List of governors of Utah

The Governor of Utah is the head of the executive branch of Utah's state government[2] and the commander-in-chief of its military forces.[3] The governor has a duty to enforce state laws[2] as well as the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Utah Legislature.[4] The governor may also convene the legislature on "extraordinary occasions".[5]

Governor of Utah
Incumbent Spencer Cox since January 4, 2021
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Utah Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, renewable, no term limits
Inaugural holder	Heber Manning Wells
Formation	January 6, 1896
Deputy	Spencer Cox
Salary	$150,000 (2019)[1]
Website	Official website

The self-proclaimed State of Deseret, precursor to the organization of the Utah Territory, had only one governor, Brigham Young. Utah Territory had 15 territorial governors from its organization in 1850 until the formation of the state of Utah in 1896, appointed by the President of the United States. John W. Dawson had the shortest term of only three weeks and Brigham Young, the first territorial governor, had the longest term at seven years.

There have been 17 governors of the State of Utah, with the longest serving being Calvin L. Rampton, who served three terms from 1965 to 1977. Olene Walker served the shortest term, the remaining 14 months of Mike Leavitt's term upon Leavitt's resignation to become head of the Environmental Protection Agency. At the age of 36, Heber Manning Wells was the youngest person to become governor. At the age of 70, Simon Bamberger became the oldest person to be elected, while Olene Walker, at age 72, was the oldest person to succeed to the office. Currently, a term of service is set at four years, and there are no overall limits (consecutive or lifetime) to the number of terms one may be elected to serve. Elections for the office of Governor of Utah are normally held in November of the same year as the United States presidential election.

The current governor is Spencer Cox, who took office on January 4, 2021. Governor Cox was elected in November 2020.

There is an official seal of the Governor of Utah. Borrowing most of the same symbolism from the State Seal, the Governor's seal includes Roman numerals at the bottom, which represent the Governor himself, and this changes with every new Governor. Each Governor therefore has a seal unique to themselves and their administration. The Roman numerals are currently "XVIII", representing Spencer Cox, who is the 18th governor of Utah since Statehood.

Governors

The area that became Utah was part of the Mexican Cession obtained by the United States on May 19, 1848, in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican–American War.[6]

State of Deseret

A constitutional convention was convened in Salt Lake City on March 8, 1849, to work on a proposal for federal recognition of a state or territory. The convention resulted in the provisional State of Deseret. Deseret claimed most of present-day Utah, Nevada and Arizona, with parts of California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wyoming. Brigham Young was elected governor on March 12, 1849, and the legislature first met on July 2, 1849.[7][8] The state, having never been recognized by the federal government, was formally dissolved on April 5, 1851,[9] several months after word of the creation of Utah Territory reached Salt Lake City.

Governors of the Territory of Utah

On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, Utah Territory was organized, encompassing roughly the northern half of Deseret.[10] The news did not reach Salt Lake City until January 1851.[11] Governors of the Utah Territory were appointed by the president of the United States, and other than Brigham Young, they were frequently considered carpetbagger patronage appointees.[12]

The territory initially consisted of present-day Utah, most of Nevada, and portions of Colorado and Wyoming. On February 28, 1861, the creation of Colorado Territory took land from the eastern side of Utah Territory. Nevada Territory was organized from the western section of Utah Territory on March 2, 1861.[13] Also on that date, Nebraska Territory gained area from the northeastern part of Utah Territory. Nevada Territory gained area from Utah Territory on July 14, 1862 and again on May 5, 1866, after becoming a state. Wyoming Territory was created on July 25, 1868, from Nebraska Territory, taking more area from the northeast corner, giving Utah Territory its final borders.

Portrait	Governor		Took office[note 1]	Left office	Appointed by	Notes
		Brigham Young	February 3, 1851[15]	April 12, 1858	Millard Fillmore
					Franklin Pierce
		Alfred Cumming	April 12, 1858[note 2]	May 17, 1861[20]	James Buchanan	[note 3]
		John W. Dawson	December 7, 1861[22]	December 31, 1861[23]	Abraham Lincoln	[note 4]
		Stephen S. Harding	July 7, 1862[24]	June 11, 1863[25]	Abraham Lincoln
		James Duane Doty	June 22, 1863[26]	June 13, 1865[27]	Abraham Lincoln	[note 5]
		Charles Durkee	September 30, 1865[28]	January 9, 1869[29]	Andrew Johnson
		John Shaffer	March 20, 1870[30]	October 31, 1870[31]	Ulysses S. Grant	[note 5]
		Vernon H. Vaughan	October 31, 1870[32]	February 1, 1871[32]	Ulysses S. Grant	[note 6]
		George Lemuel Woods	March 10, 1871[33]	October 13, 1874[34][35]	Ulysses S. Grant
		Samuel Beach Axtell	February 2, 1875[36]	June 8, 1875[37]	Ulysses S. Grant	[note 7]
		George W. Emery	July 3, 1875[39]	January 25, 1880[40]	Ulysses S. Grant
		Eli Houston Murray	February 28, 1880[41]	March 16, 1886[42]	Rutherford B. Hayes
					Chester A. Arthur
		Caleb Walton West	May 12, 1886[43]	May 6, 1889[44]	Grover Cleveland
		Arthur Lloyd Thomas	May 6, 1889[44]	May 9, 1893[45]	Benjamin Harrison
		Caleb Walton West	May 9, 1893[45]	January 4, 1896	Grover Cleveland

Governors of the State of Utah

The State of Utah was admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896.

The governor has a four-year term, commencing on the first Monday of the January after an election.[46] The Constitution of Utah originally stated that, should the office of governor be vacant, the power be devolved upon the Secretary of State,[47] but the office of Lieutenant Governor was created in 1976,[48] and a 1980 constitutional amendment added it to the constitution.[49] If the office of governor becomes vacant during the first year of the term, the lieutenant governor becomes governor until the next general election; if it becomes vacant after the first year of the term, the lieutenant governor becomes governor for the remainder of the term.[50] The offices of governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket.[51] The Governor of Utah was formerly limited to serving three terms, but all term limit laws were repealed by the Utah Legislature in 2003; Utah is one of the few states where gubernatorial term limits are not determined by the constitution.[52]

Republican (11)       Democratic (6)
Governor				Term of office	Party	Term[note 8]	Previous office	Lt. Governor [note 9]
1			Heber Manning Wells August 11, 1859 – March 12, 1938 (aged 78)	January 6, 1896 – January 2, 1905	Republican	1	Delegate to the Utah Constitutional Convention (1895)	None
						2
2			John Christopher Cutler February 5, 1846 – July 30, 1928 (aged 82)	January 2, 1905 – January 4, 1909	Republican	3	Salt Lake County Clerk (1884-1890)
3			William Spry January 11, 1864 – April 21, 1929 (aged 65)	January 4, 1909 – January 1, 1917	Republican	4	United States Marshal for the District of Utah (1906-1908)
						5
4			Simon Bamberger February 27, 1846 – October 6, 1926 (aged 80)	January 1, 1917 – January 3, 1921	Democratic	6	Utah State Senator (1903–1913)
5			Charles R. Mabey October 4, 1877 – April 26, 1959 (aged 81)	January 3, 1921 – January 5, 1925	Republican	7	Utah State Representative (1913–1915)
6			George Dern September 8, 1872 – August 27, 1936 (aged 63)	January 5, 1925 – January 2, 1933	Democratic	8	Utah State Senator (1914–1923)
						9
7			Henry H. Blood October 1, 1872 – June 19, 1942 (aged 69)	January 2, 1933 – January 6, 1941	Democratic	10	Chairman, Utah State Road Commission
						11
8			Herbert B. Maw March 11, 1893 – November 17, 1990 (aged 97)	January 6, 1941 – January 3, 1949	Democratic	12	President of the Utah State Senate (1934–1938)
						13
9			J. Bracken Lee January 7, 1899 – October 20, 1996 (aged 97)	January 3, 1949 – January 7, 1957	Republican	14	Mayor of Price (1935–1948)
						15
10			George Dewey Clyde July 21, 1898 – April 2, 1972 (aged 73)	January 7, 1957 – January 4, 1965	Republican	16	Director, Utah Water and Power Board
						17
11			Calvin L. Rampton November 6, 1913 – September 16, 2007 (aged 93)	January 4, 1965 – January 3, 1977	Democratic	18	Davis County Attorney (1938–1940)
						19
						20			Clyde L. Miller
12			Scott M. Matheson January 8, 1929 – October 7, 1990 (aged 61)	January 3, 1977 – January 7, 1985	Democratic	21	None		David Smith Monson [note 10]
						22
13			Norman H. Bangerter January 4, 1933 – April 14, 2015 (aged 82)	January 7, 1985 – January 4, 1993	Republican	23	Utah State Representative (1975–1985)		W. Val Oveson
						24
14			Mike Leavitt February 11, 1951	January 4, 1993 – November 5, 2003	Republican	25	Member, Utah State Board of Regents		Olene Walker
						26
						27
15			Olene Walker November 15, 1930 – November 28, 2015 (aged 85)	November 5, 2003 – January 3, 2005 [note 11]	Republican		4th Lieutenant Governor of Utah (1993–2003)		Gayle McKeachnie
16			Jon Huntsman Jr. March 26, 1960	January 3, 2005 – August 11, 2009	Republican	28	11th United States Ambassador to Singapore (1992–1993)		Gary Herbert
						29
17			Gary Herbert May 7, 1947	August 11, 2009 – January 4, 2021	Republican		6th Lieutenant Governor of Utah (2005–2009)		Greg Bell (Sept. 1, 2009 – Oct. 16, 2013)
						30
									Spencer Cox (Oct. 16, 2013 – Jan. 4, 2021)
						31
18			Spencer Cox July 11, 1975	January 4, 2021 – Incumbent	Republican	32	8th Lieutenant Governor of Utah (2013–2021)		Deidre Henderson

Succession

Governors by time of service

Cal Rampton, Gary Herbert, and Mike Leavitt are the only Governors of Utah ever to serve more than two terms. Rampton served three full terms (12 years), while Herbert served most of Jon Huntsman's second term before being elected to two full terms of his own (11 years), and Leavitt resigned during his third term (10 years) to become Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Olene Walker is the shortest-tenured governor, and the only one to serve less than one full term. She served for 425 days to complete the remainder of Leavitt's third term.

Gary Herbert had served 4,194 days since taking over on August 11, 2009, from Jon Huntsman, Jr., who resigned to become United States Ambassador to China. By the time Herbert finished his second full term, he had served almost 12 years.

# in office	Governor	Days	Rank
11	Cal Rampton	4,382	1
17	Gary Herbert	4,194	2
14	Mike Leavitt	3,957	3
1	Heber Manning Wells	3,283	4
7	Henry H. Blood	2,926	5
9	J. Bracken Lee	2,926	5
12	Scott M. Matheson	2,926	5
3	William Spry	2,919	8
6	George Dern	2,919	8
8	Herbert B. Maw	2,919	8
10	George Dewey Clyde	2,919	8
13	Norman H. Bangerter	2,919	8
16	Jon Huntsman, Jr.	1,681	13
2	John Christopher Cutler	1,463	14
4	Simon Bamberger	1,463	14
5	Charles R. Mabey	1,463	14
15	Olene S. Walker	425	17

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, and other governorships held by governors.

* Denotes those offices that the governor resigned to take.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Other offices held	Source
James Duane Doty	1863–1865	Delegate from Wisconsin Territory, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin, Governor of Wisconsin Territory	[53]
Charles Durkee	1865–1869	U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Wisconsin	[54]
George Lemuel Woods	1871–1875	Governor of Oregon	[55]
Samuel Beach Axtell	1875	U.S. Representative from California, Governor of New Mexico Territory*	[38]
George Dern	1925–1933	U.S. Secretary of War	[56]
Mike Leavitt	1993–2003	Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency*, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services	[57]
Jon Huntsman, Jr.	2005–2009	Ambassador to Singapore, Ambassador to China*, Ambassador to Russia	[58]

See also

• List of Utah state legislatures

Notes

1. Due to the long distance between Washington and Salt Lake City, and the slow speed of communications and travel of the day, weeks or months could go by between the appointment of a governor and the governor actually taking office. The actual dates governors took office are sometimes vague; the ones in this list are cited mostly with contemporary news coverage, but other resources and almanacs give slightly different dates.[14]
2. Alfred Cumming was appointed governor in April 1857,[16] but due to the Utah War did not take office for a year. In September 1857, he departed from Kansas along with a detachment of the U.S. Army.[17] He wintered at Fort Bridger[18] and entered Salt Lake City on April 12,[19] whereupon he was recognized as governor of the territory.
3. Resigned early as he felt he would not be reappointed[21]
4. Resigned after three weeks in office; combative feelings existed between the governor and the state's Mormon population.[23]
5. Died in office
6. Vaughan was Secretary of the Territory at the time of Shaffer's death, and so acted as governor until word of his own appointment arrived several days later. His appointment was to be only temporary until President Grant could determine a suitable successor.[32]
7. Resigned to become the Governor of New Mexico Territory.[38]
8. Each term for which a governor is elected is listed here; if multiple governors served in a single term, due to resignations, deaths, and the like, then that term will be shared among those governors. If a governor was elected multiple times, then there will be multiple terms listed for that governor.
9. The office of Lieutenant Governor was created in 1976.[48] Lieutenant governors were elected separately from the governor until 1980; those that represented a different party from their governor are noted.
10. Represented the Republican Party
11. As lieutenant governor, filled unexpired term

References

General

• "Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert". State of Utah. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
• "Governors of Utah". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on August 24, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
• "Governors' Records at the Utah State Archives". Utah State Archives and Records Service. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
• Bancroft, Hubert Howe; Bates, Alfred (1890). History of Utah. San Francisco: History Company. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
• Whitney, Orson F. (1892). History of Utah. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons. Retrieved May 17, 2010.

• Groesbeck, Kathryn D. & Luke, Theron H., List and Newspaper Clippings; MSS 658; 20th Century Western & Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.

Constitution

• "Constitution of the State of Utah". Utah State Archives and Records Service. 1895. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
• "Constitution of the State of Utah, as amended". Utah Legislature. 1895. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2009.

Specific

1. "CSG Releases 2013 Governor Salaries". The Council of State Governments. June 25, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
2. UT Const. art. VII, § 5
3. UT Const. art. VII, § 4
4. UT Const. art. VII, § 8
5. UT Const. art. VII, § 6
6. "Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
7. McClintock, James H. (1921). Mormon settlement in Arizona. Phoenix: State of Arizona. p. 52. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
8. Whitney, Orson Ferguson (1892). History of Utah. Salt Lake City: George Q Cannon and Sons. pp. 393–395. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
9. Powell, Allen Kent (1994). Utah History Encyclopedia. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. p. 139.
10. "Thirty-First Congress. Session I Chapter LI". Compromise of 1850. Library of Congress. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
11. Whitney, Orson Ferguson (1892). History of Utah. Salt Lake City: George Q Cannon and Sons. pp. 451–452. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
12. Murphy, Miriam B. (1994), "Territorial Governors", in Powell, Allan Kent (ed.), Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917
13. Davis, Sam P., ed. (1912). The History of Nevada. Reno: Elms Publishers. p. 192. Archived from the original on November 13, 2006. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
14. Sloan, Robert W. (1884). Utah Gazetteer and Directory of Logan, Ogden, Provo and Salt Lake Cities for 1884. Sloan & Dunbar. pp. 254–255. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
15. "Utah's new capitol grows from humble beginning; first political sessions were held in council house; fight for statehood". Salt Lake Telegram. October 22, 1916. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
16. Bancroft p. 526
17. Whitney p. 610
18. Whitney p. 655
19. Whitney p. 673
20. "Affairs in Utah". The New York Times. June 17, 1861. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
21. "Alfred Cumming". Utah History to go. State of Utah. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
22. "Affairs in Utah". The New York Times. December 28, 1861. Retrieved May 18, 2010. GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, Saturday, Dec. 7, 1861. ... Gov. DAWSON and Superintendent DOTY arrived by the mail-stage to-day.
23. "Third Governor was run out of Utah after 3 weeks". Salt Lake Tribune. December 30, 2001. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
24. McGinnis, Ralph Y.; Calvin N. Smith (1994). Abraham Lincoln and the Western Territories. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8304-1247-1.
25. Bancroft p. 621
26. "Know Utah". Salt Lake Telegram. June 16, 1927. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
27. Bancroft p. 622
28. "Home items". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. October 12, 1865. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
29. "As I remember". Salt Lake Telegram. October 17, 1926. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
30. "Just history". Salt Lake Telegram. October 31, 1923. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
31. "As I remember". Salt Lake Telegram. April 20, 1925. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
32. "As I remember". Salt Lake Telegram. October 25, 1926. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
33. Bancroft p. 661
34. "Off for California". Salt Lake Tribune. October 13, 1874. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
35. "We don't believe it". Salt Lake Tribune. November 4, 1874. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
36. "Governor Axtell". Salt Lake Tribune. February 3, 1875. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
37. "The new Governor". Salt Lake Tribune. June 9, 1875. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
38. "Axtell, Samuel Beach". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
39. Improvement Era, Vol. IV, No. 7. Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. 1901. p. 562. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
40. Bancroft p. 677
41. Bancroft pp. 687–688
42. McMullin, Thomas A.; David Allan Walker (1984). Biographical Directory of American Territorial Governors. Meckler. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-930466-11-4. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
43. "The new Governor". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. May 12, 1886. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
44. "The record". The Deseret Weekly. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 45. 1892. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
45. "The Governor goes, the Governor comes". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. May 9, 1893. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
46. UT Const. art. VII, § 1
47. UT Const. original art. VII, §11
48. "Taxes, funds hot issues for Legislature". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. January 10, 1976. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
49. White, Jean Bickmore (1998). The Utah State Constitution: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Press. p. 98. ISBN 9780313293511. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
50. UT Const. art. VII, § 11
51. UT Const. art. VII, § 2
52. "Utah set to repeal term limits". National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
53. "Doty, James Duane". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
54. "Durkee, Charles". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and Historian of the United States Senate. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
55. "Oregon Governor George Lemuel Woods". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on October 20, 2009. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
56. "Utah Governor George Henry Dern". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
57. "Utah Governor Michael Okerlund Leavitt". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on February 22, 2010. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
58. "Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on February 22, 2010. Retrieved May 17, 2010.

External links

• Official website