List of governors of Illinois

Governor of Illinois
Seal of Illinois
Incumbent J. B. Pritzker since January 14, 2019
Residence	Illinois Executive Mansion
Term length	Four years, no term limits
Inaugural holder	Shadrach Bond
Formation	October 2, 1818
Website	illinois.gov/gov/

This is a list of the governors of Illinois. Illinois is a state in America. Illinois became a state in 1818.

It had only one governor appointed by the President of the United States before it became a state. From March to June, 1809, Territorial Secretary Nathaniel Pope was the acting governor. Edwards' arrival in Illinois ended Pope's brief administration.^[1]

Picture	Governor	Took office	Left office	Appointed by
	Ninian Edwards	March 1, 1809	October 6, 1818	James Madison

The table below shows who the state governors have been.

List

#	Picture		Governor	Took office	Left office	Party	Lt. Governor		Terms[a]
1			Shadrach Bond	October 6, 1818	December 5, 1822	Independent		Pierre Menard	1
2			Edward Coles	December 5, 1822	December 6, 1826	Independent		Adolphus Hubbard	1
3			Ninian Edwards	December 6, 1826	December 6, 1830	Adams-Clay Republican		William Kinney	1
4			John Reynolds	December 6, 1830	November 17, 1834	Democratic		Zadok Casey[b]	​^1⁄2[c]
								William Lee D. Ewing
5			William Lee D. Ewing	November 17, 1834	December 3, 1834	Democratic	Vacant		​^1⁄2[d]
6			Joseph Duncan	December 3, 1834	December 7, 1838	Whig		Alexander Jenkins[e]	1
								William H. Davidson[f]
7			Thomas Carlin	December 7, 1838	December 8, 1842	Democratic		Stinson Anderson	1
8			Thomas Ford	December 8, 1842	December 9, 1846	Democratic		John Moore	1
9			Augustus C. French	December 9, 1846	January 10, 1853	Democratic		Joseph Wells	2[g]
								William McMurtry
10			Joel Aldrich Matteson	January 10, 1853	January 12, 1857	Democratic		Gustavus Koerner	1
11			William Henry Bissell	January 12, 1857	March 18, 1860	Republican		John Wood	​^1⁄2[h]
12			John Wood	March 18, 1860	January 14, 1861	Republican		Thomas Marshall[f]	​^1⁄2[i]
13			Richard Yates	January 14, 1861	January 16, 1865	Republican		Francis Hoffmann	1
14[j]			Richard J. Oglesby	January 16, 1865	January 11, 1869	Republican		William Bross	1
15			John M. Palmer	January 11, 1869	January 13, 1873	Republican		John Dougherty	1
14			Richard J. Oglesby	January 13, 1873	January 23, 1873	Republican		John Lourie Beveridge	​^1⁄2[k]
16			John Lourie Beveridge	January 23, 1873	January 8, 1877	Republican		John Early	​^1⁄2[i]
								Archibald Glenn[f]
17			Shelby Moore Cullom	January 8, 1877	February 16, 1883	Republican		Andrew Shuman	​1 ^1⁄2[l][2]
								John Marshall Hamilton
18			John Marshall Hamilton	February 16, 1883	January 30, 1885	Republican		William Campbell	​^1⁄2[i]
14			Richard J. Oglesby	January 30, 1885	January 14, 1889	Republican		John Smith	1
19			Joseph W. Fifer	January 14, 1889	January 10, 1893	Republican		Lyman Ray	1
20			John Peter Altgeld	January 10, 1893	January 11, 1897	Democratic		Joseph B. Gill	1
21			John R. Tanner	January 11, 1897	January 14, 1901	Republican		William Northcott	1
22			Richard Yates, Jr.	January 14, 1901	January 9, 1905	Republican		William Northcott	1
23			Charles S. Deneen	January 9, 1905	February 3, 1913^[source?]	Republican		Lawrence Sherman	2
								John G. Oglesby
24			Edward F. Dunne	February 3, 1913	January 8, 1917	Democratic		Barratt O'Hara	1
25			Frank O. Lowden	January 8, 1917	January 10, 1921	Republican		John G. Oglesby	1
26			Len Small	January 10, 1921	January 14, 1929	Republican		Fred Sterling	2
27			Louis L. Emmerson	January 14, 1929	January 9, 1933	Republican		Fred Sterling	1
28			Henry Horner	January 9, 1933	October 6, 1940	Democratic		Thomas Donovan	​1 ^1⁄2[h]
								John Henry Stelle
29			John H. Stelle	October 6, 1940	January 13, 1941	Democratic	Vacant		​^1⁄2[i]
30			Dwight H. Green	January 13, 1941	January 10, 1949	Republican		Hugh W. Cross	2
31			Adlai Stevenson II	January 10, 1949	January 12, 1953	Democratic		Sherwood Dixon	1
32			William G. Stratton	January 12, 1953	January 9, 1961	Republican		John William Chapman	2
33			Otto Kerner, Jr.	January 9, 1961	May 21, 1968	Democratic		Samuel H. Shapiro	​1 ^1⁄2[m]
34			Samuel H. Shapiro	May 21, 1968	January 13, 1969	Democratic	Vacant		​^1⁄2[i]
35			Richard Buell Ogilvie	January 13, 1969	January 8, 1973	Republican		Paul Simon[f]	1
36			Daniel Walker	January 8, 1973	January 10, 1977	Democratic		Neil Hartigan	1
37			James R. Thompson	January 10, 1977	January 14, 1991	Republican		Dave O'Neal	4[n]
								George H. Ryan
38			Jim Edgar	January 14, 1991	January 11, 1999	Republican		Bob Kustra	2
39			George H. Ryan	January 11, 1999	January 13, 2003	Republican		Corinne Wood	1
40			Rod Blagojevich	January 13, 2003	January 29, 2009	Democratic		Pat Quinn	​1 ^1⁄2[o]
41			Pat Quinn	January 29, 2009	January 12, 2015	Democratic		Sheila Simon	1 ​^1⁄2[p]
42			Bruce Rauner	January 12, 2015	January 14, 2019	Republican		Evelyn Sanguinetti	1
43			J. B. Pritzker	January 14, 2019	Incumbent	Democratic		Juliana Stratton	1[q]

Living former governors

As of August 2020^[update], five former governors were alive. The most recent death of a former governor was that of James R. Thompson (1977–1991), who died on August 14, 2020.

Governor	Term	Date of birth
Jim Edgar	1991–1999	(1946-07-22) July 22, 1946 (age 78)
George Ryan	1999–2003	(1934-02-24) February 24, 1934 (age 90)
Rod Blagojevich	2003–2009	(1956-12-10) December 10, 1956 (age 67)
Pat Quinn	2009–2015	(1948-12-16) December 16, 1948 (age 75)
Bruce Rauner	2015–2019	(1957-02-18) February 18, 1957 (age 67)

References

1. Robert P. Howard (1988), Mostly Good and Competent Men: Illinois Governors, 1818–1988, Illinois Issues and the Illinois State Historical Society, 39–40.
2. Resigned when? NGA says 5th or 16th^[source?]

1. The fractional terms of some governors are not to be understood absolutely literally; rather, they are meant to show single terms during which multiple governors served, due to resignations, deaths and the like.
2. Resigned.^[source?]
3. Resigned to take elected seat in the United States House of Representatives.
4. As acting lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term.
5. Resigned.^[source?]
6. Represented the Democratic Party.
7. French was the first governor elected under the provisions of the 1848 constitution, which shifted the election year, shortening his first term to two years. The constitutional convention called for new elections, and despite falling under the term limit he was allowed to run.[1]
8. Died in office.
9. As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term.
10. based on Rod R. Blagojevich, 40th governor Archived 2009-01-17 at the Wayback Machine and Jim Edgar is the 38th Archived 2007-09-21 at the Wayback Machine, Oglesby was the 14th governor all three occasions.
11. Resigned so that Lieutenant Governor Beveridge would appoint him to the United States Senate.
12. Resigned to take elected seat in the United States Senate.
13. Resigned to take seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
14. James Thompson's first term was only 2 years because a constitutional amendment had passed moving gubernatorial elections to coincide with Congressional midterms
15. Impeached and removed from office on charges of corruption.
16. As lieutenant governor, filled unexpired term and was subsequently elected in his own right.
17. Governor Pritzker's first full term expires on January 9, 2023; he is not term limited.