Governor of Massachusetts
Part the Second, Chapter II, Section I, Article I of the Massachusetts Constitution reads,
Succession
According to the constitution, whenever the chair of the governor is vacant, the lieutenant governor shall take over as governor. The first time this came into use was five years after the constitution's adoption, when in 1785 Governor John Hancock resigned his post with five months remaining before the inauguration of Gov. James Bowdoin.
No Single Governor
Whenever both the governor and his lieutenant left their offices vacant, the Governor's Council was charged with acting as governor. Gov. Increase Sumner died in office on June 7, 1799, leaving Lt. Gov. Moses Gill as Governor of the Commonwealth. Governor Gill never received a lieutenant, and died himself on May 20, 1800.
For the ten days between Governor Gill's death and Gov. Caleb Strong's inauguration, the Governor's Council became the executive arm of the Commonwealth's government. Its chair, Thomas Dawes, was the closest person to governor during this time, but was at no point named governor.
New and Current Line of Succession
Article LV of the Constitution annulled this line of succession and created a new line that did not entrust the governorship to an eight-member council. The new and current line of succession is as follows:
- Governor (Mitt Romney)
- Lieutenant Governor (Kerry Healey)
- Secretary of the Commonwealth (William Francis Galvin)
- Attorney General (Thomas C. Reilly)
- Treasurer and Receiver-General (Tim Cahill)
- Auditor (A. Joseph DeNucci)
List of Massachusetts Governors
Colonial governors can be found at page for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.