Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich. With the water crisis gripping Flint threatening to overshadow nearly everything else he has accomplished, the Republican governor pledged a fix Tuesday night during his annual State of the State speech. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)Gov. John Engler, shown in this Nov. 23, 1999 photo in Lansing, Mich., talks about charter schools and the legislative year in Michigan. Engler's top goals for 2000 are holding onto Republican majorities in the Legislature and the Supreme Court and winning Michigan for GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush. (AP Photo/Dale Atkins)President-elect John F. Kennedy with Michigan Governor John B. Swainson when they met in the Kennedy suite at New Yorks Carlyle Hotel, Jan. 10, 1961 to discuss the need for prompt federal action to improve the depressed economic situation in Michigan. Governor Swainson said after the meeting that the President-elect was very much interested in the idea of assigning defense contracts to Michigan industry. (AP Photo)Michigan Gov. George Romney gets ready to bite into a submarine sandwich at Concord, N.H., during a luncheon stop in his campaign tour of the Granite State, Feb. 22, 1968. Romney is campaigning for first-in-nation presidential primary. (AP Photo/Bill Chaplis)Gov. Stevens Thomson Mason (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Linnea Howard, of Farmington Hills, Mich., an information specialist, motions to her colleague with a camera, as she and Michigan Gov. John M. Engler pose for a picture after the official kickoff of Project Zero welfare reform at the Family Independence Agency's Greydale District office in Detroit Monday, Oct. 20, l997. (AP Photo/Richard Sheinwald)FILE -This Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 file photo shows Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken before the dedication of the William G. Milliken State Park & Harbor in Detroit. William G. Milliken, Michigan’s longest-serving governor who established a record of environmental conservation and bipartisan cooperation that made him popular among Republicans and Democrats, died Friday, Oct. 18, 2019 at age 97, a family spokesman said. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio,)Gov. Frank Dwight Fitzgerald (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE, 1948: American politician Kim Sigler (1894-1953) who was the 40th Governor of Michigan from 1947 to 1949 wipes his neck during Harold Stassen's (not pictured) speach during the 1948 Republican National Convention circa June, 1948 at the Philadelphia Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Irving Haberman/IH Images/Getty Images)Gov. Murray Delos Van Wagoner (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. William Alfred Comstock ( photo sourced from National Governors Association)Fiorello La Guardia, director of the Office of Civilian Defense, is shown with the governors of six inland states as they conferred on protective measures for industrial areas in times of emergency, in Chicago, Illinois, Dec. 2, 1941. The executives were among about 50 delegates called together by the New York mayor for a discussion on federal and state cooperation in the civilian defense projects. Seated with Mayor La Guardia, center, are Governor Murray D. Van Wagoner of Michigan, left, and Gov. John Moses of North Dakota. Standing left to right are: Gov. Dwight H. Green of Illinois, Gov. Forrest C. Donnell of Missouri, Gov. Henry F. Schricker of Indiana and Gov. Dwight Griswold of Nebraska. (AP Photo)Gov. Frank Murphy (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Harry F. Kelly, governor of Michigan on April 12, 1943. (AP Photo)Gov. Fred Warren Green (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Luren Dudley Dickinson (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Cabinet members Wilber Brucker (L) and Herbert York (2R). (Photo by Donald Uhrbrock/Getty Images)Gov. Kinsley Scott Bingham (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)(Original Caption) In the presence of the Board of Regents of the institute, Chancellor William Howard Taft presented the Smithsonian Institution's Langley Medal to Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh in Washington, D.C. Left to right are: Rep. Albert Johnson of Washington; Senator Woodbridge N. Ferris of Michigan; Senator Redd Smoot of Utah. Standing are: Assistant Secretary Charles G. Abbot; Rep. Walter H. Newton of Minnesota; Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas; Rep. R. Walton Moore of Virginia; Colonel Lindbergh; Frederic A. Delano, and Chancellor Taft.Gov. Moses Wisner (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Austin Blair ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Cyrus Gray Luce ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Henry Howland Crapo ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Henry P Baldwin ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Former President Barack Obama campaigns for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, left, during a rally, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)Gov. John J. Bagley ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Charles Miller Croswell ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Michigan candidate for gov. Harry F. Kelly. (Photo by Al Fenn/Getty Images)Gov. David Howell Jerome ( photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Josiah Williams Begole ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Senator John Kennedy leads the way as he threads through the crowd at a Jefferson Day dinner at the Democratic Midwest Conference, March 26, 1960 in Detroit followed by Gov. G. Mennen Williams of Michigan. Kennedy, an aspirant for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke at the dinner. Williams, six times governor of Michigan, said recently he hoped for some national position, appointive or elective. (AP Photo/Alvin Quinn)Gov. Edwin Baruch Winans ( Photo source from National Governors Association)Gov. Hazen Stuart Pingree (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Aaron Thomas Bliss (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Fred Maltby Warner (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Chase Salmon OSborn (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)One black and white photograph of Michigan Governor John Swainson (left) receiving an Adcraft Silver Tray from Toby David (right). Swainson holds the tray with both hands and smiles at the camera while David also holds onto the tray with his left hand and smiles toward Swainson. Behind them are curtains with a striped floral print and a banner which reads, "Adcraft Club of Detroit, AC, Founded 1905." A typewritten note attached to the lower left corner of the photograph reads, "GOVERNOR SWAINSON, left, and Adcraft First Vice-President Toby David share a laugh over the Adcraft Silver Tray presented to the Governor after his talk at the final Adcraft Luncheon session of the season last Friday." A grey ink stamp on verso reads, "Ransier-Anderson Photography, 3408 Woodward Ave., Detroit 1, Michigan." A handwritten note on verso reads, "May 19, 1961." (Photo courtesy of Detroit Historical Society)James Blanchard headshot, as former Michigan governor, photo on blackGov. Woodbridge Nathan Ferris (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Albert Edson Sleeper (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Alexander Joseph Groesbeck ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Russell Alexander Alger ( Photo sourced from National Governors Association)FILE - In this May 18, 1964, file photo Gov. George Romney and his son, Mitt, look out over the New York World's Fair grounds from the heliport after attending a Michigan breakfast at the Top of the Fair Restaurant. The governor and a large delegation from Michigan are here for Michigan Day at the fair. At right is part of the Chrysler exhibit and behind them is the Ford exhibit. Long before Mitt Romney became the millionaire candidate from Massachusetts, he was his father' son, who idolized the outspoken, no-nonsense, auto executive turned politician. (AP Photo, File)Gov. William Woodbridge (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. James Wright Gordon (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Alpheus Felch (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. William L Greenly (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Lt. Governor John Cherry raise their arms to supporters at an election night rally in Detroit, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Gov. John Stewart Barry (photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Epaphroditus Ransom (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Robert McClelland (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov.. Andrew Parsons (Photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Austin Blair (photo sourced from National Governors Association)Gov. Moses Wisner (photo sourced from National Governors Association)
Associated Press
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich. With the water crisis gripping Flint threatening to overshadow nearly everything else he has accomplished, the Republican governor pledged a fix Tuesday night during his annual State of the State speech. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)
Nov. 8 was election night, and history was made as two women -- current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican opponent Tudor Dixon -- ran against each other for the governor seat for the first time ever.
Michigan has had a long line of governors, with Jennifer M. Granholm as the first woman governor of the Great Lakes State. We’ve got photos of old governors from George Romney to Woodbridge N. Ferris -- check them out in the photo gallery above as we time travel through 187 of Michigan’s history.
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Below is a list of the 49 governors for the state of Michigan
#
Name
Years Served
Party
1
Stevens T. Mason
1835-1840
D
2
William Woodbridge *
1840-1841
W
3
James Wright Gordon
1841
W
4
John S. Barry
1842-1846
D
5
Alpheus Felch **
1846-1847
D
6
William L. Greenly
1847
D
7
Epaphroditus Ransom
1848-1850
D
8
John S. Barry
1850-1851
D
9
Robert McClelland
1852-1853
D
10
Andrew Parsons
1853-1854
D
11
Kinsley S. Bingham
1855-1858
R
12
Moses Wisner
1859-1860
R
13
Austin Blair
1861-1864
R
14
Henry H. Crapo
1865-1868
R
15
Henry P. Baldwin
1869-1872
R
16
John J. Bagley
1873-1876
R
17
Charles M. Croswell
1877-1880
R
18
David H. Jerome
1881-1882
R
19
Josiah W. Begole
1883-1884
D (Fusionist)
20
Russell A. Alger
1885-1886
R
21
Cyrus G. Luce
1887-1890
R
22
Edwin B. Winans
1891-1892
D
23
John T. Rich
1893-1896
R
24
Hazen S. Pingree
1897-1900
R
25
Aaron T. Bliss
1901-1904
R
26
Fred M. Warner
1905-1910
R
27
Chase S. Osborn
1911-1912
R
28
Woodbridge N. Ferris
1913-1916
D
29
Albert E. Sleeper
1917-1920
R
30
Alexander J. Groesbeck
1921-1926
R
31
Fred W. Green
1927-1930
R
32
Wilber M. Brucker
1931-1932
R
33
William A. Comstock
1933-1934
D
34
Frank D. Fitzgerald
1935-1936
R
35
Frank Murphy
1937-1938
D
36
Frank D. Fitzgerald ***
1939
R
37
Luren D. Dickinson
1939-1940
R
38
Murray D. Van Wagoner
1941-1942
D
39
Harry F. Kelly
1943-1946
R
40
Kim Sigler
1947-1948
R
41
G. Mennen Williams
1949-1960
D
42
John B. Swainson
1961-1962
D
43
George Romney
1963-1969
R
44
William G. Milliken
1969-1982
R
45
James J. Blanchard
1983-1990
D
46
John M. Engler
1991-2002
R
47
Jennifer M. Granholm
2003-2010
D
48
Rick Snyder
2011-2018
R
49
Gretchen Whitmer
2019-
D
KEY:
D = Democrat
R = Republican
W = Whig
* Resigned February 24, 1841, to become a U.S. senator
** Resigned March 3, 1847, to become a U.S. senator
*** Died in office, March 16, 1939
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