List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States

Kate Brown, Governor of Oregon since February 2015, is the only current U.S. governor who was born outside the United States.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California from 2003 to 2011, is the second most recent U.S. governor to have been born outside the country.
Jennifer Granholm, Governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011, is the third most recent U.S. governor to have been born outside the country.
John H. Sununu, Governor of New Hampshire from 1983 to 1989, was the first U.S. governor who was born in the Caribbean.
Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo, Governor of New Mexico from 1919 to 1921, was the first U.S. governor who was born in Latin America.
Knute Nelson, Governor of Minnesota from 1893 to 1895, was the first U.S. governor who was born in Scandinavia.
Jacob Dolson Cox, Governor of Ohio from 1866 to 1868, was the first U.S. governor who was born outside the United States, but still within the Americas.
John A. Treutlen, Governor of Georgia from 1777 to 1778, was the first U.S. governor who was born in a non-English-speaking country.

In total, 72 governors of a U.S. state have been born outside the current territory of the United States. Kate Brown of Oregon, born in Spain, is the only current governor to have been born outside the United States. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan (whose terms both ended in January 2011) are the other two most recent foreign-born governors.

Of the fifty states, 30 (or 60 percent) have had at least one governor born outside the United States. 19 states have had multiple governors who were born outside the United States. Georgia has had six foreign-born governors, who all served in office during the 18th century. The other states with the most foreign-born governors are Wisconsin (five), Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oregon (four each). Additionally, from 1905 to 1921 Utah had three consecutive foreign-born governors (John Cutler, William Spry, and Simon Bamberger).

Of the 72 foreign-born governors, 59 were born in Europe and thirteen were born in North America. A total of 29 U.S. governors have been born in the United Kingdom (fifteen in England, seven in Scotland, six in Northern Ireland, and one in Wales). Nine governors have been born in Canada, seven in Germany, five in Norway, five in Sweden, four in Ireland, three in France, three in Mexico, and one in Austria.

Only three foreign-born women have served as U.S. governors – Madeleine Kunin of Vermont, who was born in Switzerland; Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, who was born in Canada; and Kate Brown of Oregon, who was born in Spain.

List

Governors who were succeeded by another foreign-born governor are marked with a dagger (†). Governors who were preceded by another foreign-born governor are marked with a section sign (§).

Name State Birthplace Term start Term end
John McKinly[1] Delaware Ireland February 12, 1777 September 22, 1777
Button Gwinnett† Georgia England March 4, 1777 May 8, 1777
John A. Treutlen§[2] Georgia Germany May 8, 1777 January 10, 1778
George Bryan Pennsylvania Ireland May 23, 1778 December 1, 1778
John Wereat Georgia England August 6, 1779 January 4, 1780
William Fleming Virginia Scotland June 4, 1781 June 12, 1781
Thomas Burke North Carolina Ireland June 26, 1781 April 22, 1782
Edward Telfair Georgia Scotland January 9, 1786 January 9, 1787
November 11, 1789 November 7, 1793
Samuel Johnston North Carolina Scotland December 20, 1787 December 17, 1789
George HandleyLl Georgia England January 7, 1788 January 7, 1789
William Paterson[3] New Jersey Ireland October 29, 1790 March 30, 1793
James Jackson Georgia England January 12, 1798 March 3, 1801
William Davie North Carolina England December 7, 1798 November 23, 1799
Edward Tiffin† Ohio England March 3, 1803 March 4, 1807
Thomas Kirker§[4] Ohio Northern Ireland March 4, 1807 December 12, 1808
Pierre Derbigny Louisiana France December 15, 1828 October 6, 1829
Arthur MacArthur Sr. Wisconsin Scotland March 21, 1856 March 25, 1856
John G. Downey California Ireland January 14, 1860 January 10, 1862
Edward Salomon[5] Wisconsin Germany April 19, 1862 January 4, 1864
Michael Hahn[6] Louisiana Germany March 4, 1864 March 4, 1865
Jacob Dolson Cox[7] Ohio Canada January 8, 1866 January 13, 1868
Robert B. Lindsay Alabama Scotland November 26, 1870 November 17, 1872
Thomas L. Young Ohio Ireland March 2, 1877 January 14, 1878
William E. Smith Wisconsin Scotland January 7, 1878 January 2, 1882
George P. Wetmore Rhode Island England May 26, 1885 May 29, 1887
Frank Bell[8] Nevada Canada September 21, 1890 January 5, 1891
James E. Boyd Nebraska Ireland January 8, 1891 January 13, 1893
Knute Nelson[9] Minnesota Norway January 4, 1893 January 31, 1895
John Peter Altgeld[10] Illinois Germany January 10, 1893 January 11, 1897
Frederic T. Greenhalge Massachusetts England January 4, 1894 March 5, 1896
Roger Allin North Dakota England January 10, 1895 January 6, 1897
Reinhold Sadler[11] Nevada Poland April 10, 1896 January 5, 1903
John Lind[12] Minnesota Sweden January 2, 1899 January 7, 1901
Fred M. Warner Michigan England January 1, 1905 January 2, 1911
John Cutler† Utah England January 2, 1905 January 4, 1909
Frank R. Gooding Idaho England January 2, 1905 January 4, 1909
John McLane New Hampshire Scotland January 5, 1905 January 3, 1907
James O. Davidson Wisconsin Norway January 1, 1906 January 2, 1911
William Spry§† Utah England January 4, 1909 January 1, 1917
Aram J. Pothier[13] Rhode Island Canada January 5, 1909 January 5, 1915
January 6, 1925 February 4, 1928
Adolph Eberhart Minnesota Sweden September 21, 1909 January 5, 1915
Oswald West†[14] Oregon Canada January 11, 1911 January 12, 1915
John K. Tener Pennsylvania Ireland January 17, 1911 January 19, 1915
James Withycombe§ Oregon England January 12, 1915 March 3, 1919
Moses Alexander†[15] Idaho Germany January 4, 1915 January 6, 1919
Simon Bamberger§[16] Utah Germany January 1, 1917 January 3, 1921
Octaviano Larrazolo New Mexico Mexico January 1, 1919 January 1, 1921
D. W. Davis§ Idaho Wales January 6, 1919 January 1, 1923
Ragnvald Nestos North Dakota Norway November 23, 1921 January 7, 1925
Roland H. Hartley[17] Washington Canada January 12, 1925 January 9, 1933
A. W. Norblad Oregon Sweden December 21, 1929 January 12, 1931
Frank Henry Cooney Montana Canada March 13, 1933 December 15, 1935
Walter Welford North Dakota England February 2, 1935 January 6, 1937
Hjalmar Petersen Minnesota Denmark August 22, 1936 January 4, 1937
Julius P. Heil Wisconsin Germany January 2, 1939 January 4, 1943
John Moses North Dakota Norway January 5, 1939 January 4, 1945
Sigurd Anderson South Dakota Norway January 2, 1951 January 4, 1955
Christian Herter Massachusetts France January 8, 1953 January 3, 1957
J. Hugo Aronson Montana Sweden January 5, 1953 January 2, 1961
Joseph B. Johnson Vermont Sweden January 6, 1955 January 8, 1959
John Swainson† Michigan Canada January 1, 1961 January 1, 1963
John N. Dempsey Connecticut Ireland January 21, 1961 January 6, 1971
George Romney§ Michigan Mexico January 1, 1963 January 22, 1969
Samuel H. Shapiro[18] Illinois Estonia/Russian Empire May 21, 1968 January 13, 1969
Raúl Héctor Castro Arizona Mexico January 6, 1975 October 20, 1977
John Sununu New Hampshire Cuba January 6, 1983 January 4, 1989
Madeleine Kunin Vermont Switzerland January 10, 1985 January 10, 1991
Stan Stephens Montana Canada January 2, 1989 January 4, 1993
Lowell P. Weicker Jr. Connecticut France January 9, 1991 January 4, 1995
Jennifer Granholm Michigan Canada January 1, 2003 January 1, 2011
Arnold Schwarzenegger California Austria November 17, 2003 January 3, 2011
Kate Brown Oregon Spain February 18, 2015 present

By birthplace

Country No. of governors
Austria 1
Canada 9
Cuba 1
Denmark 1
England 15
Estonia 1
France 3
Germany 7
Ireland 4
Mexico 3
Northern Ireland 6
Norway 5
Poland 1
Scotland 7
Spain 1
Sweden 5
Switzerland 1
Wales 1

By state

State No. of governors
 Alabama 1
 Arizona 1
 California 2
 Connecticut 2
 Delaware 1
 Georgia 6
 Idaho 3
 Illinois 2
 Louisiana 2
 Massachusetts 2
 Michigan 4
 Minnesota 4
 Montana 3
 Nebraska 1
 Nevada 2
 New Hampshire 2
 New Jersey 1
 New Mexico 1
 North Carolina 3
  North Dakota 4
 Ohio 4
 Oregon 4
 Pennsylvania 2
 Rhode Island 2
 South Dakota 1
 Utah 3
 Vermont 2
 Virginia 1
 Washington 1
 Wisconsin 5

References

  1. ↑ McKinly was born in what was then Ireland.
  2. ↑ Treutlen was born in what was then Württemberg, a state of the Holy Roman Empire.
  3. ↑ Paterson was born in what was then Ireland.
  4. ↑ Paterson was born in what was then Ireland.
  5. ↑ Saloman was born in what was then Prussia.
  6. ↑ Hahn was born in what was then Bavaria.
  7. ↑ Cox was born in what was then Lower Canada, a colony of United Kingdom.
  8. ↑ Bell was born in what was then Upper Canada, a colony of United Kingdom.
  9. ↑ Nelson was born in what was then Sweden-Norway in personal union.
  10. ↑ Altgeld was born in what was then Prussia.
  11. ↑ Sadler was born in what was then Prussia.
  12. ↑ Lind was born in what was then Sweden-Norway in personal union.
  13. ↑ Pothier was born in what was then the United Canadas, a colony of United Kingdom.
  14. ↑ West was born in Canada while it was still a dominion of the United Kingdom.
  15. ↑ Alexander was born in what was then Bavaria.
  16. ↑ Bamberger was born in what was then Hesse-Darmstadt.
  17. ↑ Hartley was born in Canada while it was still a dominion of the United Kingdom.
  18. ↑ Shapiro was born in what was then Russia.

See also

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