List of governors of Arkansas

The Governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Governor is the head of the executive branchof the Arkansas government and is charged with enforcing state laws. They have the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Arkansas General Assembly, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.

The state has had 46 elected governors, as well as 11 acting governors who assumed powers and duties following the resignation or death of the Governor. Before becoming a state, Arkansas Territory had four governors appointed to it by the President of the United States. Orval Faubus (1955-1967) served the longest term as Governor, being elected six times to serve 12 years. Bill Clinton (1979-1981; 1983-1992), elected 5 times over 2 distinct terms, fell only one month short of 12 years, and Mike Huckabee (1996-2007) served 10 years for two full four-year terms. The shortest term for an elected Governor was the 38 days served by John Sebastian Little before his nervous breakdown; one of the acting successors to his term, Jesse M. Martin, took office only three days before the end of the term, the shortest term overall.

The current Governor of Arkansas is Republican Asa Hutchinson, who was sworn in on January 13, 2015.

Territorial (1819–1836)

Arkansaw Territory (renamed Arkansas Territory, circa 1822) was split from the Missouri Territory on July 4, 1819. As territorial secretary from 1819 to 1829, Robert Crittenden served as acting governor whenever the appointed governor was not in the state. This meant that Crittenden was the first person to perform the duties of governor, since James Miller did not arrive in the territory until nine months after his appointment.

Governors of Arkansas Territory

No.	Governor		Term in office	Appointed by	Notes
1		James Miller	March 3, 1819 – December 27, 1824	James Monroe
2		George Izard	March 4, 1825 – November 22, 1828
				John Quincy Adams
3		John Pope	March 9, 1829 – March 9, 1835	Andrew Jackson
4		William S. Fulton	March 9, 1835 – September 13, 1836

State (from 1836)

Arkansas was admitted to the Union on June 15, 1836. The state seceded on May 6, 1861, and was admitted to the Confederacy on May 18, 1861. When Little Rock, the state capital, was captured on September 10, 1863, the Confederate state government relocated to Washington, Arkansas, and a Union government was installed in its place, causing an overlap in the terms of Confederate Governor Harris Flanagin and Union Governor Isaac Murphy. Following the end of the American Civil War, it was part of the Fourth Military District. Arkansas was readmitted to the Union on June 22, 1868.

The Arkansas Constitution of 1836 established four-year terms for governors, which was lowered to two years in the 1874, and current, constitution. An amendment in 1984 increased the terms of both governor and lieutenant governor to four years. Governors were originally limited only to serving no more than eight out of every twelve years, but the 1874 constitution removed any term limit. A referendum in 1992 limited governors to two terms.

Until 1864, the constitutions provided that, should the office of governor be rendered vacant, the president of the senate would serve as acting governor until such time as a new governor were elected or the disability removed, or the acting governor’s senate term expired. This led to some situations where the governorship changed hands in quick succession, due to senate terms ending or new senate presidents being elected. For example, after John Sebastian Little resigned in 1907, 3 senate presidents acted as governor before the next elected governor took office. Should the president of the senate be similarly incapacitated, the next in line for the governorship was the speaker of the state house of representatives.

The 1864 constitution created the office of lieutenant governor who would also act as president of the senate, and who would serve as acting governor in case of vacancy.The 1868 constitution maintained the position, but the 1874 constitution removed it and returned to the original line of succession. An amendment to the constitution, passed in 1914 but not recognized until 1925, recreated the office of lieutenant governor, who becomes governor in case of vacancy of the governor’s office. The governor and lieutenant governor are not elected on the same ticket.

Arkansas was a strongly Democratic state before the Civil War, electing only candidates from the Democratic party. It elected three Republican governors following Reconstruction, but after the Democratic Party re-established control, 92 years passed before voters chose another Republican. Arkansas has 7 Republican governors, 39 Democratic and 3 independent.

Governors of Arkansas

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lieutenant Governor
1			James Sevier Conway	September 13, 1836 – November 4, 1840 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1836	Office did not exist
2			Archibald Yell	November 4, 1840 – April 29, 1844 (resigned)	Democratic	1840
—			Samuel Adams	April 29, 1844 – November 9, 1844 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	President of the Senate acting as Governor
3			Thomas Stevenson Drew	November 9, 1844 – January 10, 1849 (resigned)	Democratic	1844
						1848
—			Richard C. Byrd	January 10, 1849 – April 19, 1849 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	President of the Senate acting as Governor
4			John Selden Roane	April 19, 1849 – November 15, 1852 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1849 (special)
5			Elias Nelson Conway	November 15, 1852 – November 16, 1860 (term limited)	Democratic	1852
						1856
6			Henry M. Rector	November 16, 1860 – November 4, 1862 (resigned)	Independent Democratic	1860
—			Thomas Fletcher	November 4, 1862 – November 15, 1862 (successor took office)	Independent	President of the Senate acting as Governor
7			Harris Flanagin	November 15, 1862 – May 26, 1865 (government in exile disestablished)	Independent	1862
8			Isaac Murphy	January 20, 1864 – July 2, 1868 (not candidate for election)	Independent	Appointed Provisional Governor by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
						1864 (Union)		Calvin C. Bliss
9			Powell Clayton	July 2, 1868 – March 17, 1871 (resigned)	Republican	1868		James M. Johnson (resigned March 14, 1871)
							Vacant
—			Ozra Amander Hadley	March 17, 1871 – January 6, 1873 (not candidate for election)	Republican	President of the Senate acting as Governor
10			Elisha Baxter	January 6, 1873 – November 12, 1874 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1872		Volney V. Smith
11			Augustus Hill Garland	November 12, 1874 – January 11, 1877 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1874	Office did not exist
12			William Read Miller	January 11, 1877 – January 13, 1881 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1876
						1878
13			Thomas James Churchill	January 13, 1881 – January 13, 1883 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1880
14			James Henderson Berry	January 13, 1883 – January 15, 1885 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1882
15			Simon Pollard Hughes Jr.	January 15, 1885 – January 17, 1889 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1884
						1886
16			James Philip Eagle	January 17, 1889 – January 14, 1893 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1888
						1890
17			William Meade Fishback	January 14, 1893 – January 18, 1895 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1892
18			James Paul Clarke	January 18, 1895 – January 18, 1897 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1894
19			Daniel Webster Jones	January 18, 1897 – 18-Jan-01 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1896
						1898
20			Jeff Davis	January 18, 1901 – 18-Jan-07 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1900
						1902
						1904
21			John Sebastian Little	January 18, 1907 – 11-Feb-07 (resigned)	Democratic	1906
—			John Isaac Moore	February 11, 1907 – 14-May-07 (legislature adjourned)	Democratic	President of the Senate acting as Governor
—			Xenophon Overton Pindall	May 14, 1907 – 11-Jan-09 (senate term expired)	Democratic	President of the Senate acting as Governor
—			Jesse M. Martin	January 11, 1909 – 14-Jan-09 (successor took office)	Democratic	President of the Senate acting as Governor
22			George Washington Donaghey	January 14, 1909 – 16-Jan-13 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1908
						1910
23			Joseph Taylor Robinson	January 16, 1913 – 8-Mar-13 (resigned)	Democratic	1912
—			William Kavanaugh Oldham	March 8, 1913 – 13-Mar-13 (new president of the senate elected)	Democratic	President of the Senate acting as Governor
—			Junius M. Futrell	March 13, 1913 – 6-Aug-13 (successor took office)	Democratic	President of the Senate acting as Governor
24			George Washington Hays	August 6, 1913 – 10-Jan-17 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1913 (special)
						1914
25			Charles Hillman Brough	January 10, 1917 – 11-Jan-21 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1916
						1918
26			Thomas Chipman McRae	January 11, 1921 – 13-Jan-25 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1920
						1922
27			Tom Terral	January 13, 1925 – 11-Jan-27 (lost renomination)	Democratic	1924
28			John Ellis Martineau	January 11, 1927 – 14-Mar-28 (resigned)	Democratic	1926		Harvey Parnell
29			Harvey Parnell	March 14, 1928 – 10-Jan-33 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
						1928		Lee Cazort
						1930		Lawrence Elery Wilson
30			Junius Marion Futrell	January 10, 1933 – 12-Jan-37 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1932		Lee Cazort
						1934
31			Carl E. Bailey	January 12, 1937 – 14-Jan-41 (lost renomination)	Democratic	1936		Robert L. Bailey
						1938
32			Homer Martin Adkins	January 14, 1941 – 9-Jan-45 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1940
						1942		James L. Shaver
33			Benjamin Travis Laney	January 9, 1945 – 11-Jan-49 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1944
						1946		Nathan Green Gordon
34			Sid McMath	January 11, 1949 – 13-Jan-53 (lost renomination)	Democratic	1948
						1950
35			Francis Cherry	January 13, 1953 – 11-Jan-55 (lost renomination)	Democratic	1952
36			Orval Faubus	January 11, 1955 – 10-Jan-67 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1954
						1956
						1958
						1960
						1962
						1964
37			Winthrop Rockefeller	January 10, 1967 – 12-Jan-71 (lost election)	Republican	1966		Maurice Britt
						1968
38			Dale Bumpers	January 12, 1971 – 3-Jan-75 (resigned)	Democratic	1970		Bob C. Riley
						1972
—			Bob C. Riley	January 3, 1975 – 14-Jan-75 (successor took office)	Democratic	Lieutenant Governor acting as Governor		Acting as Governor
39			David Pryor	January 14, 1975 – 3-Jan-79 (resigned)	Democratic	1974		Joe Purcell
						1976
—			Joe Purcell	January 3, 1979 – 9-Jan-79 (successor took office)	Democratic	Lieutenant Governor acting as Governor		Acting as Governor
40			Bill Clinton	January 9, 1979 – 19-Jan-81 (lost election)	Democratic	1978		Joe Purcell
41			Frank D. White	January 19, 1981 – 11-Jan-83 (lost election)	Republican	1980		Winston Bryant
42			Bill Clinton	January 11, 1983 – 12-Dec-92 (resigned)	Democratic	1982
						1984
						1986
						1990		Jim Guy Tucker
43			Jim Guy Tucker	December 12, 1992 – 15-Jul-96 (resigned)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
								Mike Huckabee (elected November 20, 1993)
						1994
44			Mike Huckabee	July 15, 1996 – 9-Jan-07 (term limited)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
								Winthrop Paul Rockefeller (elected November 19, 1996) (died July 16, 2006)
						1998
						2002
							Vacant
45			Mike Beebe	January 9, 2007 – 13-Jan-15 (term limited)	Democratic	2006		Bill Halter
						2010		Mark Darr (resigned February 1, 2014)
							Vacant
46			Asa Hutchinson	January 13, 2015 – present	Republican	2014		Tim Griffin
						2018