List of Pennsylvania governors from first to last

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 when King Charles II of England granted a land charter to William Penn as a repayment for a debt owed to Penn’s father. This charter not only marked the founding of what would become the state of Pennsylvania but also allowed Penn to establish a colony based on his Quaker beliefs, promoting religious freedom and democratic principles. This year is generally recognized as the founding year of Pennsylvania.

Thomas Mifflin became the first governor of Pennsylvania on December 21, 1790.

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

No.	Governor	Term in Office	Party
1	Thomas Mifflin	December 21, 1790 – December 17, 1799	None/Democratic-Republican
2	Thomas McKean	December 17, 1799 – December 20, 1808	Democratic-Republican
3	Simon Snyder	December 20, 1808 – December 16, 1817	Democratic-Republican
4	William Findlay	December 16, 1817 – December 19, 1820	Democratic-Republican
5	Joseph Hiester	December 19, 1820 – December 16, 1823	Democratic-Republican
6	John Andrew Shulze	December 16, 1823 – December 15, 1829	Democratic-Republican
7	George Wolf	December 15, 1829 – December 15, 1835	Democratic-Republican
8	Joseph Ritner	December 15, 1835 – January 15, 1839	Anti-Masonic
9	David R. Porter	January 15, 1839 – January 21, 1845	Democratic
10	Francis R. Shunk	January 21, 1845 – July 9, 1848	Democratic
11	William F. Johnston	July 9, 1848 – January 20, 1852	Whig
12	William Bigler	January 20, 1852 – January 16, 1855	Democratic
13	James Pollock	January 16, 1855 – January 19, 1858	Whig
14	William F. Packer	January 19, 1858 – January 15, 1861	Democratic
15	Andrew Gregg Curtin	January 15, 1861 – January 15, 1867	Republican
16	John W. Geary	January 15, 1867 – January 21, 1873	Republican
17	John F. Hartranft	January 21, 1873 – January 21, 1879	Republican
18	Henry M. Hoyt	January 21, 1879 – January 16, 1883	Republican
19	Robert E. Pattison	January 16, 1883 – January 18, 1887	Democratic
20	James A. Beaver	January 18, 1887 – January 20, 1891	Republican
21	Daniel H. Hastings	January 15, 1895 – January 17, 1899	Republican
22	William A. Stone	January 17, 1899 – January 20, 1903	Republican
23	Samuel W. Pennypacker	January 20, 1903 – January 15, 1907	Republican
24	Edwin Sydney Stuart	January 15, 1907 – January 17, 1911	Republican
25	John K. Tener	January 17, 1911 – January 19, 1915	Republican
26	Martin Grove Brumbaugh	January 19, 1915 – January 21, 1919	Republican
27	William Cameron Sproul	January 21, 1919 – January 16, 1923	Republican
28	Gifford Pinchot	January 16, 1923 – January 18, 1927	Republican
29	John Stuchell Fisher	January 18, 1927 – January 20, 1931	Republican
30	George Howard Earle III	January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939	Democratic
31	Arthur James	January 17, 1939 – January 19, 1943	Republican
32	Edward Martin	January 19, 1943 – January 2, 1947	Republican
33	John C. Bell Jr.	January 2, 1947 – January 21, 1947	Republican
34	James H. Duff	January 21, 1947 – January 16, 1951	Republican
35	John S. Fine	January 16, 1951 – January 18, 1955	Republican
36	George M. Leader	January 18, 1955 – January 20, 1959	Democratic
37	David L. Lawrence	January 20, 1959 – January 15, 1963	Democratic
38	William Scranton	January 15, 1963 – January 17, 1967	Republican
39	Raymond P. Shafer	January 17, 1967 – January 19, 1971	Republican
40	Milton Shapp	January 19, 1971 – January 16, 1979	Democratic
41	Dick Thornburgh	January 16, 1979 – January 20, 1987	Republican
42	Bob Casey Sr.	January 20, 1987 – January 17, 1995	Democratic
43	Tom Ridge	January 17, 1995 – October 5, 2001	Republican
44	Mark Schweiker	October 5, 2001 – January 21, 2003	Republican
45	Ed Rendell	January 21, 2003 – January 18, 2011	Democratic
46	Tom Corbett	January 18, 2011 – January 20, 2015	Republican
47	Tom Wolf	January 20, 2015 – January 17, 2023	Democratic
48	Josh Shapiro	January 17, 2023 – Incumbent	Democratic