Governor of Florida

Florida Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$134,181
2024 FY Budget:	$2,898,258,747
Term limits:	2 consecutive terms
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Florida Constitution, Article IV, Section 1
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis Republican Party Assumed office: January 8, 2019
Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
Other Florida Executive Offices
Governor•Lieutenant Governor•Secretary of State•Attorney General•Chief Financial Officer•Commissioner of Education•Agriculture Commissioner•Insurance Commissioner•Environmental Protection Secretary•Economic Opportunity Secretary•Public Service Commission

The Governor of the State of Florida is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch, and the highest state office in Florida. The governor is elected by popular election every four years. There is no lifetime limit on the number of times he or she may be elected, but a governor who has been elected to two consecutive terms must be out of office for at least one election cycle before being eligible for re-election.

Florida has a Republican trifecta. The Republican Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature.

Florida has a Republican triplex. The Republican Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general.

See also: Florida State Legislature, Florida House of Representatives, Florida State Senate

Current officeholder

The 46th and current governor of Florida is Ron DeSantis (R). He was first elected in 2018.

Before becoming governor, DeSantis was a Republican member of the U.S. House from the 6th Congressional District of Florida.

Authority

The state constitution establishes the office of the governor in Article IV, the Executive Department.

Florida Constitution, Article IV, Section 1

The supreme executive power shall be vested in a governor.

Qualifications

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

Per Article IV, Section 5 of the state constitution, the governor must be at least 30 years old and have been a resident and registered voter of Florida for at least seven years.

Florida Constitution, Article IV, Section 5

(b) When elected, the governor, lieutenant governor and each cabinet member must be an elector not less than thirty years of age who has resided in the state for the preceding seven years. The attorney general must have been a member of the bar of Florida for the preceding five years. No person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term.

Elections

Florida state government organizational chart

See also: Gubernatorial election cycles by state

See also: Election of governors

Florida elects governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not presidential election years. For Florida, 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030, and 2034 are all gubernatorial election years. Legally, the gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the January following an election. The procedures for electing Florida's governor is laid out in Article IV, Section 5 of the Florida Constitution.

2022

See also: Florida gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Florida

Incumbent Ron DeSantis defeated Charlie Crist, Carmen Gimenez, and Hector Roos in the general election for Governor of Florida on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ron DeSantis (R)	59.4	4,614,210
		Charlie Crist (D)	40.0	3,106,313
		Carmen Gimenez (No Party Affiliation)	0.4	31,577
		Hector Roos (L)	0.2	19,299

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,771,399
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Kyle Gibson (No Party Affiliation)
• Frank Hughes Jr. (No Party Affiliation)
• Piotr Blass (No Party Affiliation)
• Jodi Jeloudov (No Party Affiliation)
• James Thompson (No Party Affiliation)
• Mark Graham (Unity Party)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Florida

Charlie Crist defeated Nikki Fried, Cadance Daniel, and Robert Willis in the Democratic primary for Governor of Florida on August 23, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Charlie Crist	59.7	904,524
		Nikki Fried	35.3	535,480
		Cadance Daniel	2.5	38,198
		Robert Willis	2.4	36,786

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,514,988
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Richard Dembinsky (D)
• David Nelson Freeman (D)
• Amaro Lionheart (D)
• Annette Taddeo (D)
• Alex Lundmark (D)

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Ron DeSantis advanced from the Republican primary for Governor of Florida.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• John Joseph Mercadante (R)

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Hector Roos advanced from the Libertarian primary for Governor of Florida.

2018

See also: Florida gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Florida

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Florida on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ron DeSantis (R)	49.6	4,076,186
		Andrew Gillum (D)	49.2	4,043,723
		Darcy Richardson (Reform Party)	0.6	47,140
		Kyle Gibson (No Party Affiliation)	0.3	24,310
		Ryan Foley (No Party Affiliation)	0.2	14,630
		Bruce Stanley (No Party Affiliation)	0.2	14,505
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	66

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,220,560 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Raphael Herman (No Party Affiliation)
• Randy Wiseman (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Florida

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Florida on August 28, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Andrew Gillum	34.4	522,164
		Gwen Graham	31.3	474,875
		Philip Levine	20.3	308,801
		Jeff Greene	10.1	152,955
		Christopher King	2.5	37,616
		John Wetherbee	0.9	14,426
		Alex Lundmark	0.6	8,655

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,519,492
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Richard Dembinsky (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Florida

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Florida on August 28, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ron DeSantis	56.5	916,298
		Adam Putnam	36.5	592,518
		Bob White	2.0	32,710
		Timothy Devine	1.3	21,380
		Bob Langford	1.2	19,842
		Bruce Nathan	0.9	14,556
		Don Baldauf	0.8	13,173
		John Joseph Mercadante	0.7	11,647

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,622,124
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Angel Rivera (R)

2014

See also: Florida Gubernatorial and Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Florida, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rick Scott/Carlos Lopez-Cantera Incumbent	48.1%	2,865,343
	Democratic	Charlie Crist/Annette Taddeo-Goldstein	47.1%	2,801,198
	Libertarian	Adrian Wyllie/Greg Roe	3.8%	223,356
	No Party Affiliation	Glenn Burkett/Jose Augusto Matos	0.7%	41,341
	No Party Affiliation	Farid Khavari/Lateresa Jones	0.3%	20,186
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0%	137
Total Votes				5,951,561
Election results via Florida Division of Elections

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Florida governors are restricted to two consecutive terms in office, after which they must wait one term before being eligible to run again.

Florida Constitution, Article IV, Section 5

No person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term.

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of Florida governors from 1992 to 2013.

Vacancies

See also: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article IV, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution.

Whenever the governor is unable or unwilling to discharge the office, either temporarily or permanently, the lieutenant governor takes over all the duties of the governorship either until the governor is able to resume the office or until the next election.

At any time that the governor is on trial for impeachment, the lieutenant governor becomes the acting governor.

Additionally, at any time that three members of the cabinet and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court agree on the governor's mental or physical unfitness for office, they may suspend and reinstate the governor, pursuant to § 3.

Duties

The Governor of Florida is the chief executive of Florida and serves as chairman of the Florida cabinet. The governor has the power to execute Florida's laws and to call out the state militia to preserve the public peace, being commander-in-chief of the state's military forces that are not in active service of the United States. At least once every legislative session, the governor is required to deliver an address to the Florida Legislature, referred to as the "State of the State Address," regarding the condition and operation of the state government and to suggest new legislation. These primary duties are laid out in § 1 (a).

Additionally, the governor may initiate judicial action against a state, county, or municipal officer to enforce compliance with law and the duties of the individual's office, may request opinions and interpretations of constitutional matters from the members of the Florida Supreme Court, and may fill all vacancies in elected and appointed office where the law does not otherwise prescribe the method.

In March 2012, the Florida Legislature passed legislation that expanded the powers of the governor to include more oversight over agency rulemaking, members of local jobs agencies, and the distribution of money used to recruit new business to relocate to Florida.

Other duties and privileges of the office include:

• assigning official duties to the lieutenant governor, in addition to those set forth by law (§ 2).
• casting a tie breaking vote when needed in cabinet matters
• under § 4 (e), sitting as chair of the Florida Board of Administration, pursuant to Article IX, Section 16 of the Constitution of 1885, and which shall continue as a body at least for the life of Article XII, Section 9(c).
• under § 4 (f), sitting as chair of the trustees of the internal improvement trust fund and the land acquisition trust fund
• under § 4 (g),sitting as agency chair of the state Department of Law Enforcement
• suspending and reinstating all officers, including militia officers, for any reason related to neglect, incompetence, or inability to fulfill duties; the exception applies in cases of impeachment (§ 7).
• excepting cases of treason and impeachment, suspend fines and grant reprieves, pardons, and clemency; by himself or herself, the governor may suspend a fine for up to 60 days. For more substantial matters, two cabinet matters must concur (§ 8).
• cooperating with the cabinet, making all necessary budget reductions in the event of a revenue shortfall (§ 13).

Divisions

Updated January 14, 2021

• Administration Office
• Appointments Office
• Cabinet Affairs
• Chief Inspector General’s Office
• Citizen Services
• Commission on Jobs for Floridians with Disabilities
• Communications Office
• Executive Office
• External Affairs
• Office of General Counsel
• Information Systems
• Legislative Affairs
• Office of Adoption and Child Protection
• Office of Open Government
• Office of Policy and Budget
• Scheduling

State budget

Role in state budget

See also: Florida state budget and finances

The state operates on an annual budget cycle. The sequence of key events in the budget process is as follows:

1. In June or July, the governor sends budget instructions to state agencies.
2. In September or October, agencies submit their budget requests to the governor.
3. Budget hearings are held with the public from October through February.
4. The governor submits his or her proposed budget to the state legislature 30 days before the legislature convenes.
5. The legislature adopts a budget in March, April, or May, effective for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. A simple majority is required to pass a budget.

The governor is statutorily required to submit a balanced budget to the legislature. In turn, the legislature must pass a balanced budget, and any budget signed into law by the governor must be balanced.

Florida is one of 44 states in which the governor has line item veto authority.

Florida budgets three major funds: the General Fund, the Major Special Revenue Fund, and the Special Revenue Fund. Both the Major Special Revenue Fund and the Special Revenue Fund are composed of lesser funds. The Major Special Revenue Fund is composed of three lesser funds, and the Special Revenue Fund is composed of about 19 to 20 lesser funds.

Governor's office budget

The budget for the Governor's Office in Fiscal Year 2024 was $2,898,258,747.

Compensation

See also: Comparison of gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

The salaries of elected executive officials in Florida are determined by state law as mandated in the Florida Constitution. Article II, Section 5 of the state constitution states that compensation of state officers is determined by the Florida State Legislature.

Text of Section 5: Public Officers (a) No person holding any office of emolument under any foreign government, or civil office of emolument under the United States or any other state, shall hold any office of honor or of emolument under the government of this state. No person shall hold at the same time more than one office under the government of the state and the counties and municipalities therein, except that a notary public or military officer may hold another office, and any officer may be a member of a constitution revision commission, taxation and budget reform commission, constitutional convention, or statutory body having only advisory powers. (b) Each state and county officer, before entering upon the duties of the office, shall give bond as required by law, and shall swear or affirm: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States and of the State of Florida; that I am duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of the state; and that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of (title of office) on which I am now about to enter. So help me God.”,and thereafter shall devote personal attention to the duties of the office, and continue in office until a successor qualifies. (c) The powers, duties, compensation and method of payment of state and county officers shall be fixed by law.

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $134,181, according to the Council of State Governments.

2021

In 2021, the governor received a salary of $134,181, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the governor's salary was $130,273, according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the governor's salary was $130,273, according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the governor's salary was $130,273. Rick Scott (R) refused his salary according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the governor received a salary of $130,273, according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the governor received a salary of $130,273, according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the governor received a salary of $130,273, according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, Gov. Rick Scott (R) did not collect his salary of $130,273, according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the governor's salary was $130,273, but Gov. Rick Scott (R) refused to accept compensation.

2010

In 2010, the governor was paid $130,273 a year, according to the Council of State Governments.

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Florida

Partisan breakdown of the Florida governorship from 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, in Florida there were Democratic governors in office for 7 years while there were Republican governors in office for 14 years. Florida was under Republican trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Florida, the Florida State Senate and the Florida House of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Florida state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. During the years studied, Florida achieved place in the top-10 in only one year (2007). The state had one Democratic trifecta in 1992, while it has had a Republican trifecta for a total of fourteen years. Florida’s most precipitous drop in the SQLI ranking occurred between 2007 and 2008, when the state dropped from 8th to 19th. Florida also experienced a significant drop in the ranking between 2009 and 2010.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 29.00
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 19.00
• SQLI average with divided government: 29.71

Chart displaying the partisanship of Florida government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

Historical officeholders

There have been 46 governors since 1845. Of the 46 officeholders, nine were Republican, 34 were Democrat, one was Whig, one was Democrat/Prohibition, and one was Provisional.

#	Name	Term	Party
1	William D. Moseley	1845-1849	Democratic
2	Thomas Brown	1849-1853	Whig
3	James E. Broome	1853-1857	Democratic
4	Madison S. Perry	1857-1861	Democratic
5	John Milton	1861-1865	Democratic
6	Abraham K. Allison	1865	Democratic
7	William Marvin	1865	Provisional
8	David S. Walker	1865-1868	Democratic
9	Harrison Reed	1868-1873	Republican
10	Ossian B. Hart	1873-1874	Republican
11	Marcellus L. Stearns	1874-1877	Republican
12	George F. Drew	1877-1881	Democratic
13	William D. Bloxham	1881-1885	Democratic
14	Edward A. Perry	1885-1889	Democratic
15	Francis P. Fleming	1889-1893	Democratic
16	Henry L. Mitchell	1893-1897	Democratic
17	William D. Bloxham	1897-1901	Democratic
18	William S. Jennings	1901-1905	Democratic
19	Napoleon B. Broward	1905-1909	Democratic
20	Albert W. Gilchrist	1909-1913	Democratic
21	Park Trammell	1913-1917	Democratic
22	Sidney J. Catts	1917-1921	Democrat, Prohibition
23	Cary A. Hardee	1921-1925	Democratic
24	John W. Martin	1925-1929	Democratic
25	Doyle E. Carlton	1929-1933	Democratic
26	David Sholtz	1933-1937	Democratic
27	Frederick P. Cone	1937-1941	Democratic
28	Spessard L. Holland	1941-1945	Democratic
29	Millard F. Caldwell	1945-1949	Democratic
30	Fuller Warren	1949-1953	Democratic
31	Daniel T. McCarty	1953	Democratic
32	Charley E. Johns	1953-1955	Democratic
33	Thomas L. Collins	1955-1961	Democratic
34	Cecil F. Bryant	1961-1965	Democratic
35	Haydon Burns	1965-1967	Democratic
36	Claude R. Kirk	1967-1971	Republican
37	Reubin O. Askew	1971-1979	Democratic
38	Bob Graham	1979-1987	Democratic
39	Wayne Mixson	1987-1987	Democratic
40	Robert Martinez	1987-1991	Republican
41	Lawton Chiles	1991-1998	Democratic
42	Kenneth H. Mackay	1998-1999	Democratic
43	Jeb Bush	1999-2007	Republican
44	Charlie Crist	2007-2011	Republican, Independent
45	Rick Scott	2011-2019	Republican
46	Ron DeSantis	2019-present	Republican

State profile

Demographic data for Florida
	Florida	U.S.
Total population:	20,244,914	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	53,625	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	76%	73.6%
Black/African American:	16.1%	12.6%
Asian:	2.6%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.4%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	23.7%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	86.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.3%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$47,507	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Florida. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Florida

Florida voted Republican in four out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Florida, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Florida had three Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.66 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respsectively.

More Florida coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Florida
• United States congressional delegations from Florida
• Public policy in Florida
• Endorsers in Florida
• Florida fact checks
• More...

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Governor Florida. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Governor of Florida - Google News

Contact information

Address: Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis
400 S Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Phone: (850) 488-7146
E-mail: [email protected]

External links

• Office of the Governor of Florida website