Politics

List of Delaware governors from first to last

Delaware joined the Union on December 7, 1787. It was the first state to ratify the United States Constitution, which earned it the nickname “The First State.” The state was initially colonized by the Dutch in 1631, and later by the Swedes, making it one of the earliest European settlements in North America.

John McKinly became the first governor of the state of Delaware on February 21, 1777. Please note that it was at that time known as President of Delaware.

Here is a chronological list of the governors of Delaware from first to last.

NameTime in OfficeParty
John McKinly1777 – 1777Federalist
Thomas McKean1777 – 1777Democratic-Republican
George Read1777 – 1778Federalist
Caesar Rodney1778 – 1781
John Dickinson1781 – 1782Democratic-Republican
John Cook1782 – 1783
Nicholas Van Dyke1783 – 1786
Thomas Collins1786 – 1789
Jehu Davis1789 – 1789Federalist
Joshua Clayton1793 – 1796Federalist
Gunning Bedford1796 – 1797Federalist
Daniel Rogers1797 – 1799Federalist
Richard Bassett1799 – 1801Federalist
James Sykes1801 – 1802Federalist
David Hall1802 – 1805Democratic-Republican
Nathaniel Mitchell1805 – 1808Federalist
George Truitt1808 – 1811Federalist
Daniel Rodney1814 – 1817Federalist
John Clark1817 – 1820Federalist
Jacob Stout1820 – 1821Federalist
John Collins1821 – 1822Democratic-Republican
Caleb Rodney1822 – 1823Federalist
Joseph Haslet1811 – 1814, 1823 – 1823Democratic-Republican
Charles Thomas1823 – 1824Democratic-Republican
Samuel Paynter1824 – 1827Federalist
David Hazzard1830 – 1833National Republican
Caleb Prew Bennett1833 – 1836Democrat
Charles Polk1827 – 1830, 1836 – 1837Federalist
Cornelius Parsons Comegys1837 – 1841Whig
William Barkley Cooper1841 – 1845Whig
Thomas Stockton1845 – 1846Whig
Joseph Maull1846 – 1846Whig
William Temple1846 – 1847Whig
William Tharp1847 – 1851Democrat
William Henry Harrison Ross1851 – 1855Democrat
Peter Foster Causey1855 – 1859Whig
William Burton1859 – 1863Democrat
William Cannon1863 – 1865Union
Gove Saulsbury1865 – 1871Democrat
James Ponder1871 – 1875Democrat
John Polk Cochran1875 – 1879Democrat
John Wood Hall1879 – 1883Democrat
Charles Clark Stockley1883 – 1887Democrat
Benjamin Thomas Biggs1887 – 1891Democrat
Robert John Reynolds1891 – 1895Democrat
Joshua Hopkins Marvil1895 – 1895Republican
William Tharp Watson1895 – 1897Democrat
Ebe Walter Tunnell1897 – 1901Democrat
John Hunn1901 – 1905Republican
Preston Lea1905 – 1909Republican
Simeon Selby Pennewill1909 – 1913Republican
Charles Robert Miller1913 – 1917Republican
John Gillis Townsend1917 – 1921Republican
William Du Hamel Denney1921 – 1925Republican
Robert Pyle Robinson1925 – 1929Republican
Clayton Douglass Buck1929 – 1937Republican
Richard Cann McMullen1937 – 1941Democrat
Walter Wolfkiel Bacon1941 – 1949Republican
James Caleb Boggs1953 – 1960Republican
David Penrose Buckson1960 – 1961Republican
Elbert Nortrand Carvel1949 – 1953, 1961 – 1965Democrat
Charles L. Terry1965 – 1969Democrat
Russell W. Peterson1969 – 1973Republican
Sherman W. Tribbitt1973 – 1977Democrat
Pierre Samuel Du Pont1977 – 1985Republican
Michael Newbold Castle1985 – 1992Republican
Dale Edward Wolf1992 – 1993Republican
Thomas R. Carper1993 – 2001Democrat
Ruth Ann Minner2001 – 2009Democrat
Jack Markell2009 – 2017Democrat
John Carney2017 – Democrat

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