The Governor of Maryland, currently Robert L. Ehrlich, heads the executive branch of the U.S. state of Maryland.

Contents

1 Functions and responsibilities 2 List of Governors of Maryland 2.1 Colonial Period 2.1.1 Leader of the Protestant Associators 2.1.2 Royal Governors 2.1.3 Governors of Restored Proprietary Government 2.2 Governors under Statehood 2.2.1 Governors Elected by the Legislature under the Maryland Constitution of 1776 2.2.2 Governors Elected by the People under the Constitutional Amendments of 1838 2.2.3 Governors Elected by the People under the Maryland Constitution of 1851 2.2.4 Governor Elected by the People under the Maryland Constitution of 1864 2.2.5 Governors Elected by the People under the Maryland Constitution of 1867

Functions and responsibilities

Like most state chief executives in the United States, the Maryland governor is elected by the people to serve a four-year term. A governor is constitutionally prohibited from serving more than two consecutive terms.

The governor's cabinet is known as the Executive Council. The governor also serves as the chair of the Board of Public Works, whose other members are the Comptroller and the Treasurer. This Board has broad powers in overseeing and approving the spending of state funds.

The governor has power to veto laws passed by the state's legislature and also has a line item veto, which can be used to strike certain portions of appropriations bills. The state legislature can override a veto by three-fifths vote of the total number of members in each house.

The appointment powers of the governor are extensive as he or she appoints almost all military and civil officers of the State—subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. In addition to appointing the heads of major departments, boards, and commissions of the State government, the Governor appoints certain boards and commissions in each county and the City of Baltimore, as provided for by law. The Governor also commissions notaries public and appoints persons to fill vacancies in the offices of Attorney General and Comptroller (both of which are normally elected by the people) and seats in the General Assembly. Any officer appointed by the Governor, except a member of the General Assembly, is removable by him for cause.

The governor is commander-in-chief of the military forces of the State, the National Guard, except when such forces are called into the national service by the President of the United States. If the National Guard is called into national service, the Governor may establish a State Guard. In times of public emergency the Governor has certain emergency powers as defined by law.

The governor lives in Government House, a Georgian mansion adjacent to the state capitol building.

This is a list of the Governors of the State of Maryland in the United States:

List of Governors of Maryland

Colonial Period

Leader of the Protestant Associators

• John Coode , 1689 - 1690

Royal Governors

1. Nehemiah Blakiston , 1691 - 1692
2. Sir Lionel Copley , 1692 - 1693
3. Sir Thomas Lawrence , 1693 - 1694
4. Sir Edmund Andros, 1693
5. Colonel Nicholas Greenberry , 1693 -1 694
6. Sir Edmund Andros, 1694
7. Sir Thomas Lawrence , 1694
8. Sir Francis Nicholson , 1694 - 1698/99
9. Colonel Nathaniel Blakiston , 1698/99 - 1702
10. Thomas Tench , 1702 - 1704
11. Colonel John Seymour , 1704 - 1709
12. Major General Edward Lloyd , 1709 - 1714
13. John Hart , 1714 - 1715

Governors of Restored Proprietary Government

1. John Hart , 1715 - 1720
2. Thomas Brooke , 1720
3. Charles Calvert , 1721 - 1727
4. Benedict Leonard Calvert , 1727 - 1731
5. Samuel Ogle , 1731 - 1732
6. Charles Calvert , 1732 - 1733
7. Samuel Ogle , 1733 - 1742
8. Thomas Bladen , 1742 - 1746/47
9. Samuel Ogle , 1746/47 - 1752
10. Benjamin Tasker , 1752 - 1753
11. Horatio Sharpe , 1753 - 1769
12. Robert Eden, 1769 - 1776

Governors under Statehood

Governors Elected by the Legislature under the Maryland Constitution of 1776

1. Thomas Johnson 1777-1779
2. Thomas Sim Lee 1779-1782
3. William Paca 1782-1785
4. William Smallwood 1785-1788
5. John Eager Howard 1788-1791
6. George Plater 1791-1792
7. James Brice 1792-1792
8. Thomas Sim Lee 1792-1794
9. John Hoskins Stone 1794-1797
10. John Henry 1797-1798
11. Benjamin Ogle 1798-1801
12. John Francis Mercer 1801-1803
13. Robert Bowie 1803-1806
14. Robert Wright 1806-1809
15. James Butcher 1809-1809
16. Edward Lloyd 1809-1811
17. Robert Bowie 1811-1812
18. Levin Winder 1812-1816
19. Charles Carnan Ridgely 1816-1819
20. Charles Goldsborough 1819
21. Samuel Sprigg 1819-1822
22. Samuel Stevens, Jr. 1822-1826
23. Joseph Kent 1826-1829
24. Daniel Martin 1829-1830
25. Thomas King Carroll 1830-1831
26. Daniel Martin 1831-1831
27. George Howard 1831-1833
28. James Thomas 1833-1836
29. Thomas W. Veazey 1836-1839

Governors Elected by the People under the Constitutional Amendments of 1838

#	Name	Party	Term
1	William Grason	Democrat	1839–1841
2	Francis Thomas	Democrat	1841–1845
3	Thomas G. Pratt	Whig	1845–1848
4	Phillip F. Thomas	Democrat	1848–1851
5	Enoch Louis Lowe	Democrat	1851–1854

Governors Elected by the People under the Maryland Constitution of 1851

#	Name	Party	Term
1	Thomas W. Ligon	Democrat	1854–1858
2	Thomas H. Hicks	Democrat; later Republican	1858–1862
3	Augustus Bradford	Unionist	1862–1866

Governor Elected by the People under the Maryland Constitution of 1864

#	Name	Party	Term
1	Thomas Swann	Democrat	1866–1869

Governors Elected by the People under the Maryland Constitution of 1867

#	Name	Party	Term
1	Oden Bowie	Democrat	1869–1872
2	William Pinkney Whyte	Democrat	1872–1874
3	James B. Groome	Democrat	1874–1876
4	John Lee Carroll	Democrat	1876–1880
5	William T. Hamilton	Democrat	1880–1884
6	Robert Milligan McLane	Democrat	1884–1885
7	Henry Lloyd	Democrat	1885–1888
8	Elihu Emory Jackson	Democrat	1888–1892
9	Frank Brown	Democrat	1882–1896
10	Lloyd Lowndes, Jr.	Republican	1896–1900
11	John Walter Smith	Democrat	1900–1904
12	Edwin Warfield	Democrat	1904–1908
13	Austin Lane Crothers	Democrat	1908–1912
14	Phillips Lee Goldsborough	Republican	1912–1916
15	Emerson C. Harrington	Democrat	1916–1920
16	Albert C. Ritchie	Democrat	1920–1935
17	Harry W. Nice	Republican	1935–1939
18	Herbert R. O'Conor	Democrat	1939–1947
19	William Preston Lane, Jr.	Democrat	1947–1951
20	Theodore R. McKeldin	Republican	1951–1959
21	J. Millard Tawes	Democrat	1959–1967
22	Spiro Agnew	Republican	1967–1969
23	Marvin Mandel1	Democrat	1969–1979
24	Blair Lee III1	Democrat	1977–1979
25	Harry R. Hughes	Democrat	1979–1987
26	William Donald Schaefer	Democrat	1987–1995
27	Parris N. Glendening	Democrat	1995–2003
28	Robert L. Ehrlich	Republican	2003–present

1. Lee served as acting governor from 1977-1979 following the resignation of Mandel in 1977 and the retraction of said resignation in 1979.