G OVE R N O R S
TA BLE 4 .2 The Governors: Qualifications for Office State or other jurisdiction Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming American Samoa Guam CNMI* Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands
Minimum age 30 30 25 30 18 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 25 30 30 … 30 25 30 30 … 30 25 30 30 25 30 25 30 30 30 30 30 30 18 31 30 30 18 30 21 30 30 30 18 30 18 30 18 30 35 30 35 35 30
State citizen (years) 7 5 … … 6 months … … … 2 … 2 … 2 5 … … … … … … 5 2 … … … … … … … … 30 days 5 7 … 5 … … 5 … … … 5 …
Sources: The Council of State Governments survey of governors’ offices, January 2021 and state websites. * Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands Key: — Formal provision; number of years not specified. … — No formal provision. (a) In some states you must be a U.S. citizen to be an elector, and must be an elector to run. (b) In some states you must be a state resident to be an elector, and must be an elector to run.
U.S. citizen (years) (a) 10 7 10 5 12 15 5 5 … … 5 15 (c) … 20 15 … 20 5 10 30 days 3 5 5 5
State resident (years) (b) 7 7 5 7 5 2 6 7 6 5 2 3 5 2 … 2 5 5 5 7 1 5 10 2 5 2 7 7 5 5 2 5 10 3 7 30 days 5 2 … 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 10 5 5
Qualified voter (years) … … 7 … … … … 5 4 … … … … … (d) … 30 days … … … 1 … …
(c) Crosse v. Board of Supervisors of Elections 243 Md. 555, 221A.2d431 (1966) — opinion rendered indicated that U.S. citizenship was, by necessity, a requirement for office. (d) In order to file as a candidate for nomination by a political party to any state or county office, a person must have been a registered voter of that party for the six-month period preceding the first day the filing perod (26 O.S.§. 5 - 105A - A).
Th e Co unc i l o f St at e Go v er nment s 1 1 1