Longest-serving governors in the Union

[TX Conservative Dem]

In the likelihood of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) winning historic 6th term, he's on track on being the all-time record holder as the nation's longest serving governor with 24 years of total service.

It would look like this here:
1.) Terry Branstad of Iowa (R) January 14, 1983-January 15, 1999; January 14, 2011-January 11, 2019

2.) George Clinton of NY St, 1777-1795; 1801-1804

3.) George Corley Wallace of Alabama (D), January 14, 1963-January 16, 1967; January 18, 1971-January 15, 1979; January 17, 1983-January 19, 1987

4.) James Baxter Hunt of North Carolina (D), January 8, 1977-January 5, 1985; January 9, 1993-January 6, 2001

5.) Edwin Washington Edwards of Louisiana (D), May 9, 1972-March 10, 1980; March 12, 1984-March 14, 1988; January 13, 1992-January 8, 1996

6.) Bill Janklow of South Dakota (R), January 1, 1979-January 5, 1987;January 7, 1995-January 7, 2003

7.) Jim Rhodes of Ohio (R), January 14, 1963-January 11, 1971; January 13, 1975-January 10, 1983

8.) Big Jim Thompson of Illinois (R), January 10, 1977-January 14, 1991: unlikely anyone breaks this record anytime soon

9.) Nelson Rockefeller of NY St (R), January 1, 1959-December 8, 1973

10.) Rick Perry of Texas (my home state) (R), December 21, 2000-January 20, 2015

11.) Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin (R), January 5, 1987-February 1, 2001

12.) Jerry Brown of California (D), January 6, 1975-January 3, 1983; January 3, 2011-January 7, 2019

13.) John Kitzhaber of Oregon (D), January 9, 1995-January 13, 2003; January 10, 2011-January 14, 2019

14.) George Pataki of NY State (R), January 1, 1995-January 1, 2007

15.) William Milliken of Michigan (R), January 22, 1969-January 1, 1983

16.) G. Mennen Williams of Michigan (D), January 1, 1949-January 1, 1961

17.) Thomas Dewey of NY St (R), January 1, 1943-January 1, 1955

18.) Mario Cuomo of NY St (D), January 1, 1983-January 1, 1995

19.) Orval Faubus of Arkansas (D), January 11, 1955-January 10, 1967

20.) William Jefferson"Bill" Clinton of Arkansas (D), January 9, 1979-January 19, 1981; January 11, 1983-December 12, 1992

21.) Mike Huckabee of Arkansas (R), July 15, 1996-January 9, 2007

Anyone else I forgot to add, please let me know

[MATTROSE94]

Greg Abbott could potentially serve as Texas governor for 16-20 years if he wins this year.

[TX Conservative Dem]

On Abbott: I know he's been State Attorney General since December 2002, but I can't see that happening considering you've got ambitious folks like George P. Bush (the new Land Commissioner) who want a shot at the governorship

[Earthling]

Kitzhaber should be above Brown. Kitzhaber will serve 8 years and 4 days twice (if reelected in 2014) while Brown will serve 7 years and 362 days and 8 years and 4 days (if reelected in 2014).

[TX Conservative Dem]

I accidentally mixed them up; I also forgot to add these other 2 guys: Albert Ritchie of Maryland (D), January 14, 1920-January 9, 1935 for 4 terms and Earl Warren of California (R), January 4, 1943-October 5, 1953

[MATTROSE94]

On Abbott: I know he's been State Attorney General since December 2002, but I can't see that happening considering you've got ambitious folks like George P. Bush (the new Land Commissioner) who want a shot at the governorship

Maybe George P. Bush will run for Texas Governor if Greg Abbott retires in 2022. Since Bush is only in his late 30s, he could potentially serve as Governor until the 2040s or 2050s if he is elected in 2022.

[Rocky Rockefeller]

A lot of these guys are out of order if i counted correctly.

1. Janklow should be above Wallace
2. Edwards should be switched with Hunt
3. Brown should be below Kitzhaber
4. Rockefeller should be below Brown
5. Perry should be below Rockefeller
6. Tommy Thompson should be below Perry
7. Big Jim Thompson should be below T. Thompson
8. Milliken should be above Pataki

I believe that's all

[TX Conservative Dem]

Once again, apologize for the mistake

[Rocky Rockefeller]

Once again, apologize for the mistake

No problem man, I'm just a little OCD

[MasterJedi]

If he chose Tommy Thompson could have been Governor until he dropped dead, but he took the job of HHS instead.

[TX Conservative Dem]

You're talking about if Thompson turned down the HHS job, he likely would have stayed Wisconsin Governor until he dies

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Howard Dean served from August 14, 1991 to January 8, 2003 and hence is at the very least above Huckabee and Warren.

[TX Conservative Dem]

Damn, forgot to include Idaho's Cecil Andrus, who served from 1971-1977; 1987-1995

[TX Conservative Dem]

Dean won like what, 7 statewide elections?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Dean won like what, 7 statewide elections?

Eight. Three for Lieutenant Governor, which is elected separately from the Governor in Vermont, and then five for Governor, the first of which came after he'd already served about two-thirds of a term on account of Richard Snelling's untimely death. His margin of victory also never dropped below ten per cent in any of those elections after the first.

[Zioneer]

If Governor Gary Herbert of Utah runs for a second term in 2016, and wins (which he probably will unless Matheson is on the ticket), he'll have served for 11 years by 2020.

[TX Conservative Dem]

How old is Gov. Herbert? Because if he wins reelection in 2 years from now, he'll be the 2nd longest-serving Utah governor in state history.

[TX Conservative Dem]

Victimologist, I'll research more info later today on the ones I forgot to include

[Zioneer]

How old is Gov. Herbert? Because if he wins reelection in 2 years from now, he'll be the 2nd longest-serving Utah governor in state history.

Herbert is 66 (will be 67 in May) and would be 69 if he was re-elected in 2016. He'd be second longest-serving Utah governor, but the longest currently serving (or still alive) Utah governor.

[TX Conservative Dem]

I know Wyoming had one person, who served 12 consecutive years from 1975-1987: I forgot his name.

Has Montana ever had a 10-year or 12-year governor ?

Oklahoma, Missouri, Indiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Kentucky, Pennsylvania don't have 3-term governors

[TX Conservative Dem]

Zioneer, Frank G. Clement (D) held the Tennessee governorship for 10 years from January 15, 1953-January 19, 1959 and again from January 15, 1963-January 16, 1967.

When did Tennessee change their inauguration to Saturdays for governors ?

[TX Conservative Dem]

Here are some of the others I might have left out:

Bob Miller (D): 26th Governor of Nevada
January 3, 1989-January 4, 1999

William Atchison O'Neill (D): 84th Governor of Connecticut
December 30, 1980-January 9, 1991

Rudy Perpich (D): 34th & 36th Governor of Minnesota
December 29, 1976-January 4, 1979; January 3, 1983-January 7, 1991

Michael Dukakis (D): 65th & 67th Governor of Massachusetts
January 2, 1975-January 4, 1979; January 6, 1983-January 3, 1991

Mike Leavitt (R): 14th Governor of Utah
January 4, 1993-November 5, 2003

William Guy (D): 26th Governor of North Dakota
January 4, 1961-January 2, 1973

John Love (R): 36th Governor of Colorado
January 8, 1963-July 16, 1973

Dick Lamm (D): 38th Governor of Colorado
January 14, 1975-January 13, 1987

Roy Romer (D): 39th Governor of Colorado
January 13, 1987-January 12, 1999

John Burns (D): 2nd Governor of Hawaii
December 3, 1962-December 2, 1974

George Ariyoshi (D): 3rd Governor of Hawaii
December 2, 1974-December 2, 1986

Robert Smylie (R): 24th Governor of Idaho
January 3, 1955-January 2, 1967

Arch Moore (R): 28th & 30th Governor of West Virginia
January 13, 1969-January 17, 1977; January 14, 1985-January 16, 1989

Arthur Langlie: 12th & 14th Governor of Washington State
January 13, 1941-January 8, 1945; January 12, 1949-January 14, 1957

Daniel Evans (R): 16th Governor of Washington State
January 11, 1965-January 12, 1977

George Hunt: 1st Governor of Arizona
February 14, 1911-January 6, 1919; January 1, 1923-January 7, 1929; January 5, 1931-January 3, 1933

[Pessimistic Antineutrino]

Here's a smartpolitics article on this subject. It's about 10 months old so Kitzhaber, Brown and Perry have probbaly moved up a bit. Branstad actually tops this list, because George Clinton is not included (the list only includes governors who began their tenure after the Constitution was ratified).

[TX Conservative Dem]

Pessimistic, John M. Stone (D), 31st & 33rd Mississippi Governor from March 29, 1876-January 29, 1882; January 13, 1890-January 20, 1896

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I think the record for the longest-serving governor of any state goes to George Clinton.  But if Terry Branstad is reelected and finishes out his term, then he'll take the title.