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.

Name	Time in Office	Party
John McKinly	1777 – 1777	Federalist
Thomas McKean	1777 – 1777	Democratic-Republican
George Read	1777 – 1778	Federalist
Caesar Rodney	1778 – 1781
John Dickinson	1781 – 1782	Democratic-Republican
John Cook	1782 – 1783
Nicholas Van Dyke	1783 – 1786
Thomas Collins	1786 – 1789
Jehu Davis	1789 – 1789	Federalist
Joshua Clayton	1793 – 1796	Federalist
Gunning Bedford	1796 – 1797	Federalist
Daniel Rogers	1797 – 1799	Federalist
Richard Bassett	1799 – 1801	Federalist
James Sykes	1801 – 1802	Federalist
David Hall	1802 – 1805	Democratic-Republican
Nathaniel Mitchell	1805 – 1808	Federalist
George Truitt	1808 – 1811	Federalist
Daniel Rodney	1814 – 1817	Federalist
John Clark	1817 – 1820	Federalist
Jacob Stout	1820 – 1821	Federalist
John Collins	1821 – 1822	Democratic-Republican
Caleb Rodney	1822 – 1823	Federalist
Joseph Haslet	1811 – 1814, 1823 – 1823	Democratic-Republican
Charles Thomas	1823 – 1824	Democratic-Republican
Samuel Paynter	1824 – 1827	Federalist
David Hazzard	1830 – 1833	National Republican
Caleb Prew Bennett	1833 – 1836	Democrat
Charles Polk	1827 – 1830, 1836 – 1837	Federalist
Cornelius Parsons Comegys	1837 – 1841	Whig
William Barkley Cooper	1841 – 1845	Whig
Thomas Stockton	1845 – 1846	Whig
Joseph Maull	1846 – 1846	Whig
William Temple	1846 – 1847	Whig
William Tharp	1847 – 1851	Democrat
William Henry Harrison Ross	1851 – 1855	Democrat
Peter Foster Causey	1855 – 1859	Whig
William Burton	1859 – 1863	Democrat
William Cannon	1863 – 1865	Union
Gove Saulsbury	1865 – 1871	Democrat
James Ponder	1871 – 1875	Democrat
John Polk Cochran	1875 – 1879	Democrat
John Wood Hall	1879 – 1883	Democrat
Charles Clark Stockley	1883 – 1887	Democrat
Benjamin Thomas Biggs	1887 – 1891	Democrat
Robert John Reynolds	1891 – 1895	Democrat
Joshua Hopkins Marvil	1895 – 1895	Republican
William Tharp Watson	1895 – 1897	Democrat
Ebe Walter Tunnell	1897 – 1901	Democrat
John Hunn	1901 – 1905	Republican
Preston Lea	1905 – 1909	Republican
Simeon Selby Pennewill	1909 – 1913	Republican
Charles Robert Miller	1913 – 1917	Republican
John Gillis Townsend	1917 – 1921	Republican
William Du Hamel Denney	1921 – 1925	Republican
Robert Pyle Robinson	1925 – 1929	Republican
Clayton Douglass Buck	1929 – 1937	Republican
Richard Cann McMullen	1937 – 1941	Democrat
Walter Wolfkiel Bacon	1941 – 1949	Republican
James Caleb Boggs	1953 – 1960	Republican
David Penrose Buckson	1960 – 1961	Republican
Elbert Nortrand Carvel	1949 – 1953, 1961 – 1965	Democrat
Charles L. Terry	1965 – 1969	Democrat
Russell W. Peterson	1969 – 1973	Republican
Sherman W. Tribbitt	1973 – 1977	Democrat
Pierre Samuel Du Pont	1977 – 1985	Republican
Michael Newbold Castle	1985 – 1992	Republican
Dale Edward Wolf	1992 – 1993	Republican
Thomas R. Carper	1993 – 2001	Democrat
Ruth Ann Minner	2001 – 2009	Democrat
Jack Markell	2009 – 2017	Democrat
John Carney	2017 –	Democrat