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2023. The Democrat, Raul H. Castro, who came within 8,000 votes of beating Gov. Jack Williams in 1970, is narrowly favored this year to defeat Russell Williams, a conservative Republican businessman who is no kin to the incumbent.
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