List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States

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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.

List[edit]

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 United Kingdom Allied-occupied Austria 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

By birthplace[edit]

Country State or Province No. of governors
Austria Styria 1
Canada Alberta 1
British Columbia 1
Colony of New Brunswick 1
Ontario 4
Quebec 2
TOTAL 9
Cuba Havana 1
Denmark Zealand 1
Estonia 1
France Hauts-de-France 1
Paris 2
TOTAL 3
Germany 7
Ireland 4
Japan Sapporo 1
Mexico Chihuahua 2
Sonora 1
TOTAL 3
Norway 5
Poland Province of Posen 1
Spain Community of Madrid 1
Sweden 5
Switzerland Canton of Zürich 1
United Kingdom England 15
Northern Ireland 6
Scotland 7
Wales 2
TOTAL 30

By state[edit]

State No. of governors
 Alabama 1
 Arizona 1
 California 2
 Connecticut 2
 Delaware 1
 Georgia 6
 Idaho 3
 Illinois 2
 Louisiana 2
 Massachusetts 2
 Michigan 4
 Minnesota 4
 Montana 3
 Nebraska 1
 Nevada 4
 New Hampshire 2
 New Jersey 1
 New Mexico 1
 North Carolina 3
 North Dakota 4
 Ohio 4
 Oregon 4
 Pennsylvania 1
 Rhode Island 2
 South Dakota 1
 Utah 3
 Vermont 2
 Virginia 1
 Washington 1
 Wisconsin 5

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Treutlen was born in what was then Württemberg.
  2. ^ Pothier was born in what was then the Province of United Canada.
  3. ^ Bamberger was born in what was then Hesse-Darmstadt.

See also[edit]