Which States Produce the Most Governors?

New York has given birth to 116 future governors of other states, or 1 for every 1.9 years since statehood; South Carolina leads the nation with 88 percent of its governors ‘home-grown’

This is the fifth in a series of historical reports leading up to the gubernatorial elections of 2010. Past reports have examined the historic Class of 2002 and its large number of first-term governors, the success rate of ex-governors trying to reclaim their office, plurality winning gubernatorial campaigns, and states with the most living ex-governors.

Although California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman was born and raised in Long Island, native Californian, former governor, and Democratic candidate Jerry Brown probably can’t count on using that fact against her to boost his candidacy in the Golden State’s competitive open race this November.

That is because California has only had seven of its 38 governors born inside its borders, or just 18.4 percent – the third lowest percentage in the nation.

While this is an usually low number, overall, nearly half of the nearly 2,500 governors in the nation’s history have not been born in the state they served.

A Smart Politics analysis of gubernatorial biographies from the National Governors Association finds only slightly more than half of the more than 2,300 governors that have served the nation’s 50 states since the original 13 colonies declared their independence over 230 years ago were born in that state.

In total, 1,279 governors have been born in the state in which they served (54.7 percent), with 981 born in other states (41.9), and 80 born in another country (3.4 percent).

The variation in the percentage of home-grown governors from state to state is great, with older, eastern states generally at the top and younger, western states at the bottom – a pattern that makes intuitive sense as the country settled from east to west from the late 1700s over the next 100+ years.

South Carolina tops the list with 88.4 percent of its more than 80 governors in state history born in the Palmetto State, including 23 of the last 24 dating back to Richard Manning, who served from 1915-1919. Republican James Edwards (1975-1979) was the only governor born out of state during this span (Florida).

Not coincidentally, South Carolina’s major party nominees in 2010 are both home-grown South Carolinians – Republican Nikki Haley (pictured) was born in Bamberg and Democrat Vincent Shaheen was born in Camden.

The next seven states topping the list are all among the the oldest in the nation – Maryland (84.1 percent), Virginia (82.9 percent), Pennsylvania (78.4 percent), Rhode Island (75.0 percent), North Carolina (74.6 percent), New York (74.5), and Massachusetts (73.9).

States with the lowest percentage of home-grown governors are generally the nation’s younger, western states.

Idaho is ranked #50, with just four of its 30 governors in state history born inside its borders (13.3 percent). Even though the Gem State achieved statehood some 120 years ago, Idaho saw one of its own become governor only once among the first 24 to hold the office from 1890 through 1976 (Charles Ross, 1931-1937).

Five other western states have had less than one in four home-born governors: Arizona (18.2 percent), California (18.4 percent), Alaska (20.0 percent), Colorado (22.2 percent), and Wyoming (22.6 percent).

Percentage of Home-Grown Governors by State

Rank	State	Home	Other	Total	% Home
1	SC	76	10	86	88.4
2	MD	53	10	63	84.1
3	VA	63	13	76	82.9
4	PA	40	11	51	78.4
5	RI	51	17	68	75.0
6	NC	50	17	67	74.6
7	NY	41	14	55	74.5
8	MA	51	18	69	73.9
9	ME	50	18	68	73.5
10	DE	50	20	70	71.4
10	NJ	45	18	63	71.4
12	KY	40	17	57	70.2
13	CT	47	21	68	69.1
14	WV	22	11	33	66.7
15	UT	11	6	17	64.7
16	LA	34	20	54	63.0
17	NH	48	34	82	58.5
18	TN	27*	23	50	54.0
19	OH	33	29	62	53.2
20	MS	27	25	52	51.9
21	GA	39	38	77	50.6
21	VT	39	38	77	50.6
23	HI	3	3	6	50.0
24	IN	23	24	47	48.9
25	AL	25	27	53	47.2
26	WI	20	23	43	46.5
27	TX	20	25	45	44.4
28	SD	13	17	30	43.3
29	FL	18	25	43	41.9
30	MO	22	31	53	41.5
31	NE	16	23	39	41.0
32	MT	9	13	22	40.9
33	AR	21	31	52	40.4
34	IA	15	25	40	37.5
34	OK	9	15	24	37.5
36	MN	14	24	38	36.8
37	ND	11	19	30	36.7
38	KS	16	29	45	35.6
39	WA	7	14	21	33.3
40	IL	12	29	41	29.3
41	NV	8	21	29	27.6
42	NM	7	19	26	26.9
43	MI	12	33	45	26.7
44	OR	9	27	36	25.0
45	WY	7	24	31	22.6
46	CO	8	28	36	22.2
47	AK	2	8	10	20.0
48	CA	7	31	38	18.4
49	AZ	4	18	22	18.2
50	ID	4	26	30	13.3
	Total	1,279	1,060	2,340	54.7

* Includes Robert Carruthers who was elected Governor of Tennessee, but was never inaugurated (Andrew Johnson was appointed military governor by President Abraham Lincoln). Data includes acting governors as well as any post-colonial chief executive (e.g. President). Data does not reflect information for three acting governors of New Jersey, one in Massachusetts, and three early post-colonial governors from Georgia, whose place of birth is not available. Data compiled by Smart Politics from National Governors Association biographical information.

But it is not simply younger, western states that have had to ‘import’ the vast majority of their governors.

Illinois, which achieved statehood in 1818, has seen only 29.3 percent of its governors born inside its borders (12 of 41), including six of the last 12 since World War II.

Likewise, Michigan (statehood in 1837) has had the 8th fewest home-born governors in the nation at just 26.7 percent, including three of the past six governors who were born out of the country: current Governor Jennifer Granholm (Canada), George Romney (Mexico), and John Swainson (Canada).

Overall, 80 governors have been born outside of the United States, with the most famous probably being current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Austria).

A significant number of these foreign-born governors took office as the United States was being settled in 1700s and early 1800s. Overall, 29 governors have come from England (19), Scotland (8), and Wales (2) with another 10 from Ireland.

For example, all eight of Georgia’s foreign-born governors (the most in the nation) were among the state’s first 22 governors through 1817 – each settling in Georgia in the 1700s (four from England, two from Scotland, and one from Germany).

The other states topping the list with the largest number of foreign-born governors are all from the Midwest: Wisconsin (5), Ohio (4), Minnesota (4), North Dakota (4), and Michigan (4).

Birth Countries of Foreign-Born Governors

Other countries	Number
England	19
Canada	10
Ireland	10
Scotland	8
Norway	6
Germany	5
Sweden	5
France	3
Mexico	3
Prussia	2
Wales	2
Austria	1
Bavaria	1
British West Indies	1
Cuba	1
Denmark	1
Estonia	1
Switzerland	1
Total	80

Data compiled by Smart Politics from National Governors Association biographical information.

Another 981 governors were born inside the United States, but not in the state in which they served.

From what states do these governors come?

Smart Politics calculated the number of governors ‘exported’ by each state, adjusted for the number of years since that state achieved statehood (the calculus does not adjust for variations in population over the years – more populous states are certainly going to have an advantage in that regard).

New York topped the list both in absolute number (116) as well as the rate of gubernatorial exports – with one native New Yorker becoming a governor of another state every 1.9 years since it became a state in 1788.

Virginia (1 per 2.8 years since statehood), Pennsylvania (1 per 3.5 years), Ohio (1 per 4.1 years) and Illinois (1 per 4.2 years) round out the Top 5.

There is one unusual state that stands out among the Top 10 – Iowa (at #9).

Despite not being one of the more populous states, the Hawkeye State has produced a significant number of the nation’s governors outside its borders.

At a rate of giving birth to one future governor of another state for every 6.1 years since statehood in 1846, Iowa has exported 27 governors, including five to Idaho, four to Nebraska, four to South Dakota, and three to Colorado. (Iowa has produced more Idaho governors at five than Idaho itself with four).

Three states, meanwhile, have never had residents born within its borders go on to become governors of other states: Alaska, New Mexico, and Nevada.

The western states of Montana (1 per 121 years since statehood), Wyoming (1 per 120 years), Arizona (1 per 98 years) and Oregon (1 per 75.5 years) also rank near the bottom.

But it is not simply newer, western states that have not seen residents in high numbers go on to become leaders of other states across the country.

For example, the state of Rhode Island, which achieved statehood in 1790, has only seen three of its native-born residents become governors of other states, and none since Henry Baldwin of Michigan (1869-1873), or one for every 73.3 years since statehood.

Old states such as New Jersey (#33, 1 per 22.3 years) and Delaware (#34, 1 per 27.9 years) also rank in the bottom third.

Rate of ‘Gubernatorial Exports’ by State

Rank	State	Statehood	Governors	Rate
1	New York	1788	116	1.9
2	Virginia	1788	78	2.8
3	Pennsylvania	1787	63	3.5
4	Ohio	1803	51	4.1
5	Illinois	1818	46	4.2
6	Massachusetts	1788	51	4.4
6	Kentucky	1792	49	4.4
8	Connecticut	1788	46	4.8
9	Iowa	1846	27	6.1
10	Missouri	1821	27	7.0
11	North Carolina	1789	31	7.1
12	Tennessee	1796	28	7.6
13	Indiana	1816	25	7.8
14	Wisconsin	1848	20	8.1
15	Maine	1820	23	8.3
16	South Carolina	1788	23	9.7
17	Vermont	1791	21	10.4
18	New Hampshire	1788	21	10.6
19	Kansas	1861	13	11.5
20	West Virginia	1863	12	12.3
20	Maryland	1788	18	12.3
22	Michigan	1837	14	12.4
23	Georgia	1788	17	13.1
24	California	1850	12	13.3
25	Minnesota	1858	11	13.8
26	Alabama	1819	13	14.7
27	Mississippi	1817	13	14.8
28	Texas	1845	11	15.0
29	Nebraska	1867	9	15.9
30	Utah	1896	6	19.0
31	Oklahoma	1907	5	20.6
32	Louisiana	1812	9	22.0
33	New Jersey	1787	10	22.3
34	Delaware	1787	8	27.9
35	Washington	1889	4	30.3
36	Colorado	1876	4	33.5
37	Idaho	1890	3	40.0
38	South Dakota	1889	3	40.3
39	Arkansas	1836	4	43.5
40	Hawaii	1959	1	51.0
41	Florida	1845	3	55.0
42	North Dakota	1889	2	60.5
43	Rhode Island	1790	3	73.3
44	Oregon	1859	2	75.5
45	Arizona	1912	1	98.0
46	Wyoming	1890	1	120.0
47	Montana	1889	1	121.0
48	Nevada	1864	0	—
48	New Mexico	1912	0	—
48	Alaska	1959	0	—

Table compiles the number of years since statehood by the number of residents born in that state who became governors of other states. Data compiled by Smart Politics from National Governors Association biographical information.

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