Certificate of Election of John Jay as Governor of New York (June 6, 1795)The office of governor was established by the first New York State Constitution in 1777. The governor was originally for a term of three years, though the constitution did not specify when the term began. A 1787 law set the start of the term at July 1.. The New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821 amended the state constitution, reducing the term of office to two years, moving the election to November,, and moving the beginning and the end of the term to coincide with the calendar year. An 1874 amendment extended the term of office back to three years,, but the 1894 constitution again reduced it to two years.. The most recent constitution of 1938 extended the term to the current four years. There is no limit to the amount of consecutive terms a governor may serve.
The state constitution has provided since 1777 for the election of a lieutenant governor, who also acts as president of the state senate, to the same term (keeping the same term lengths as the governor throughout all the constitutional revisions). Originally, in the event of the death, resignation or impeachment of the governor, or absence from the state, the lieutenant governor would take on the governor's duties and powers. Since the 1938 constitution, the lieutenant governor explicitly becomes governor upon such vacancy in the office. Should the office of lieutenant governor become vacant, the president pro tempore of the state senate[1] performs the duties of a lieutenant governor until the governor can take back the duties of the office, or the next election; likewise, should both offices become vacant, the president pro tempore acts as governor, with the office of lieutenant governor remaining vacant. Should the president pro tempore be unable to fulfill the duties, the speaker of the assembly is next in the line of succession. The lieutenant governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor, but nominated separately.
Number of Governors of New York by party affiliation[2]
Fifty-five individuals have served as governor, four of whom served non-consecutive terms, totaling 59 distinct terms; the official numbering only lists each governor once, so there have officially been fifty-five governors. This numbering includes acting governors that filled an entire term. The list does not include people who have acted as governor when the governor was out of state, such as Speaker of the New York State AssemblyMoses M. Weinstein, who acted as governor for ten days in 1968 while the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the senate majority leader were out of the state, attending the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida.
The longest-serving governor was the first, George Clinton, who first took office on July 30, 1777, and served seven terms in two different periods, totaling just under 21 years in office. Charles Poletti had the shortest term, serving 29 days following the resignation of the previous governor in 1942.
This is a table of congressional and other federal offices, and ranking diplomatic positions in foreign countries held by New York governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented New York. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take. ? denotes those offices from which the governor resigned to take the governorship.
, four former governors were alive, the oldest being Hugh Carey (1975–1982, born 1919). The most recent governor to die was Charles Poletti (1942), on August 8, 2002. The most recently-serving governor to die was Malcolm Wilson (1973–1974), on March 13, 2000.
[K] "... the lieutenant-governor shall become governor for the remainder of the term." All previous constitutions used the term "devolve" rather than "become", e.g. from the 1894 constitution, "... the powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor for the residue of the term, or until the disability shall cease."
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