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Arthur I. Boreman
First Governor, Republican. Served the most consecutive terms, resigning a week before the end of his third term. -
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Daniel D. T. Farnsworth
2nd Governor, Republican. He was a Senate President at the time; he filled the last seven days of Boreman's term and remains the shortest-serving governor. -
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William E. Stevenson
3rd Governor, Republican. Stevenson was an outspoken advocate to the creation of the state of West Virginia. When statehood was achieved he was elected to the West Virginia State Senate. -
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John J. Jacob
4th Governor, Democrat/Independent. He was the first Democratic Governor. But he ran as an Independent for his 2nd term of Governorship. Jacob supported the elimination of all remaining legislation that discriminated against former Confederates. Jacob also presided over the establishment of new facilities to care for the mentally handicapped and the creation of statewide schools, known as normal schools, to train teachers. Most of these schools still exist as part of the state college system. -
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Henry M. Mathews
5th Governor, Democrat. Mathews' administration sought resolution to the Long Depression, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, and issues of state debt. He was criticized for his handling of the Great Railroad Strike, which spread from West Virginia to several other states before he called for Federal support—an action his critics believed could have prevented the national strike if taken sooner. -
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Jacob B. Jackson
6th Governor, Democrat. He was a son of General John Jay Jackson and his brothers were Federal Judge John Jay Jackson, Jr. and Circuit Judge and Congressman James M. Jackson. The Jackson Memorial Fountain in Parkersburg, West Virginia is dedicated to the Jackson family. -
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Emanuel Willis Wilson
7th Governor, Democrat. Wilson is most notable for being the Governor during the period of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. When the Legislature disputed the Election of 1888, both Governor Wilson and State Senate President Robert S. Carr claimed the right to sit as Governor until the dispute was resolved. -
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Aretas B. Fleming
8th Governor, Democrat. Fleming ran as the Democratic nominee in the election of 1888, the election was disputed by the Legislature. Both Fleming and Nathan Goff, Jr were sworn in as governor on March 4, 1889. In 1890, the Legislature agreed that Fleming had defeated Nathan Goff, Jr. -
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William A. MacCorkle
9th Governor, Democrat. MacCorkle advocated increased funding for state institutions and improved transportation. Through an advertising program, he actively promoted the state's natural resources to attract industry. MacCorkle opposed the growing labor movement among coal miners and dispatched the state militia to break a strike. -
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George W. Atkinson
10th Governor, Republican. Atkinson worked as an Internal Revenue agent from 1879 to 1881. His success at interfering with moonshiners (who sold their product without collecting taxes or reporting their income) led to his appointment as a United States Marshall, serving until 1885. -
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Albert B. White
11th Governor, Republican. In 1889, White was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison as collector of internal revenue for West Virginia. He was later reappointed by President William McKinley in 1897. -
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William M. O. Dawson
12th Governor, Republican. He served as Secretary of State of West Virginia from 1897 until 1905. -
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William E. Glasscock
13th Governor, Republican. In his last year as governor, he declared martial law three times, sending troops to quell violent Coal Wars. -
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Henry D. Hatfield
14th Governor, Republican. He began his term by court-martialing forty-nine Socialist leaders and then moving to negotiate a compromise to end the deadly Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike. The settlement presented to coal operators by Hatfield and the UMWA was staunchly opposed by local Socialists. In response, Hatfield deployed soldiers to force miners to agree to the compromise and ordered presses at Socialist newspapers in Huntington and Charleston destroyed. -
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John J. Cornwell
15th Governor, Democrat. Cornwell advocated strengthening the mining code, the creation of a state board of education, and the establishment of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, now officially known as the West Virginia State Police. -
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Ephraim F. Morgan
16th Governor, Republican. Morgan and his wife became the first residents of the present West Virginia Governor's Mansion -
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Howard M. Gore
17th Governor, Republican. Gore served as president of the West Virginia Livestock Association from 1912 until 1916. He was then appointed to the West Virginia State Board of Education from 1920 until 1925. -
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William G. Conley
18th Governor, Republican. In 1924, he was appointed to the State Board of Education, where he remained until is resignation March 1, 1929. -
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H. Guy Kump
19th Governor, Democrat. During his Governorship, Kump focused upon public education, rights of property owners as related to taxation, and public welfare. -
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Homer A. Holt
20th Governor, Democrat. Holt had been attorney general of West Virginia (1932-1937) during the time of the Hawks Nest Tunnel tragedy. -
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Matthew M. Neely
21st Governor, Democrat. In 1940, he resigned 2 years early from his senate seat and ran for Governor. -
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Clarence W. Meadows
22nd Governor, Democrat. His priorities included ameliorating labor strife in the coal industry, increasing access to quality education, and improving transportation to the geographically isolated state.. -
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Okey L. Patteson
23rd Governor, Democrat. He is best known for his decision to place the state's first medical school at West Virginia University. -
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William C. Marland
24th Governor, Democrat. Marland advocated the desegregation of schools, expansion of the state parks and other recreational facilities, improved unemployment and workers' compensation laws, and an industrial development program. -
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Cecil H. Underwood
25th & 32nd Governor, Republican. Served two nonconsecutive terms in office.Underwood was both the youngest person to be elected as governor (age 34 upon his first term in 1957) and the oldest to both be elected and serve (age 74 upon his second term in 1997; age 78 at the end of his second term in 2001). -
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William Wallace Barron
26th Governor, Democrat. Barron's governorship was largely corrupt and numerous officials were convicted of charges including bribery, falsification of records, conspiracy and tax evasion. In 1971 Barron was convicted of jury tampering in an earlier trial and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. -
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Hulett C. Smith
27th Governor, Democrat. Smith co-founded Bald Knob Ski Slopes, the predecessor to Winterplace Ski Resort. -
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Arch A. Moore, Jr.
28th & 30th Governor, Republican. Longest serving Governor, 3 terms over 12 years. -
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Jay Rockefeller
29th Governor, Democrat. He was the only serving politician of the prominent six-generation Rockefeller family during his tenure in the United States Senate and the only one to have held office as a Democrat in what has been a traditionally Republican dynasty, though he, too, was originally a Republican until he decided to run for office in what was then a strictly Democratic state. -
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Arch A. Moore, Jr.
28th & 30th Governor, Republican. Longest serving Governor, 3 terms over 12 years. -
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Gaston Caperton
31st Governor, Democrat. He was president of the College Board, which administers the nationally recognized SAT and AP tests, from 1999–2012. -
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Cecil H. Underwood
25th & 32nd Governor, Republican. Served two nonconsecutive terms in office .Underwood was both the youngest person to be elected as governor (age 34 upon his first term in 1957) and the oldest to both be elected and serve (age 74 upon his second term in 1997; age 78 at the end of his second term in 2001). -
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Bob Wise
33rd Governor, Democrat. In 2005 Wise became the president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a nonprofit organization that focuses on reforming the nation’s high schools. In 2015, North Carolina State University honored Wise with the William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation’s Friday Medal. -
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Joe Manchin
34th Governor, Democrat. He won the special election in November 2010 to fill the seat of Senator Robert Byrd, the longest serving U.S. Senator in history, who died in office. -
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Earl Ray Tomblin
35th Governor, Democrat. Tomblin became acting governor in November 2010 following Joe Manchin's election to the U.S. Senate. He won a special election in October 2011 to fill the unexpired term ending in January 2013 and was elected to a first full term as governor in November 2012. -
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Jim Justice
Democrat/Republican. He was elected as a Democrat, but changed parties in August 2017. He is the current governor of West Virginia.