The governor of Louisiana (french: Gouverneur de la Louisiane) is the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

and

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

is the head of the executive branch of Louisiana's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. Democrat

John Bel Edwards John Bel Edwards (born September 16, 1966) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 56th governor of Louisiana since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Democratic leader of the Louisiana House of ...

has held the office since January 2016.

Qualifications

Anyone who seeks to be elected Governor of Louisiana must meet the following qualifications: *have attained the age of 25 years *be an elector *have been a citizen of the United States and a citizen of Louisiana for at least the preceding five years

Governors

For Governors of Louisiana before the territory was transferred to United States control, see

List of colonial governors of Louisiana This is a list of the colonial governors of Louisiana, from the founding of the first settlement by the French in 1699 to the territory's acquisition by the United States in 1803. The French and Spanish governors administered a territory which w ...

Governor of the Territory of Orleans

was purchased by the United States from France in 1803. On October 1, 1804,

Orleans Territory The Territory of Orleans or Orleans Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from October 1, 1804, until April 30, 1812, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Louisiana. History In 1804 ...

was organized from the southern part of the Purchase, with the remainder being made the

District of Louisiana The District of Louisiana, or Louisiana District, was an official and temporary United States government designation for the portion of the Louisiana Purchase that had not been organized into the Territory of Orleans or "Orleans Territory" (the p ...

and placed under the jurisdiction of

Indiana Territory The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by a congressional act that President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, ...

. The District of Louisiana would later become

Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of the ...

, but after Orleans Territory became the state of Louisiana, Louisiana Territory was renamed

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southea ...

Governors of the State of Louisiana

was

admitted to the Union ''Admitted'' is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language docudrama film directed by Chandigarh-based director Ojaswwee Sharma. The film is about Dhananjay Chauhan, the first transgender student at Panjab University. The role of Dhananjay Chauhan has been p ...

on April 30, 1812. It seceded from the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

on January 26, 1861, and was a founding member of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

on February 8, 1861. However, since substantial parts of the state remained in Union hands throughout the war, there were 2 lines of governors elected. Following the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, Louisiana during

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

was part of the

Fifth Military District The Fifth Military District of the U.S. Army was one of five temporary administrative units of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South from 1867 to 1870. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconst ...

, which exerted some control over governor appointments and elections. Louisiana was readmitted to the Union on July 9, 1868. The 1812

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

established the office of governor, to serve for four years starting from the fourth Monday after the election. In 1845, the start date was moved to the fourth Monday of the January after the election; in 1864, it was moved to the second Monday of the January after the election; in 1879 it was moved to the first Monday after the General Assembly announced the election result; the 1921 Constitution fixed the new inauguration date as the second Tuesday in May. The 1974 Constitution changed the date, effective in 1980, to the second Monday of the March following the election; this was amended in 1987, to become effective in 1992, to the second Monday of January. Governors were not allowed to succeed themselves until 1864, when the constitution held no term limits. The restriction on governors succeeding themselves was reintroduced in 1868, removed again in 1879, and again added in 1898. An amendment to the constitution passed in 1966 allowed governors to succeed themselves once before requiring a gap before they can be elected again. Governors of Louisiana can only serve two consecutive terms, but can serve again after being out of office for one term; more than half of one full four year term is considered a term as well. Five governors have served nonconsecutive terms. Andre B. Roman, Francis T. Nicholls, and Jimmie Davis each served two non-consecutive terms, while

Earl Long Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician and the 45th governor of Louisiana, serving three nonconsecutive terms. Long, known as "Uncle Earl", connected with voters through his folksy demeanor and c ...

and Edwin Edwards both served in three distinct stints. In the event of a vacancy, the President of the Senate originally acted as governor. The 1845 constitution created the office of lieutenant governor, to be elected at the same time and manner as the governor and who would act as governor in the event of a vacancy. The 1913 constitution established that the lieutenant governor would become governor in case of a vacancy. The governor and lieutenant governor are not elected on a

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

Succession

Notes

References

External links

Louisiana Secretary of State websiteCemetery Memorials by La-Cemeteries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louisiana, List of Governors of Lists of state governors of the United States *

Governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...