The governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Maryland and is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and the constitutional powers of Maryland's governors make them among the most powerful governors in the United States. Since the American Revolution, Maryland has had four state constitutions that have specified different terms of office and methods of selection of its governors. Under the constitution of 1776, governors were appointed by the General Assembly legislature to one-year terms and could be reelected for two additional terms. An 1838 constitutional amendment allowed the direct election of governors to 3-year terms, although the governors came from rotating election districts of regions. The terms were lengthened to four years in the 1851 Constitution and election districts were abolished in the 1864 version. Since then, under the current heavily amended Maryland Constitution of 1867 governors have been elected by the entire state of Maryland for a four-year term. Maryland governors are limited to two consecutive terms, making former two-term governors eligible to run after four years out of office. Thomas Sim Lee, Daniel Martin, and Robert Bowie have served non-consecutive terms as Governor of Maryland. Albert C. Ritchie holds the record of Maryland's longest-serving governor with almost 15 years of service. Maryland has never yet had a female governor although four have been nominated by their parties since 1974. One woman, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, served as Lieutenant Governor under Parris Glendening from 1995 to 2003. The current governor is Republican Larry Hogan, who took office on January 21, 2015.
Governors
Succession
Living former governors of Maryland
, three former U.S. governors of Maryland are currently living, the oldest being Parris Glendening. The most recent U.S. governor of Maryland to die was Harry Hughes, on March 13, 2019. The most recently serving governor to die was William Donald Schaefer on April 18, 2011.
