William D. Williamson [1821]
courtesy Maine State Archives
Hannibal Hamlin [1857],
during the Civil War, Matthew Brady Studio,
National Archives # NWDNS-111-B-3554
Carl E. Milliken [1917]
courtesy Maine State Archives
Edmund S. Muskie [1955]
courtesy, Muskie Archives
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GOVERNORS
initially were elected for one
year terms, then two year terms beginning in 1880, and finally in 1962
four year terms were adopted. From 1820 through 1853, fifteen of the eighteen
governors were Democratic-Republicans or Democrats. (See election
results and election procedures.)
After a transition (1853-1857)
when a Whig, a Republican
and a Democrat succeeded each other, Republicans began a long dynasty with
the election of Hannibal
Hamlin. All ten governors between 1857 and 1879 were Republicans; thirty-one
of the thirty-six governors from 1857 through 1955 belonged to the GOP.
Edmund S. Muskie,
a Democrat, broke the Republican lock on the office in the
election of 1954 and initiated a half-century competitive period in which
the two parties have had relatively equal terms as governor, shared with
"independent" candidates of no political party.
In the 1998 election, both
Democrats and Republicans got the lowest percent of the vote since
1886! Angus King, the independent, received nearly 59 percent of the
popular vote.
Governors Years of Service
Political party
affiliation is
designated as follows:
|
[DR] Democratic-Republican
|
[NR] National Republican
|
| [W]
Whig
|
[KN] Know Nothing
|
[F]
Fusion
|
| [D
] Democrat
|
[R ] Republican
|
[I] Independent (no
party) |
Term
Name, Party
1820-1821 William
King, Bath [DR] (resigned)
1821-1821 William
D. Williamson, Bangor [DR] (acting, resigned)
1821-1822 Benjamin
Ames, Bath [DR] (acting)
1822-1822 Daniel
Rose, Thomaston [DR] (acting)
1822-1827 Albion
K. Parris, Portland [DR]
1827-1829 Enoch
Lincoln, Paris [DR] (died in office)
1829-1830 Nathan
Cutler, Farmington [DR] (acting)
1830-1830 Joshua
Hall, Frankfort [NR] (acting)
1830-1831 Jonathan
G. Hunton, Readfield [NR]
1831-1834 Samuel
E. Smith, Wiscasset
1834-1838 Robert
P. Dunlap, Brunswick [DR]
1838-1839 Edward
Kent, Bangor [W]
1839-1841 John
Fairfield, Saco [D] (resign, elected to U.S. Senate)
1841-1841 Richard
H. Vose, Augusta (acting)
1841-1842 Edward
Kent, Bangor [W]
1843-1844 Edward
Kavanaugh, Newcastle [D]
1844-1844 David
Dunn, Poland [D]
1844-1844 John
W. Dana, Fryeburg [D]
1844-1847 Hugh
J. Anderson, Belfast [D]
1847-1850 John
W. Dana, Fryeburg [D]
1850-1853 John
Hubbard, Hallowell [D]
1853-1855 William
G. Crosby, Belfast [W]
1855-1856 Anson
P. Morrill, Readfield [KN]
1856-1857 Samuel
Wells, Portland [D]
1857-1857 Hannibal
Hamlin, Hampden (resigned, elected to U.S. Senate) [R]
1857-1858 Joseph
H. Williams, Augusta (acting) [R]
1858-1861 Lot
M. Morrill, Augusta [R]
1861-1863 Israel
Washburn, Jr., Orono [R]
1863-1864 Abner
Coburn, Skowhegan [R]
1864-1867 Samuel
Cony, Augusta [R]
1867-1871 Joshua
L. Chamberlain, Brunswick [R]
1871-1874 Sidney
Perham, Paris [R]
1874-1876 Nelson
Dingley, Jr., Lewiston [R]
1876-1879 Selden
Connor, Augusta [R]
1879-1880 Alonzo
Garcelon, Lewiston [D]
1880-1881 Daniel
F. Davis, Corinth [R]
1881-1883 Harris
M. Plaisted, Bangor [F]
1883-1887 Frederick
Robie, Gorham [R]
1887-1887 Joseph
R. Bodwell, Hallowell (died in office) [R]
1887-1889 Sebastian
S. Marble, Waldoboro (acting) [R]
1889-1893 Edwin
C. Burleigh, Bangor [R]
1893-1897 Henry
B. Cleaves, Portland [R]
1897-1901 Llewellyn
Powers, Houlton [R]
1901-1905 John
Fremont Hill, Augusta [R]
1905-1909 William
T. Cobb, Rockland [R]
1909-1911 Bert
M. Fernald, Poland [R]
1911-1913 Frederick
W. Plaisted, Augusta [D]
1913-1915 William
T. Haines, Waterville [R]
1915-1917 Oakley
C. Curtis, Portland [D
1917-1921 Carl E.
Milliken, Island Falls [R]
1921-1921 Frederick
H. Parkhurst, Bangor (died in office) [R]
1921-1925 Percival
Baxter, Portland [R]
1925-1929 Ralph
Owen Brewster, Portland [R]
1929-1933 William
Tudor Gardiner, Gardiner [R]
1933-1937 Louis
J. Brann, Lewiston [D]
1937-1941 Lewis
O. Barrows, Newport [R]
1941-1945 Sumner
Sewall, Bath [R]
1945-1949 Horace
A. Hildreth, Cumberland [R]
1949-1952 Frederick
G. Payne, Waldoboro (resigned, elected to U.S. Senate) [R]
1952-1953 Burton
M. Cross, Augusta (acting) [R]
1953-1955 Burton
M. Cross, Augusta [R]
1955-1959 Edmund
S. Muskie, Waterville [D]
1959-1959 Robert
N. Haskell, Bangor (acting) [R]
1959-1959 Clinton
A. Clauson, Waterville (died in office) [D]
1959-1967 John H.
Reed, Fort Fairfield [R]
1967-1975 Kenneth
M. Curtis, Manchester [D]
1975-1979 James
B. Longley, Lewiston [I]
1979-1987 Joseph
E. Brennan, Portland [D]
1987-1995 John
R. McKernan, Jr., Portland, [R]
1995-2003 Angus S. King,
Jr., Brunswick [I]
2003-2007 John E. Baldacci,
Bangor
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