List of Illinois governors from first to last

Illinois became a state in the 21st state of the United States of America on December 3, 1818. Before statehood, the area that is now Illinois was inhabited by Native American tribes for thousands of years and was later explored and claimed by French explorers in the 17th century. It became part of the United States through the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the American Revolutionary War, and was initially part of the Northwest Territory established in 1787.

Shadrach Bond became the first governor of Illinois on October 6, 1818.

Here is a chronological list of the governors of Illinois from First to last.

No.	Governor	Term in Office	Party
1	Shadrach Bond	October 6, 1818 – December 5, 1822	Democratic-Republican
2	Edward Coles	December 5, 1822 – December 6, 1826	Democratic-Republican
3	Ninian Edwards	December 6, 1826 – December 6, 1830	Democratic-Republican
4	John Reynolds	December 6, 1830 – November 17, 1834	Democratic-Republican
5	William Lee D. Ewing	November 17, 1834 – December 3, 1834	Democratic
6	Joseph Duncan	December 3, 1834 – December 7, 1838	Whig
7	Thomas Carlin	December 7, 1838 – December 8, 1842	Democratic
8	Thomas Ford	December 8, 1842 – December 9, 1846	Democratic
9	Augustus C. French	December 9, 1846 – January 10, 1853	Democratic
10	Joel Aldrich Matteson	January 10, 1853 – January 12, 1857	Democratic
11	William Henry Bissell	January 12, 1857 – March 18, 1860	Republican
12	John Wood	March 18, 1860 – January 14, 1861	Republican
13	Richard Yates	January 14, 1861 – January 16, 1865	Republican
14	Richard J. Oglesby (1st)	January 16, 1865 – January 11, 1869	Republican
15	John M. Palmer	January 11, 1869 – January 13, 1873	Republican
16	Richard J. Oglesby (2nd)	January 13, 1873 – January 23, 1873	Republican
17	John Lourie Beveridge	January 23, 1873 – January 8, 1877	Republican
18	Shelby Moore Cullom	January 8, 1877 – February 6, 1883	Republican
19	John Marshall Hamilton	February 6, 1883 – January 30, 1885	Republican
20	Richard J. Oglesby (3rd)	January 30, 1885 – January 14, 1889	Republican
21	Joseph W. Fifer	January 14, 1889 – January 10, 1893	Republican
22	John Peter Altgeld	January 10, 1893 – January 11, 1897	Democratic
23	John Riley Tanner	January 11, 1897 – January 14, 1901	Republican
24	Richard Yates Jr.	January 14, 1901 – January 9, 1905	Republican
25	Charles S. Deneen	January 9, 1905 – February 3, 1913	Republican
26	Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne	February 3, 1913 – January 8, 1917	Democratic
27	Frank Orren Lowden	January 8, 1917 – January 10, 1921	Republican
28	Len Small	January 10, 1921 – January 14, 1929	Republican
29	Louis Lincoln Emmerson	January 14, 1929 – January 9, 1933	Republican
30	Henry Horner	January 9, 1933 – October 6, 1940	Democratic
31	John Henry Stelle	October 6, 1940 – January 13, 1941	Democratic
32	Dwight H. Green	January 13, 1941 – January 10, 1949	Republican
33	Adlai Stevenson II	January 10, 1949 – January 12, 1953	Democratic
34	William Stratton	January 12, 1953 – January 9, 1961	Republican
35	Otto Kerner Jr.	January 9, 1961 – May 20, 1968	Democratic
36	Samuel H. Shapiro	May 21, 1968 – January 13, 1969	Democratic
37	Richard B. Ogilvie	January 13, 1969 – January 8, 1973	Republican
38	Dan Walker	January 8, 1973 – January 10, 1977	Democratic
39	James R. Thompson	January 10, 1977 – January 14, 1991	Republican
40	Jim Edgar	January 14, 1991 – January 11, 1999	Republican
41	George Ryan	January 11, 1999 – January 13, 2003	Republican
42	Rod Blagojevich	January 13, 2003 – January 29, 2009	Democratic
43	Pat Quinn	January 29, 2009 – January 12, 2015	Democratic
44	Bruce Rauner	January 12, 2015 – January 14, 2019	Republican
45	J. B. Pritzker	January 14, 2019 – Incumbent	Democratic