The lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lieutenant governor is elected for a four-year term in the same year as the governor. Each party picks a candidate for lieutenant governor independently of the gubernatorial primary. The winners of the party primaries are then teamed together as a single ticket for the fall general election. The lieutenant governor presides in the Pennsylvania State Senate and is first in the line of succession to the governor; in the event the governor dies, resigns, or otherwise leaves office, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. The lieutenant governor casts tie breaking votes in the State Senate.
The office of lieutenant governor was created by the Constitution of 1873. As with the governor's position, the Constitution of 1968 made lieutenant governors eligible to succeed themselves for one additional four-year term. The position's only official duties are serving as president of the State Senate and chairing the Board of Pardons and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council. Lieutenant governors often work on additional projects and have a full schedule of community and speaking events.
Until 2019, Pennsylvania was the only state that provided an official residence, State House at Fort Indiantown Gap, for its lieutenant governor. Constructed in 1940 and previously the governor's "summer residence", it became available for Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor in 1968 when the current governor's residence was completed in Harrisburg. It was transferred to the state's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs after legislation to do so passed in 2019.
The current lieutenant governor is Austin Davis, who took office on January 17, 2023.
List of lieutenant governors Parties
#ImageNameTermGovernor(s) served underParty1John Latta1875–1879John F. HartranftDemocratic2Charles Warren Stone1879–1883Henry M. HoytRepublican3Chauncey Forward Black1883–1887Robert E. PattisonDemocratic4William T. Davies1887–1891James A. BeaverRepublican5Louis Arthur Watres1891–1895Robert E. PattisonRepublican6Walter Lyon1895–1899Daniel H. HastingsRepublican7John P. S. Gobin1899–1903William A. StoneRepublican8William M. Brown1903–1907Samuel W. PennypackerRepublican9Robert S. Murphy1907–1911Edwin Sydney StuartRepublican10John M. Reynolds1911–1915John K. TenerRepublican11Frank B. McClain1915–1919Martin Grove BrumbaughRepublican12Edward E. Beidleman1919–1923William Cameron SproulRepublican13David J. Davis1923–1927Gifford PinchotRepublican14Arthur H. James1927–1931John Stuchell FisherRepublican15Edward C. Shannon1931–1935Gifford PinchotRepublican16Thomas Kennedy1935–1939George Howard Earle IIIDemocratic17Samuel S. Lewis1939–1943Arthur JamesRepublican18John Cromwell Bell Jr.1943–1947Edward MartinRepublican19Daniel B. Strickler1947–1951James H. DuffRepublican20Lloyd H. Wood1951–1955John S. FineRepublican21Roy E. Furman1955–1959George M. LeaderDemocratic22John Morgan Davis1959–1963David L. LawrenceDemocratic23Raymond P. Shafer1963–1967William ScrantonRepublican24Raymond J. Broderick1967–1971Raymond P. ShaferRepublican25Ernest P. Kline1971–1979Milton ShappDemocratic26William Scranton III1979–1987Dick ThornburghRepublican27Mark Singel1987–1995Robert P. CaseyDemocratic28Mark S. Schweiker1995–2001Tom RidgeRepublican29Robert C. Jubelirer2001–2003Mark S. SchweikerRepublican30Catherine Baker Knoll2003–2008Ed RendellDemocratic31Joseph B. Scarnati III2008–2011Ed RendellRepublican32Jim Cawley2011–2015Tom CorbettRepublican33Mike Stack2015–2019Tom WolfDemocratic34John Fetterman2019–2023Tom WolfDemocratic35Austin Davis2023–presentJosh Shapiro Democratic
List of acting lieutenant governors Jake Corman – From May 17, 2022, to May 23, 2022, Corman served as acting lieutenant governor while lieutenant governor John Fetterman had a pacemaker implanted and recovered. Kim Ward – John Fetterman resigned as lieutenant governor to serve in the United States Senate on January 3, 2023, Ward served as acting lieutenant governor until January 17, 2023, when lieutenant governor-elect Austin Davis was sworn in.
Vice-presidents of Pennsylvania From 1777 to 1790 the executive branch of Pennsylvania's state government was headed by a Supreme Executive Council consisting of a representative of each county and of the City of Philadelphia. The vice president of the Council—also known as the vice-president of Pennsylvania—held a position analogous to the modern office of lieutenant governor. Presidents and vice-presidents were elected to one-year terms and could serve up to three years—the full length of their regular term as counsellor. Ten men served as vice-president during the time of the Council's existence.
George Bryan 1777–1779 Matthew Smith 1779 William Moore 1779–1781 James Potter 1781–1782 James Ewing 1782–1784 James Irvine 1784–1785 Charles Biddle 1785–1787 Peter Muhlenberg 1787–1788 David Redick 1788 George Ross 1788–1790
References