View source for Governor of Michigan

{{Short description|Head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan}}
{{about|the post|the list|List of governors of Michigan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Governor
| body = Michigan
| insignia = Seal of Michigan Governor.svg
| insigniasize = 110px
| insigniacaption = Seal of the governor
| flag = Flag of the Governor of Michigan.svg
| flagborder = yes
| flagcaption = Standard of the governor
| image = File:Gretchen Whitmer (2021) (cropped).jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| incumbent = [[Gretchen Whitmer]]
| incumbentsince = January 1, 2019
| style = [[Excellency|Her Excellency]] [[The Honorable]]<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Alex|last=Macomb|year=1837|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8IlAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA167|title=No. 20: Letter from Major General Macomb, to His Excellency the Governor of Michigan, Accompanying a Copy of Military Tactics|magazine=Documents Accompanying the Journal of the Senate|location=Detroit|publisher=John S. Bagg, State Printer|page=167|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>
| department = [[Government of Michigan]]
| status = {{ublist|[[Head of state]]|[[Head of government]]}}
| residence = [[Michigan Governor's Mansion]]
| termlength = Four years, renewable once
| precursor = Governor of [[Michigan Territory]]
| inaugural = [[Stevens T. Mason]]
| formation = November 3, 1835
| succession = [[Gubernatorial_lines_of_succession_in_the_United_States#Michigan|Line of succession]]
| salary = $159,300 per year<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gibbons |first=Lauren |date=2020-04-20 |title=Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will give up 10 percent of salary during coronavirus pandemic |language=en |work=MLive |publisher=[[Advance Local Media]] |url=https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/04/michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-will-give-up-10-percent-of-salary-during-coronavirus-pandemic.html |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404081406/https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/04/michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-will-give-up-10-percent-of-salary-during-coronavirus-pandemic.html |archive-date=2021-04-04 |quote=The Michigan governor’s salary is currently $159,300 per year, a figure set by the State Officers Compensation Commission.}}</ref>
| deputy = [[Lieutenant Governor of Michigan]]
| website = {{Official_website}}
}}
The '''governor of Michigan''' is the [[head of government]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Michigan]]. The current [[Governor (United States)|governor]] is [[Gretchen Whitmer]], a member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-elected to serve a second term in 2022.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-michigan-governor.html | title=Michigan Governor Election Results | work=The New York Times | date=November 8, 2022 }}</ref> The governor is elected to a four-year term and is [[Term limits in the United States|limited]] to two terms.

==Qualifications==
Governors of Michigan, as well as their [[List of lieutenant governors of Michigan|lieutenant governors]], must be [[Citizenship of the United States|United States citizens]] who have been qualified electors in Michigan for the four years preceding election and must be at least 30 years of age.<ref>[https://legislature.mi.gov/(S(tnunzhrfmcwrlzqlki4tzpua))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-Article-V-22 Michigan Constitution: Article V, Sec. 22—Governor and lieutenant governor, qualifications]</ref> A constitutional amendment adopted at the 2010 general election provides that a person is ineligible for any elected office, including governor and lieutenant governor, if convicted of a felony involving dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of the public trust, and if the conviction were related to the person's official capacity while holding any elective office or position of employment in local, state, or federal government.<ref>[https://legislature.mi.gov/(S(tnunzhrfmcwrlzqlki4tzpua))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-Article-XI-8 Michigan Constitution: Article XI, Sec. 8 Convictions for certain felonies; eligibility for elective office or certain positions of public employment]</ref>

==Elections and term of office==
From statehood until the election of 1966, governors were elected to two-year terms. Elections are held in November, and the governor assumes office the following January, except in the case of death or resignation. From statehood until 1851, elections were held in odd-numbered years. A new state constitution was drafted in 1850 and took effect in 1851. As part of the process bringing the constitution into effect, there was a single one-year term of governor in 1851. Thereafter elections were held in even years.

The [[Constitution of Michigan|constitution adopted in 1963]] changed the governor's term to four years, starting in 1967. Since then, gubernatorial elections have been offset by two years between the [[United States presidential election|U.S. presidential elections]] (e.g., presidential elections were in [[2008 United States presidential election in Michigan|2008]] and [[2012 United States presidential election in Michigan|2012]], while gubernatorial elections in that time period were in [[2010 Michigan gubernatorial election|2010]] and [[2014 Michigan gubernatorial election|2014]]). Gubernatorial elections are held concurrently with [[Michigan Senate|state Senate]] elections. The winner of the gubernatorial election takes office at noon on January 1 of the year following the election.

Before 1992, governors could serve an unlimited number of terms. In 1992, an amendment to the Michigan constitution imposed a limit of two four-year terms for the office of governor, whether successive or separated. However, only those terms served after the amendment took effect counted toward the two-term limit. Thus, [[John Engler]], the governor at the time, served three terms as his first term occurred before the restriction. Engler was reelected in 1994 and 1998, but was required to leave office for good in 2002.

==Powers and duties==
The governor has responsibilities to:
* sign or veto laws passed by the legislature;<ref name=mib>{{cite book |title = Michigan in Brief: 1998–99 |chapter = Chapter 2: About State Government |year = 1999 |publisher = Public Sector Consultants |chapter-url = http://www.michiganinbrief.org/edition06/acrobat/chap-2.pdf |access-date = September 20, 2016 |archive-date = October 25, 2004 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041025125822/http://www.michiganinbrief.org/edition06/acrobat/chap-2.pdf |url-status = dead }}</ref> including a [[Line-item veto|line item veto]]
* reorganize state executive government agencies and departments;<ref name=mib/>
* appoint, with advice and consent of the Senate, and oversee most department heads;<ref name=mib/>
* appoint judges, subject to ratification by the electorate;
* appoint members of boards and commissions;<ref name=mib/>
* propose a state budget;<ref name=mib/>
* give the annual ''[[State of the State address]]'';<ref name=mib/>
* sue other executives to comply with the law;
* command the state [[Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs|militia]]; and
* grant pardons for any crime, except cases involving [[Impeachment in the United States|impeachment]] by the legislature.

The governor appoints the members of the governing boards of 10 of the state's 13 public universities<ref group=lower-alpha>The [[Board of Regents of the University of Michigan]], the Board of Trustees of [[Michigan State University]] and the Board of Governors of [[Wayne State University]] are elected statewide. The [[University of Michigan–Dearborn|Dearborn]] and [[University of Michigan–Flint|Flint]] campuses of the University of Michigan lack separate governing boards as they are considered a part of the University of Michigan.</ref> and department commissions.

==History of the office==
[[File:Thomas Mickell Burnham - Stevens Thomson Mason - 57.268 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg|thumb|200px|Governor [[Stevens T. Mason]], the first governor of the State of Michigan]]
Forty-seven people have been governor of the state over forty-nine distinct periods, with two, [[John S. Barry]] and [[Frank Fitzgerald]], serving non-consecutive terms. Before statehood, there were five governors of the [[Michigan Territory]]. [[Stevens T. Mason]], Michigan's first governor, also served as a territorial governor. He was elected governor at age 23 as a member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in 1835 and served until 1840. Mason was the youngest state governor in United States history.

[[Jennifer Granholm]] became the first [[List of female governors in the United States|female governor]] of Michigan on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Engler; she served for 8 years, until January 1, 2011.

==Timeline==
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==See also==
*[[List of governors of Michigan]]
*[[List of lieutenant governors of Michigan|Lieutenant Governor of Michigan]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{US Chief Executives}}
{{U.S. Governors}}
{{Michigan statewide elected officials}}

[[Category:Governor of Michigan|*]]
[[Category:1837 establishments in Michigan]]