Kate Brown , Governor of Oregon from July 2016 to 2023, was born in Spain, making her the second most recent U.S. governor who was born outside the United States. Her father was an American citizen serving there in the United States Air Force. Arnold Schwarzenegger , Governor of California from 2003 to 2011, born in Austria, is the third most recent U.S. governor to have been born outside of the country. John H. Sununu , Governor of New Hampshire from 1983 to 1989, was the first U.S. governor who was born in the Caribbean . Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo , Governor of New Mexico from 1919 to 1921, was the first U.S. governor who was born in Latin America . Knute Nelson , Governor of Minnesota from 1893 to 1895, was the first U.S. governor who was born in Scandinavia . Jacob Dolson Cox , Governor of Ohio from 1866 to 1868, was the first U.S. governor who was born outside the United States, but still within the Americas . John A. Treutlen , Governor of Georgia from 1777 to 1778, was the first U.S. governor who was born in a non-English-speaking country . In total, 72 governors of U.S. states have been born outside the current territory of the United States . Joe Lombardo of Nevada, born in Japan, is the only current governor to have been born outside the United States. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan (whose terms both ended in January 2011), and Kate Brown of Oregon (whose term ended in January 2023) are the other most recent foreign-born governors.
Of the fifty states, 30 (or 60 percent) have had at least one governor born outside the United States. 19 states have had multiple governors who were born outside the United States. Georgia has had six foreign-born governors, who all served in office during the 18th century. The other states with the most foreign-born governors are Wisconsin (five), Michigan , Minnesota , North Dakota , Ohio , and Oregon (four each). Additionally, from 1905 to 1921 Utah had three consecutive foreign-born governors (John Cutler , William Spry , and Simon Bamberger ).
Of the 72 foreign-born governors, 59 were born in Europe and thirteen were born in North America, including the Caribbean. A total of 30 U.S. governors have been born on the present territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (fifteen in England, seven in Scotland, six in Northern Ireland, and two in Wales), with another 2 born on territory of the Republic of Ireland while part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , and 2 while part of the pre-union Kingdom of Ireland . Nine governors have been born within the present territory of Canada, seven Germany, five Norway, five Sweden, three France, three Mexico, and one Austria.
Only three foreign-born women have served as U.S. governors – Madeleine Kunin of Vermont, who was born in Switzerland; Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, who was born in Canada; and Kate Brown of Oregon, who was born in Spain.
Governors who were succeeded by other foreign-born governors are marked with a dagger (†). Governors who were preceded by other foreign-born governors are marked with a section sign (§).
Name State Birthplace (current country) Then the territory of Term start Term end John McKinly Delaware United Kingdom Kingdom of Ireland February 12, 1777 September 22, 1777 Button Gwinnett † Georgia United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain March 4, 1777 May 8, 1777 John A. Treutlen §[1] Georgia Germany Holy Roman Empire May 8, 1777 January 10, 1778 John Wereat Georgia United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain August 6, 1779 January 4, 1780 William Fleming Virginia United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain June 4, 1781 June 12, 1781 Thomas Burke North Carolina Ireland Kingdom of Ireland June 26, 1781 April 22, 1782 Edward Telfair Georgia United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain January 9, 1786 January 9, 1787 November 11, 1789 November 7, 1793 Samuel Johnston North Carolina United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain December 20, 1787 December 17, 1789 George Handley Georgia United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain January 7, 1788 January 7, 1789 William Paterson New Jersey United Kingdom Kingdom of Ireland October 29, 1790 March 30, 1793 James Jackson Georgia United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain January 12, 1798 March 3, 1801 William Davie North Carolina United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain December 7, 1798 November 23, 1799 Edward Tiffin † Ohio United Kingdom Kingdom of Great Britain March 3, 1803 March 4, 1807 Thomas Kirker § Ohio United Kingdom Kingdom of Ireland March 4, 1807 December 12, 1808 Pierre Derbigny Louisiana France Kingdom of France December 15, 1828 October 6, 1829 Arthur MacArthur Sr. Wisconsin United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland March 21, 1856 March 25, 1856 John G. Downey California Ireland United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 14, 1860 January 10, 1862 Edward Salomon Wisconsin Germany Kingdom of Prussia April 19, 1862 January 4, 1864 Michael Hahn Louisiana Germany Kingdom of Bavaria March 4, 1864 March 4, 1865 Jacob Dolson Cox Ohio Canada British Empire January 8, 1866 January 13, 1868 Robert B. Lindsay Alabama United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland November 26, 1870 November 17, 1872 Thomas L. Young Ohio United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland March 2, 1877 January 14, 1878 William E. Smith Wisconsin United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 7, 1878 January 2, 1882 George P. Wetmore Rhode Island United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland May 26, 1885 May 29, 1887 Frank Bell Nevada Canada British Empire September 21, 1890 January 5, 1891 James E. Boyd Nebraska United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 8, 1891 January 13, 1893 Knute Nelson Minnesota Norway Union between Sweden and Norway January 4, 1893 January 31, 1895 John Peter Altgeld Illinois Germany Nassau January 10, 1893 January 11, 1897 Frederic T. Greenhalge Massachusetts United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 4, 1894 March 5, 1896 John Edward Jones † Nevada United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 7, 1895 April 10, 1896 Roger Allin North Dakota United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 10, 1895 January 6, 1897 Reinhold Sadler § Nevada Poland Kingdom of Prussia April 10, 1896 January 5, 1903 John Lind Minnesota Sweden Union between Sweden and Norway January 2, 1899 January 7, 1901 Fred M. Warner Michigan United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 1, 1905 January 2, 1911 John Cutler † Utah United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 2, 1905 January 4, 1909 Frank R. Gooding Idaho United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 2, 1905 January 4, 1909 John McLane New Hampshire United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 5, 1905 January 3, 1907 James O. Davidson Wisconsin Norway Union between Sweden and Norway January 1, 1906 January 2, 1911 William Spry §† Utah United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 4, 1909 January 1, 1917 Aram J. Pothier [2] Rhode Island Canada British Empire January 5, 1909 January 5, 1915 January 6, 1925 February 4, 1928 Adolph Eberhart Minnesota Sweden Union between Sweden and Norway September 21, 1909 January 5, 1915 Oswald West † Oregon Canada British Empire January 11, 1911 January 12, 1915 John K. Tener Pennsylvania United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 17, 1911 January 19, 1915 James Withycombe § Oregon United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 12, 1915 March 3, 1919 Moses Alexander † Idaho Germany Kingdom of Bavaria January 4, 1915 January 6, 1919 Simon Bamberger §[3] Utah Germany Hesse-Darmstadt January 1, 1917 January 3, 1921 Octaviano Larrazolo New Mexico Mexico Mexico January 1, 1919 January 1, 1921 D. W. Davis § Idaho United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 6, 1919 January 1, 1923 Ragnvald Nestos North Dakota Norway Union between Sweden and Norway November 23, 1921 January 7, 1925 Roland H. Hartley Washington Canada British Empire January 12, 1925 January 9, 1933 A. W. Norblad Oregon Sweden Union between Sweden and Norway December 21, 1929 January 12, 1931 Frank Henry Cooney Montana Canada British Empire March 13, 1933 December 15, 1935 Walter Welford North Dakota United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland February 2, 1935 January 6, 1937 Hjalmar Petersen Minnesota Denmark Denmark August 22, 1936 January 4, 1937 Julius P. Heil Wisconsin Germany German Empire January 2, 1939 January 4, 1943 John Moses North Dakota Norway Union between Sweden and Norway January 5, 1939 January 4, 1945 Sigurd Anderson South Dakota Norway Union between Sweden and Norway January 2, 1951 January 4, 1955 Christian Herter Massachusetts France French Third Republic January 8, 1953 January 3, 1957 J. Hugo Aronson Montana Sweden Union between Sweden and Norway January 5, 1953 January 2, 1961 Joseph B. Johnson Vermont Sweden Union between Sweden and Norway January 6, 1955 January 8, 1959 John Swainson † Michigan Canada British Empire January 1, 1961 January 1, 1963 John N. Dempsey Connecticut Ireland United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland January 21, 1961 January 6, 1971 George Romney § Michigan Mexico Mexico January 1, 1963 January 22, 1969 Samuel H. Shapiro Illinois Estonia Russian Empire May 21, 1968 January 13, 1969 Raúl Héctor Castro Arizona Mexico Mexico January 6, 1975 October 20, 1977 John Sununu New Hampshire Cuba Cuba January 6, 1983 January 4, 1989 Madeleine Kunin Vermont Switzerland Switzerland January 10, 1985 January 10, 1991 Stan Stephens Montana Canada British Empire January 2, 1989 January 4, 1993 Lowell Weicker Connecticut France French Third Republic January 9, 1991 January 4, 1995 Jennifer Granholm Michigan Canada Canada January 1, 2003 January 1, 2011 Arnold Schwarzenegger California Austria Allied-occupied Austria November 13, 2003 January 3, 2011 Kate Brown Oregon Spain Spanish State February 18, 2015 January 9, 2023 Joe Lombardo Nevada Japan Japan January 2, 2023 present
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▌ Republican : 27 (27 states) ▌ Democratic : 28 (23 states, 4 territories, 1 district) ▌ Independent: 1 (1 territory)