Lieutenant Governor of Texas

Lieutenant Governor and President of the Senate of Texas
Lieutenant Governor and President of the Senate of Texas
	Seal of the lieutenant governor
	Incumbent; Dan Patrick; since January 20, 2015
Style	The Honorable
Term length	Four years, no term limits
Inaugural holder	Albert Clinton Horton; 1846
Formation	Texas Constitution
Website	Office of the Lieutenant Governor

The lieutenant governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the work of the Texas Senate and controls the budgeting process as a leader of the Legislative Budget Board.

Under the provisions of the Texas Constitution, the lieutenant governor is president of the Texas Senate. Unlike with most other states' senates and the U.S. Senate, the lieutenant governor regularly presides over the chamber rather than delegating this function to the president pro tempore or a majority leader. By the rules of the Senate, the lieutenant governor establishes all special and standing committees, appoints all chairpersons and members, and assigns all Senate legislation to the committee of his choice. The lieutenant governor decides all questions of parliamentary procedure in the Senate. The lieutenant governor also has broad discretion in following Senate procedural rules.

The lieutenant governor is an ex officio member of several statutory bodies. These include the Legislative Budget Board, the Legislative Council, the Legislative Audit Committee, the Legislative Board and Legislative Council, which have considerable sway over state programs, the budget and policy. The lieutenant governor is also a member of the Legislative Redistricting Board (together with the speaker of the House, attorney general, comptroller, and land commissioner), which is charged with adopting a redistricting plan for the Texas House of Representatives, Texas Senate, or U.S. House of Representatives after the decennial census if the Legislature fails to do so.

In the case of a vacancy in the lieutenant governor's office, the Senate elects one of its members to act as President of the Senate until the next statewide office election, in effect becoming the lieutenant governor. A senator elected as presiding officer in this way retains their district seat and the voting privileges entailed with his Senate election. The lieutenant governor is sworn in on the third Tuesday every four years, the same as the governor.

Dan Patrick has been the lieutenant governor of Texas since January 20, 2015.

The term of office was two years from 1846 to 1972. Voters then increased it to four years, effective for the 1974 election.^[1]

The lieutenant governor assumes the powers of the governor of Texas when the governor is out of the state or otherwise unable to discharge the office. The lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor, rather than on the same ticket; it is therefore possible for the governor and lieutenant governor to be from different political parties (which was the case during Governor George W. Bush's first term and also during Bill Clements's two non-consecutive terms). The lieutenant governor becomes the governor if the elected governor resigns, dies or is removed from office via impeachment and conviction. Former governor Rick Perry took office upon George W. Bush's resignation on December 21, 2000, ahead of Bush becoming U.S. president. When Perry became lieutenant governor on 19 January 1999, he became the first Republican since Albert Jennings Fountain in 1873 to serve as lieutenant governor, and the first Republican to be elected as lieutenant governor since James W. Flanagan in 1869.

Compared to other lieutenant governors

Texas is one of the few states that vests significant power in the office of lieutenant governor, making it among the most influential. By contrast, the lieutenant governor position in other states has few (if any) legislative responsibilities, akin to the vice president of the United States.

Lieutenant governors of Texas

Parties

Democrat (38 lieutenant governors) Republican (5 lieutenant governors)

No.	Image	Lieutenant Governor	Years in office	Governor(s) served under	Party
1		Albert Clinton Horton^[a]	May 2, 1846 – December 21, 1847	James Pinckney Henderson	Democratic
2		John Alexander Greer	December 21, 1847 – December 22, 1851	George Tyler Wood Peter Hansborough Bell	Democratic
3		James W. Henderson^[b]	December 22, 1851 – November 23, 1853	Peter Hansborough Bell	Democratic
4		David Catchings Dickson	December 21, 1853 – December 21, 1855	Elisha M. Pease	Democratic
5		Hardin Richard Runnels	December 21, 1855 – December 21, 1857	Elisha M. Pease	Democratic
6		Francis Lubbock	December 21, 1857 – December 21, 1859	Hardin Richard Runnels	Democratic
7		Edward Clark	December 21, 1859 – March 16, 1861	Sam Houston	Democratic
8		John McClannahan Crockett	November 7, 1861 – November 5, 1863	Francis Lubbock	Democratic
9		Fletcher Stockdale	November 5, 1863 – June 17, 1865	Pendleton Murrah	Democratic
—	Vacant	Vacant	June 17, 1865 – August 9, 1866	Fletcher Stockdale Andrew Jackson Hamilton	–
10		George Washington Jones^[c]	August 9, 1866 – July 30, 1867	James W. Throckmorton	Democratic
—	Vacant	Vacant	July 30, 1867 – January 8, 1870	Elisha M. Pease	–
—^[d]		James W. Flanagan	January 8, 1870 – February 24, 1870	Edmund J. Davis	Republican
—	Vacant	Vacant^[e]	February 24, 1870 – January 15, 1874	Edmund J. Davis	–
11		Richard B. Hubbard	January 15, 1874 – December 1, 1876	Richard Coke	Democratic
—	Vacant	Vacant^[f]	December 1, 1876 – January 21, 1879	Richard B. Hubbard	–
12		Joseph Draper Sayers	January 21, 1879 – January 18, 1881	Oran Milo Roberts	Democratic
13		Leonidas Jefferson Storey	January 18, 1881 – January 16, 1883	Oran Milo Roberts	Democratic
14		Francis Marion Martin	January 16, 1883 – January 20, 1885	John Ireland	Democratic
15		Barnett Gibbs	January 20, 1885 – January 19, 1887	John Ireland	Democratic
16		Thomas Benton Wheeler	January 19, 1887 – January 21, 1891	Lawrence Sullivan Ross	Democratic
17		George C. Pendleton	January 21, 1891 – January 17, 1893	Jim Hogg	Democratic
18		Martin McNulty Crane	January 17, 1893 – January 15, 1895	Jim Hogg	Democratic
19		George Taylor Jester	January 15, 1895 – January 17, 1899	Charles Allen Culberson	Democratic
20		James Browning	January 17, 1899 – January 20, 1903	Joseph D. Sayers	Democratic
21		George D. Neal	January 20, 1903 – January 15, 1907	S. W. T. Lanham	Democratic
22		Asbury Bascom Davidson	January 15, 1907 – January 21, 1913	Thomas Mitchell Campbell Oscar Branch Colquitt	Democratic
23		William Harding Mayes	January 21, 1913 – August 14, 1914	Oscar Branch Colquitt	Democratic
—	Vacant	Vacant	August 14, 1914 – January 19, 1915	Oscar Branch Colquitt	–
24		William P. Hobby Sr.	January 19, 1915 – August 25, 1917	James E. Ferguson	Democratic
—	Vacant	Vacant	August 25, 1917 – January 21, 1919	William P. Hobby	–
25		Willard Arnold Johnson	January 21, 1919 – January 18, 1921	William P. Hobby	Democratic
26		Lynch Davidson	January 18, 1921 – January 16, 1923	Pat Morris Neff	Democratic
27		Thomas Whitfield Davidson	January 16, 1923 – January 20, 1925	Pat Morris Neff	Democratic
28		Barry Miller	January 20, 1925 – January 20, 1931	Miriam A. Ferguson Dan Moody	Democratic
29		Edgar E. Witt	January 20, 1931 – January 15, 1935	Ross S. Sterling Miriam A. Ferguson	Democratic
30		Walter Frank Woodul	January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939	James V. Allred	Democratic
31		Coke R. Stevenson	January 17, 1939 – August 4, 1941	W. Lee O'Daniel	Democratic
—	Vacant	Vacant	August 4, 1941 – January 19, 1943	Coke R. Stevenson	–
32		John Lee Smith	January 19, 1943 – January 21, 1947	Coke R. Stevenson Beauford H. Jester	Democratic
33		Allan Shivers	January 21, 1947 – July 11, 1949	Beauford H. Jester	Democratic
—	Vacant	Vacant	July 11, 1949 – January 16, 1951	Allan Shivers	–
34		Ben Ramsey	January 16, 1951 – September 18, 1961	Allan Shivers Price Daniel	Democratic
—	Vacant	Vacant	September 18, 1961 – January 15, 1963	Price Daniel	–
35		Preston Smith	January 15, 1963 – January 21, 1969	John Connally	Democratic
36		Ben Barnes	January 21, 1969 – January 16, 1973	Preston Smith	Democratic
37		William P. Hobby Jr.	January 16, 1973 – January 15, 1991	Dolph Briscoe (Democratic) Bill Clements (Republican) Mark White (Democratic) Bill Clements (Republican)	Democratic
38		Bob Bullock	January 15, 1991 – January 19, 1999	Ann Richards (Democratic) George W. Bush (Republican)	Democratic
39		Rick Perry^[g]	January 19, 1999 – December 21, 2000	George W. Bush	Republican
40		Bill Ratliff^[h]	December 28, 2000 – January 21, 2003	Rick Perry	Republican
41		David Dewhurst	January 21, 2003 – January 20, 2015	Rick Perry	Republican
42		Dan Patrick	January 20, 2015 – present	Greg Abbott	Republican

Notes

^ Horton served as Governor pro tempore during James Pinckney Henderson's absence from May 19 to November 13, 1846.
^ Henderson vacated the office on November 23, 1853 to succeed Peter Hansborough Bell as Governor. Senate president pro tempore Taylor filled the vacancy for roughly a month before Dickson was sworn into office.
^ Jones was removed by General Philip Sheridan, commander of the Fifth Military District during Reconstruction and the office remained vacant until the 14th Legislature in 1874.
^ Flanagan was elected lieutenant governor in 1869 but was not inaugurated. He presided over the Provisional session, but left office after being selected as an at-large representative to the U.S. Congress. Due to this, Flanagan is often omitted from some lists of Lieutenant Governors.
^ Donald Campbell, Webster Flanagan, Albert Jennings Fountain, and Edward Bradford Pickett all served as ex officio Lieutenant Governors between Flanagan's and Hubbard's terms.
^ Senate president pro tempore Wells Thompson filled in for the vacancy.
^ Perry vacated the office when he succeeded George W. Bush as Governor of Texas on December 21, 2000.
^ Ratliff was chosen by the Texas Senate to finish the unexpired term due to the vacancy of Rick Perry's succession to the Governorship. Ratliff served until David Dewhurst was elected in 2002 and inaugurated on January 21, 2003.

References

Source:^[2]

References

^ Lieutenant Governor from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ "Lieutenant Governors of Texas, 1846 - present".

Legislative Reference Library of Texas
Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846–1982, Texas Legislative Council, Austin, Texas, August 1982.