Governor

The Basics

Every state and territory in the US has a Governor, who leads the state government. Every eligible voter in your state gets to vote for your governor, and governors usually serve four-year terms. Some states have term limits and others allow governors to run for re-election as many times as they want. 

The role of the governor is similar to the President, but only for your state – the governor can’t make laws by themselves, but they can tell the state government how to interpret and carry out state laws, and propose new laws to the legislature. They lead your state government’s executive branch, command the state’s defense forces (usually the state’s National Guard), and represent the state to the rest of the country and the world. The governor usually has a lot of influence over a state’s budget, which lays out how the state’s money can be spent. Your state’s budget determines how much money goes to schools, the criminal justice system, environmental projects, infrastructure, housing, and other programs. In some states, the Governor can propose a budget to the legislature; in other states, the legislature creates the budget but the Governor has the power to make changes.

Here are just a few important things your state’s governor can do:

  • Sign bills that have passed the state legislature into law
  • Reject a bill that has passed the state legislature if they don’t want it to become law – this is called a veto
  • Pardon or commute the sentences of people who have been convicted of state crimes
  • Appoint the leaders of important state government agencies, and choose people to serve on boards, commissions and task forces focused on specific policy topics
  • Issue Executive Orders or Directives (these might be called something different in your state) that tell the state government how to carry out its duties and interpret existing laws
  • Mobilize the state’s defense forces
  • Declare an emergency – this usually gives the governor more powers and allows them to act quickly in an urgent situation when the state legislature can’t respond fast enough

How can I make my voice heard?

Governors make a lot of important decisions, and you – yes, you! – have the power to influence their choices. Check out our guide to advocating at the Governor’s office to find out how.

Source: the National Governors Association

What have Governors done?

Governors can use their power in a lot of different ways. Here are just a few examples of actions that have made a big impact:

  • Ralph Northam
    Virginia
    Signed a bill to abolish the death penalty, making Virginia the first state in the South to do so, after making it a key goal of the 2021 legislative session
  • John Bel Edwards
    Louisiana
    Gave a posthumous pardon to Homer Plessy, a Black man who was arrested in 1892 for sitting in a whites-only train car. The arrest led to the Supreme Court ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson, which said segregation laws were legal and led to the Jim Crow era of legal segregation in the US
  • Tom Wolf
    Pennsylvania
    Used his veto power extensively – the second-most of any governor in PA since at least the 70s – to block policies passed by a state legislature that he often disagreed with, including abortion restrictions and rollbacks on anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people

How does it work in my state?

Scroll down and click on your state to learn more about the specifics of the Governor’s powers and responsibilities where you live. (If your state isn’t here yet, check back often – we’re adding more info all the time.)

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