Governor of Virginia

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Governor of Virginia

The Governor
Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the Executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, a governor may be the title of each appointed or elected politician who governs a constitutive state....
of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Democrat Tim Kaine

Tim Kaine

Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine is an Politics of the United States, the current governor of Virginia and as of January 21, 2009, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee....
.
idates for Governor must be United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
citizens who have resided in Virginia for five years prior to the election in which they are running. The candidates must be at least 30 years of age. Also, Virginia does not allow an incumbent Governor to succeed himself, so the incumbent Governor is barred from running in the election.

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Virginia

Tim Kaine

Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine is an Politics of the United States, the current governor of Virginia and as of January 21, 2009, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee....
.

Qualifications

Candidates for Governor must be United States

United States

Duties

The Governor is required to live in the seat of government of Virginia. At every regular session, he must report the state of the Commonwealth to the General Assembly

Virginia General Assembly

The Virginia General Assembly is the State legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The General Assembly is a bicameralism body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members, and an upper house, the Senate of Virginia, with 40 members....
, Virginia's legislature. He must also convene the legislature when two-thirds of each house calls for a special session. The Governor must ensure that the laws of the Commonwealth are faithfully executed and is responsible for the safety of the state, as he serves as commander-in-chief

Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function....
of the Virginia Militia

Virginia Militia

The Virginia militia is composed of the body of the people in the Virginia which is an armed force of all citizens capable of bearing arms. The Virginia militia was established in 1607 as part of the British militia system....
. The salary for Governor is $135,000.

Powers

*The Governor has the legislative power to submit recommendations and to call special session

Special session

In a legislature, a special session is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year , such as outlining the government's budget for the next fiscal year, biennium, or other period....
s when he finds them necessary.

The Governor has veto
Veto

A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is used to denote that a certain party has the right to stop unilaterally a piece of legislation. In practice, the veto can be absolute or limited ...
powers. All bills must be sent to the Governor before becoming law. The Governor may sign the bill, let it sit unsigned for seven days after which it becomes law, or veto the legislation. After a veto, the bill returns to its house of origin and may be overridden by two-thirds of the vote in each house.
The Governor also has the power to use a line-item veto
Line-item veto

In government, the line-item veto is the power of an executive to nullify or cancel specific provisions of a bill, usually budget appropriations, without vetoing the entire legislative package....
. He may send legislation back to the legislature with recommendations and amendments. The legislature must either approve the changes by a majority in each house, or override the veto with a two-thirds majority in each house.
The Governor is commander-in-chief of Virginia's armed forces.
The Governor may also communicate with other States and foreign powers.
The Governor has the power to fill vacancies in positions unless the position is appointed by the legislature.
The Governor may commute fines or sentences and issue pardons. The Governor may also restore voting rights and overturn other political penalties on individuals.

History

The position of Governor of Virginia dates back to the first permanent English

England

United States

Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown, located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14, 1607. It is commonly regarded as the first permanent England settlement in what is now the United States of America, following several earlier failed attempts....
. The Virginia Company of London set up a government run by a council. The President of the Council basically served as governor. The council was based in London and controlled the colony from afar. Nominally, Thomas Smith was the first President of the Council, but he never left England. Edward Maria Wingfield

Edward Maria Wingfield

Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, sometimes hyphenated as Edward-Maria Wingfield, was a soldier, Member of Parliament, and English colonization of the Americas....
was the first President of the Council in residence, making him the first to exercise the actual authority of governing Virginia. The Virginia Company abandoned governance by council May 23, 1609, and replacing it with a Governor, John Smith

John Smith of Jamestown

File:Captain John Smith.JPGCaptain John Smith Admiral of New England was an England soldier, sailor, and author. He is remembered for his role in establishing the first permanent English settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia, and his brief association with the Native Americans in the United States girl Pocahontas during an alte...
.

In 1624, the English Monarchy took control from the Virginia Company and made Virginia a crown colony

Crown colony

A Crown colony was a type of colonial administration of the British Empire.Crown colonies were ruled by a governor appointed by The Crown . Though the term was not used at the time, the first of what would later become known as Crown colonies was the Colony of Virginia in the present-day United States, after the Crown took control from the...
. Governors continued to be appointed by the monarch for many years. Most often, the appointed Governor would reside in England while a Deputy or Lieutenant Governor actually exercised authority. Royal rule was interrupted during the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
after which Governors were appointed by the Commonwealth of England

Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first Kingdom of England and Wales, and then Kingdom of Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland from 1649 to 1660....
until the English Restoration

English Restoration

The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored under Charles II of England after the Interregnum that followed the English Civil War....
. Virginia became an independent state during the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies of North America overthrew the governance of the British Empire and then rejected the British monarchy to become the sovereign United States of America....
with Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry was a prominent figure in the American Revolution, known and remembered for his "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" speech. Along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he is remembered as one of the most influential advocates of the American Revolution and Republicanism in the United States, especially in his denunciations of c...
as its first Governor.

From the Revolution until 1851, the Governor was elected by the state legislature. After 1851, the state turned to popular elections.

During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
, Francis Harrison Pierpont

Francis Harrison Pierpont

Francis Harrison Pierpont , called the "Father of West Virginia", was an United States lawyer, politician, and governor of the union controlled parts of Virginia during the American Civil War....
was the Governor of the Union-controlled parts of the state. Pierpont also served as one of the provisional Governors during Reconstruction. These governors were appointed by the Federal government. In 1874, Virginia regained its right to self-governance and elected James L. Kemper

James L. Kemper

James Lawson Kemper was a lawyer, a Confederate States Army general in the American Civil War, and a governor of Virginia. He was the youngest of the brigade commanders, and the only non-professional military officer, in the division that led Pickett's Charge, in which he was wounded and captured but rescued....
as Governor. After Reconstruction, Virginia would not elect a Republican as Governor until A. Linwood Holton Jr.

A. Linwood Holton Jr.

Abner Linwood Holton, Jr. was the first Republican Party Governor of Virginia since Reconstruction era of the United States. He was governor from 1970 to 1974....
in 1969.

Douglas Wilder

Lawrence Douglas Wilder is an American politician, the List of firsts#Leaders African American to be elected as governor of a U.S. state, and the second to serve as governor....
became the first elected and only the second African-American Governor of any U.S. state. He served as Governor from 1990-1994. (Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (May 10, 1837 – December 21, 1921) was the first African-American to become governor of a U.S. state. Pinchback, a Republican, served as the governor of Louisiana

Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
for thirty-five days, from December 9, 1872, to January 13, 1873.)

Ever since 1851, Virginia's gubernatorial elections have been held in "off-off" years—years in which there are no national (presidential, senatorial, or House) elections; Virginia's gubernatorial elections are held one year after U.S. presidential elections (2001, 2005, 2009, etc.). (Most states hold gubernatorial elections either on presidential-election years or on "off" years, when there are congressional elections.) This fact, coupled with the no-consecutive-terms rule, has been charged with limiting interest and voter turnout

Voter turnout

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voting who cast a ballot in an election. After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracy since the 1960s....
in gubernatorial elections in Virginia. There are never incumbents in the race, and voters are always being introduced to new politicians, so they often choose between two little-known politicians every four years. The no-consecutive-terms rule also, some argue, makes it very difficult for the state's chief executive to make sweeping changes in four short years.

Tim Kaine was inaugurated on January 14, 2006. Due to renovations on the Capitol in Richmond, his inauguration was held in Williamsburg, making him the first Governor to be inaugurated in Williamsburg since Thomas Jefferson in 1779.

Style

Unlike most other states where governors are referred to as "The Honorable

The Honourable

The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons....
", the Governor of Virginia is referred to as "His Excellency

Excellency

Excellency is a honorific style given to certain members of an organization or state....
".

Governor of Virginia

Qualifications

Duties

Powers

History

Style

See also