List of lieutenant governors of Vermont


The Lieutenant Governor of Vermont is elected for a two-year term and chosen separately from the Governor. The Vermont Lieutenant Governor's main responsibilities include acting as governor when the latter is out of state or incapacitated, presiding over the Vermont Senate, casting tie-breaking votes in the Senate when required, and acceding to the governorship in case of a vacancy.As a member of the State Senate's Committee on Committees, the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont plays a role in determining committee assignments for individual Senators, as well as selecting committee chairmen, vice chairmen, and clerks.

Mountain rule

From the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s until the 1960s only Republicans won general elections for Vermont's statewide offices. One method that made this possible was imposition of the "Mountain Rule." Under the provisions of the Mountain Rule, one U.S. Senator was a resident of the east side of the Green Mountains and one resided on the west side, and the governorship and lieutenant governorship alternated between residents of the east and west side. Nominees for governor and lieutenant governor were allowed two one-year terms, and later one two-year term. For nearly 100 years likely Republican candidates for office in Vermont agreed to abide by the Mountain Rule in the interests of party unity. Several factors led to the eventual weakening of the Mountain Rule, including: the longtime political dispute between the Proctor and Aiken-Gibson wings of the party; primaries rather than conventions to select nominees; the direct election of U.S. Senators; and several active third parties, including the Progressives, the Prohibition Party, and the Local Option movement. In the 1960s the rise of the Vermont Democratic Party and the construction of Interstate 89 also contributed to the end of the Mountain Rule. Though I-89 is a north-south route, it traverses Vermont from east to west and changed the way Vermonters view how the state is divided.

Vacancies

Vermont has no provision for filling the lieutenant governor's office in the event of a vacancy, and it has been vacant four times. Thomas Chittenden died in August 1797 while serving as governor, and Lieutenant Governor Paul Brigham served until the end of Chittenden's term in October. Brigham, the winner of that year's September election for lieutenant governor, began his new term in October and was succeeded as governor by Isaac Tichenor. In February 1870, Governor Peter T. Washburn died and George Whitman Hendee became governor. The lieutenant governor's office remained vacant until George N. Dale, the winner of that September's election, took office in October. In January 1950, Governor Ernest W. Gibson Jr. resigned and Harold J. Arthur became governor. The lieutenant governor's office was vacant until Joseph B. Johnson, the winner of the 1950 election, took office in January 1951. In August 1991, Governor Richard A. Snelling died and Howard Dean succeeded him. The lieutenant governorship remained vacant until Snelling's widow Barbara, the winner of the 1992 election, took office in January 1993.

List

Here is a list of lieutenant governors of Vermont in chronological order:

As the independent [Vermont Republic]

As the U.S. state of Vermont

;Parties






#NamePartyTermGovernor served under
1Jonathan Hunt—1794–1796Thomas Chittenden
2Democratic-Republican1796–1813Thomas Chittenden
himself
Isaac Tichenor
Israel Smith
Isaac Tichenor
Jonas Galusha
3Federalist1813–1815Martin Chittenden
4Democratic-Republican1815–1820Jonas Galusha
5Democratic-Republican1820–1822Richard Skinner
6Democratic-Republican1822–1827Richard Skinner
Cornelius P. Van Ness
Ezra Butler
7Democratic-Republican1827–1830Ezra Butler
8National Republican1830–1831Samuel C. Crafts
9Anti-Masonic1831–1835William A. Palmer
10Whig / Anti-Masonic1835–1836Silas H. Jennison
11Whig1836–1841Silas H. Jennison
12Whig1841–1843Charles Paine
13Whig1843–1846John Mattocks
William Slade
14Whig1846–1848Horace Eaton
15Whig1848–1850Carlos Coolidge
16Whig1850–1852Charles K. Williams
17Whig1852–1853Erastus Fairbanks
18Democratic1853–1854John S. Robinson
19Republican1854–1856Stephen Royce
20Republican1856–1858Ryland Fletcher
21Republican1858–1860Hiland Hall
22Republican1860–1862Hiland Hall
Erastus Fairbanks
23Republican / National Union1862–1865Frederick Holbrook
J. Gregory Smith
24Republican1865–1867Paul Dillingham
25Republican1867–1869John B. Page
26Republican1869–1870Peter T. Washburn
27Republican1870–1872George W. Hendee
John W. Stewart
28Republican1872–1874Julius Converse
29Republican1874–1876Asahel Peck
30Republican1876–1878Horace Fairbanks
31Republican1878–1880Redfield Proctor
32Republican1880–1882Roswell Farnham
33Republican1882–1884John L. Barstow
34Republican1884–1886Samuel E. Pingree
35Republican1886–1888Ebenezer J. Ormsbee
36Republican1888–1890William P. Dillingham
37Republican1890–1892Carroll S. Page
38Republican1892–1894Levi K. Fuller
39Republican1894–1896Urban A. Woodbury
40Republican1896–1898Josiah Grout
41Republican1898–1900Edward C. Smith
42Republican1900–1902William W. Stickney
43Republican1902–1904John G. McCullough
44Republican1904–1906Charles J. Bell
45Republican1906–1908Fletcher D. Proctor
46Republican1908–1910George H. Prouty
47Republican1910–1912John A. Mead
48Republican1912–1915Allen M. Fletcher
49Republican1915–1917Charles W. Gates
50Republican1917–1919Horace F. Graham
51Republican1919–1921Percival W. Clement
52Republican1921–1923James Hartness
53Republican1923–1925Redfield Proctor, Jr.
54Republican1925–1927Franklin S. Billings
55Republican1927–1927John E. Weeks
56Republican1929–1931John E. Weeks
57Republican1931–1933Stanley C. Wilson
58Republican1933–1935Stanley C. Wilson
59Republican1935–1937Charles Manley Smith
60Republican1937–1941George D. Aiken
61Republican1941–1945William H. Wills
62Republican1945–1949Mortimer R. Proctor
Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.
63Republican1949–1950Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.
64Republican1951–1955Lee E. Emerson
65Republican1955–1957Joseph B. Johnson
66Republican1957–1959Joseph B. Johnson
67Republican1959–1961Robert T. Stafford
68Republican1961–1965F. Ray Keyser, Jr.
Philip H. Hoff
69Democratic1965–1969Philip H. Hoff
70Republican1969–1971Deane C. Davis
71Republican1971–1975Deane C. Davis
Thomas P. Salmon
72Democratic1975–1977Thomas P. Salmon
73Republican1977–1979Richard Snelling
74Democratic1979–1983Richard Snelling
75Republican1983–1987Richard Snelling
Madeleine Kunin
76Democratic1987–1991Madeleine Kunin
Richard Snelling
77Republican1993–1997Howard Dean
78Democratic1997–2003Howard Dean
79Republican2003–2011Jim Douglas
80Republican2011–2017Peter Shumlin
81Progressive/Democratic2017–presentPhil Scott

Italics denote a Governor of a different party than the Lieutenant Governor

Living former Lieutenant Governors of Vermont

, seven former lieutenant governors of Vermont were alive, the oldest being Madeleine Kunin. The most recent death of a former lieutenant governor of Vermont was that of Barbara W. Snelling, on November 2, 2015.
Lt. GovernorLt. Gubernatorial termDate of birth
Brian D. Burns1975-1977
Madeleine Kunin1979-1983
Peter Plympton Smith1983-1987
Howard Dean1987-1991
Doug Racine1997-2003
Brian Dubie2003-2011
Phil Scott2011-2017