The Southern Governors' Association (SGA), formerly the Southern Governors Conference, was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

association of governors founded in 1934 and dissolved in 2016. It was the oldest and historically the largest of the regional governors associations. Since its first meeting years ago to discuss the repeal of discriminatory rates for transporting goods by rail, the SGA had represented the common interests of Southern chief executives and provided a vehicle for promoting them. SGA was a nonpartisan enterprise where shareholders could exchange views and access data, information and expertise on issues of general importance in order to augment the deliberations of public, private and non-profit decision-makers in the American South. SGA operated as an instrumentality of the states. The last SGA Chairman was

Jay Nixon Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon (born February 13, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 55th governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. After nearly 82 years, the Southern Governors' Association was officially dissolved on June 30, 2016 by the majority of its members-in-good standing. At the time of its dissolution, the association membership included sixteen states (

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

), the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, and the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

Chairs

* 1934-35 * 1935-36 * 1936-37 * 1937-38 * 1938-39 * 1939-40 E.D. Rivers Georgia D * 1940-42 Frank M. Dixon Alabama D * 1941-42 * 1942-43 * 1943-44 Prentice Cooper Tennessee D * 1944-45 * 1945-46 Robert S. Kerr Oklahoma D * 1946-47 R. Gregg Cherry North Carolina D * 1947-48 William Preston Lane Maryland D * 1948-49 William Munford Tuck Virginia D * 1949-50 J. Strom Thurmond South Carolina D * 1951-52 Allan Shivers Texas D * 1952-53

Herman Talmadge Herman Eugene Talmadge (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002) was a U.S. politician who served as governor of Georgia in 1947 and from 1948 to 1955 and as a U.S. senator from Georgia from 1957 to 1981. A Democrat, Talmadge served during a time o ...

Georgia D * 1953-54 Johnston Murray Oklahoma D * 1954-55 L. W. Wetherby Kentucky D * 1955-56 Frank G. Clement Tennessee D * 1956-57

Luther H. Hodges Luther Hartwell Hodges (March 9, 1898October 6, 1974) was an American businessman and politician. After a career in textile manufacturing, he entered public service, gaining some state appointments. Elected as lieutenant governor of North Caroli ...

North Carolina D * 1957-58 LeRoy Collins Florida D * 1958-59 James P. Coleman Mississippi D * 1959-60 James Lindsay Almond Virginia D * 1950-51 Fielding Wright Mississippi D * 1960-61 Price Daniel Texas D * 1961-62 Buford Ellington Tennessee D * 1962-63

Orval Faubus Orval Eugene Faubus ( ; January 7, 1910 – December 14, 1994) was an American politician who served as the List of governors of Arkansas, 36th Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, as a member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...

Arkansas D * 1963-64 C. Farris Bryant Florida D * 1964-65 John B. Connally Texas D * 1965-66 J. Millard Tawes Maryland D * 1966-67 Edward T. Breathitt Kentucky D * 1967-68 Dan K. Moore North Carolina D * 1968-69 Robert E. McNair South Carolina D * 1969-70 Winthrop Rockefeller Arkansas R * 1970-71 John Bell Williams Mississippi D * 1971-72 Luis A Ferré Puerto Rico NPP/R * 1972-73

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

Alabama D * 1973-74

Melvin H. Evans Melvin Herbert Evans (August 7, 1917 – November 27, 1984) was an American politician who served as Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, the first black person elected governor in the United States' history. After his tenure as govern ...

U.S. Virgin Islands R * 1974-75

Reubin Askew Reubin O'Donovan Askew (September 11, 1928 – March 13, 2014) was an American politician, who served as the 37th governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 7th U.S. trade representative from 1979 ...

Florida D * 1975-76 Mills E. Godwin Virginia R * 1976-77 Dolph Briscoe Texas D * 1977-78 James B. Edwards South Carolina R * 1978-79 Edwin W. Edwards Louisiana D * 1979-80 John N. Dalton Virginia R * 1980-81 Carlos Romero-Barcelo Puerto Rico NPP/D * 1981-82 Richard W. Riley South Carolina D * 1982-83

William P. Clements William Perry Clements Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was an American businessman and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served two nonconsecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 199 ...

Texas R * 1983-84 Charles S. Robb Virginia D * 1984-85

Bob Graham Daniel Robert Graham (November 9, 1936 – April 16, 2024) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senate, United States senat ...

Florida D * 1985-86 James G. Martin North Carolina R * 1986-87

Martha Layne Collins Colonel Martha Layne Collins (née Hall; born December 7, 1936) is an American former businesswoman and politician from the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky; she served as the state's List of Governors of Kentucky, 56th govern ...

Kentucky D * 1987-88 Joe Frank Harris Georgia D * 1988-89 Michael Castle Delaware R * 1989-90

Ray Mabus Raymond Edwin Mabus Jr. (; born October 11, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Mabus previo ...

Mississippi D * 1990-91 Wallace G. Wilkinson Kentucky D * 1991-92 Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. South Carolina R * 1992-93 Doug Wilder Virginia D * 1993-94 Zell Miller Georgia D * 1994-95 Kirk Fordice Mississippi R * 1995-96 Mel Carnahan Missouri D * 1996-97 George Allen Virginia R * 1997-98 Pedro Rossello Puerto Rico NPP/D * 1998-99 Don Sundquist Tennessee R * 1999-2000

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...

Arkansas R * 2000-01 Paul E. Patton Kentucky D * 2001-02 Mike Foster, Jr. Louisiana R * 2002-03 Bob Wise West Virginia D * 2003-04 Mark Warner Virginia D * 2004-05 Sonny Perdue Georgia R * 2005-06 Kathleen Blanco Louisiana D * 2006-07 Haley Barbour Mississippi R * 2007-08 Joe Manchin West Virginia D * 2008-09

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

Virginia D * 2009-10 Bob Riley Alabama R * 2010-11 Bev Perdue North Carolina D * 2011-12 Luis G. Fortuño Puerto Rico NPP/R

References

{{Reflist State governors of the United States 1934 establishments in the United States Government-related professional associations in the United States Politics of the Southern United States Organizations established in 1934 2016 disestablishments in the United States