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The Political Graveyard: A Database of American History
Rhode Island: Governors

Governors of Rhode Island, 1732-2020 (May be incomplete!)
William Wanton 1732-33 John Wanton 1734-40 Richard Ward 1740-43 William Greene 1743-45 Gideon Wanton 1745-46 William Greene 1746-47 Gideon Wanton 1747-48 William Greene 1748-55 Stephen Hopkins 1755-57 William Greene 1757-58 Stephen Hopkins 1758-62 Samuel Ward 1762-63 Stephen Hopkins 1763-65 Samuel Ward 1765-67 Stephen Hopkins 1767-68 Josias Lyndon 1768-69 Joseph Wanton 1769-75 Nicholas Cooke 1775-78 William Greene 1778-86 John Collins 1786-90 Arthur Fenner 1790-1805 Henry Smith 1805-06 Isaac Wilbour 1806-07 James Fenner 1807-11 William Jones 1811-17 Nehemiah R. Knight 1817-21 Edward Wilcox 1821 William C. Gibbs 1821-24 James Fenner 1824-31 Lemuel H. Arnold 1831-33 John Brown Francis 1833-38 William Sprague 1838-39 Samuel Ward King 1839-43 James Fenner 1843-45 Charles Jackson 1845-46 Byron Diman 1846-47 Elisha Harris 1847-49 Henry B. Anthony 1849-51 Philip Allen 1851-53 Francis M. Dimond 1853-54 William W. Hoppin 1854-57 Elisha Dyer 1857-59 Thomas G. Turner 1859-60 William Sprague 1860-63 William C. Cozzens 1863 James Y. Smith 1863-66 Ambrose E. Burnside 1866-69 Seth Padelford 1869-73 Henry Howard 1873-75 Henry Lippitt 1875-77 Charles C. Van Zandt 1877-80 Alfred H. Littlefield 1880-83 Augustus O. Bourn 1883-85 George P. Wetmore 1885-87 John W. Davis 1887-88 Royal C. Taft 1888-89 Herbert W. Ladd 1889-90 John W. Davis 1890-91 Herbert W. Ladd 1891-92 D. Russell Brown 1892-95 Charles W. Lippitt 1895-97 Elisha Dyer, Jr. 1897-1900 William Gregory 1900-01 Charles D. Kimball 1901-03 Lucius F. C. Garvin 1903-05 George H. Utter 1905-07 James H. Higgins 1907-09 Aram J. Pothier 1909-15 R. Livingston Beeckman 1915-21 Emery J. San Souci 1921-23 William S. Flynn 1923-25 Aram J. Pothier 1925-28 Norman S. Case 1928-33 Theodore F. Green 1933-37 Robert E. Quinn 1937-39 William H. Vanderbilt 1939-41 J. Howard McGrath 1941-45 John O. Pastore 1945-50 John S. McKiernan 1950-51 Dennis J. Roberts 1951-59 Christopher Del Sesto 1959-61 John A. Notte, Jr. 1961-63 John H. Chafee 1963-69 Frank Licht 1969-73 Philip W. Noel 1973-77 J. Joseph Garrahy 1977-85 Edward Daniel DiPrete 1985-91 Bruce Sundlun 1991-95 Lincoln Almond 1995-2003 Donald L. Carcieri 2003-11 Lincoln Chafee 2011-15 Gina Raimondo 2015-

Events and Candidates (may be incomplete!)

  • 1733: William Wanton, died in office.
  • 1740 Jul 5: John Wanton, died in office.
  • 1758 Feb 22: William Greene, died in office.
  • 1805 Oct 15: Arthur Fenner, died in office.
  • 1818: Elisha R. Potter, defeated.
  • 1836: Tristam Burges (Whig), defeated.
  • 1853 Jul 20: Philip Allen, resigned.
  • 1861: James Y. Smith (Rep), defeated.
  • 1863 Mar 3: William Sprague, resigned.
  • 1893: George E. Boomer (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1895 Apr 3: Charles W. Lippitt (Rep), elected.
  • 1896 Apr 1: Charles W. Lippitt (Rep), elected.
  • 1901 Dec 16: William Gregory, died in office.
  • 1908: Olney Arnold (Dem), defeated.
  • 1909: Olney Arnold (Dem), defeated.
  • 1912 Nov 5: Aram J. Pothier (Rep), elected; Theodore F. Green (Dem), defeated; Albert H. Humes (Progressive), defeated; Samuel H. Fassel (Socialist), defeated; Willis H. White (Prohibition), defeated; Thomas F. Herrick (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1914 Nov 3: R. Livingston Beeckman (Rep), elected; Patrick H. Quinn (Dem), defeated; Edward W. Theinert (Socialist), defeated; Fred D. Thompson (Progressive), defeated; Ernest L. Merry (Prohibition), defeated; Peter McDermott (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1916 Nov 7: R. Livingston Beeckman (Rep), elected; Addison P. Munroe (Dem), defeated; John H. Holloway (Socialist), defeated; Roscoe W. Phillips (Prohibition), defeated; Thomas F. Herrick (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1918 Nov 5: R. Livingston Beeckman (Rep), elected; Alberic A. Archambault (Dem), defeated; Ernest Sherwood (Socialist), defeated.
  • 1920 Nov 2: Emery J. San Souci (Rep), elected; Edward M. Sullivan (Dem), defeated; Ernest Sherwood (Socialist), defeated; Peter McDermott (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1922 Nov 7: William S. Flynn (Dem), elected; Harold J. Gross (Rep), defeated; Charles F. Bishop (Socialist Labor), defeated; George W. Miller (Labor), defeated.
  • 1924 Nov 4: Aram J. Pothier (Rep), elected; Felix A. Toupin (Dem), defeated; Edward W. Theinert (Workers), defeated; Charles F. Bishop (Socialist Labor), defeated; Frederick W. A. Hurst (Socialist), defeated.
  • 1926 Nov 2: Aram J. Pothier (Rep), elected; Joseph H. Gainer (Dem), defeated; Peter McDermott (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1928: Theodore F. Green (Dem), defeated in primary.
  • 1928 Feb 3: Aram J. Pothier, died in office.
  • 1928 Nov 6: Norman S. Case (Rep), elected; Alberic A. Archambault (Dem), defeated; Charles F. Bishop (Socialist Labor), defeated; Edward W. Theinert (Workers), defeated.
  • 1930 Nov 4: Norman S. Case (Rep), elected; Theodore F. Green (Dem), defeated; Charles H. Dana (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1932 Nov 8: Theodore F. Green (Dem), elected; Norman S. Case (Rep), defeated; Frederick W. A. Hurst (Socialist), defeated; James P. Reid (Communist), defeated; Roscoe W. Phillips (Prohibition), defeated; Charles F. Bishop (Socialist Labor), defeated.
  • 1934 Nov 6: Theodore F. Green (Dem), elected; Luke H. Callan (Rep), defeated; Joseph M. Coldwell (Socialist), defeated.
  • 1936 Nov 3: Robert E. Quinn (Dem), elected; Charles P. Sisson (Rep), defeated; Charles F. Bishop (Socialist Labor), defeated; James P. Reid (Communist), defeated.
  • 1938 Nov 8: William H. Vanderbilt (Rep & Good Government), elected; Robert E. Quinn (Dem), defeated; Walter E. O'Hara (Square Deal), defeated; Morris Kominsky (Communist), defeated.
  • 1940 Nov 5: J. Howard McGrath (Dem), elected; William H. Vanderbilt (Rep), defeated; Wilfred J. Boissy (Communist), defeated.
  • 1942 Nov 3: J. Howard McGrath (Dem), elected; James O. McManus (Rep), defeated.
  • 1944 Nov 7: J. Howard McGrath (Dem), elected; Norman D. MacLeod (Rep), defeated.
  • 1945 Oct 6: J. Howard McGrath, resigned.
  • 1946 Nov 5: John O. Pastore (Dem), elected; John G. Murphy (Rep), defeated.
  • 1948 Nov 2: John O. Pastore (Dem), elected; Albert P. Ruerat (Rep), defeated; Clemens J. France (Progressive), defeated.
  • 1950 Nov 7: Dennis J. Roberts (Dem), elected; Eugene J. Lachapelle (Rep), defeated.
  • 1950 Dec 19: John O. Pastore, resigned.
  • 1952 Nov 4: Dennis J. Roberts (Dem), elected; Raoul Archambault, Jr. (Rep), defeated.
  • 1954 Nov 2: Dennis J. Roberts (Dem), elected; Dean J. Lewis (Rep), defeated; Arthur E. Marley (Ind), defeated.
  • 1956 Nov 6: Dennis J. Roberts (Dem), elected; Christopher Del Sesto (Rep), defeated.
  • 1958 Nov 4: Christopher Del Sesto (Rep), elected; Dennis J. Roberts (Dem), defeated.
  • 1962: John A. Notte, Jr. (Dem), defeated.
  • 1966: Horace E. Hobbs (Dem), defeated.
  • 1978: Lincoln Almond (Rep), defeated.
  • 1980: Buddy Cianci (Rep), defeated.
  • 1986: Bruce Sundlun (Dem), defeated.
  • 1988: Bruce Sundlun (Dem), defeated.
  • 1990: Joseph R. Paolino, Jr. (Dem), defeated in primary.
  • 1990: Bruce Sundlun (Dem), elected.
  • 1994: Bruce Sundlun (Dem), defeated in primary.
  • 1994: Ronald K. Machtley (Rep), defeated; Myrth York (Dem), defeated; Lincoln Almond (Rep), elected.
  • 1998: Lincoln Almond (Rep), elected; Myrth York (Dem), defeated.
  • 2002: Sheldon Whitehouse (Dem), defeated in primary.
  • 2002: Myrth York (Dem), defeated.
  • 2014 Sep 9: Angel Taveras (Dem), defeated in primary.
  • 2014 Nov 4: Gina Raimondo (Dem), elected.
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