Acting governor
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (July 2020) |
An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of
In some U.S. states, it is a constitutional position created when the governor dies in office or resigns. In other states, the governor may also be declared to be incapacitated and unable to function for various reasons including illness and absence from the state for more than a specified period.
In these instances, the
Examples of acting governors
Alabama
Massachusetts
In
New Jersey
In New Jersey, a state which has a lieutenant governor, in the event of a vacancy in the office of governor, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. In case of the inability of the current governor to fulfill the gubernatorial duties through injury, the lieutenant governor serves as the acting governor. The acting governor performs powers and duties until the governor recovers from the injuries. If the governor's death or resignation occurs less than 16 months before end of the term, the new governor serves until the end of the term, otherwise a special election (in which the new governor may participate) is held.
Prior to the establishment of the modern office of lieutenant governor following a constitutional referendum in 2005 that took effect in 2009, a vacancy in the office of governor would lead to the president of the state Senate to become acting governor while still retaining the title of senate president. Following the resignation of
West Virginia
In
Disputes over powers of acting governors
The powers of an acting governor came into dispute during the 1980
Powers of an acting governor had previously been questioned in the mid-1970s in
In 1993, in Pennsylvania, Governor
Following the death of New Hampshire Governor Hugh Gallen, Vesta M. Roy, as president of the state Senate, served as acting governor of New Hampshire from December 30, 1982, to January 6, 1983.
Practices in this area are anything but uniform from state to state. In Rhode Island, for example, the lieutenant governor never acts as governor, even if the governor has left the state. In most of the states, when the governor dies, resigns or is removed from office (via impeachment conviction), the next in line become the new governor, succeeding to the office and powers.
See also
References
- ^ "N.J. Gets New Governor... For a Day" Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, WPVI-TV, December 28, 2006. Accessed June 25, 2007. "Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri will take over the post because Governor Corzine will be out of town. So will the Senate president, Assembly speaker and attorney general, all of whom are ahead of Kolluri in the line of succession."
- ^ WV Constitution article VII, ยง 16.
- ^ "H.B. 4781 (Enrolled March 11, 2009)". West Virginia Legislature, 2000 Sessions. Retrieved August 16, 2009.