How Many Times Can a Governor Run in Each State?

How many times a governor can run depends entirely on the state. Thirteen states set no limit at all, twenty-eight states cap consecutive terms but let former governors return after a break, and nine states enforce a lifetime ban after two terms. The U.S. Constitution says nothing about state executive tenure, so each state writes its own rule into its own constitution.¹

States With No Limit

In thirteen states, a governor can keep running for re-election indefinitely. Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin hold four-year terms with no cap on how many one person can win. New Hampshire and Vermont allow the same unlimited eligibility but use two-year terms, so their governors face voters twice as often.¹

This has produced some long tenures. Terry Branstad served as Iowa’s governor across two separate stints totaling more than 22 years. Rick Perry held the office in Texas for over 14 years after stepping up from lieutenant governor when George W. Bush left for the presidency. In these states, the ballot is the only term limit.

States That Cap Consecutive Terms

The most common rule is a consecutive limit. Twenty-eight states let a governor serve two back-to-back four-year terms and then require a break before running again.¹ After eight years, the governor steps aside, waits out the mandatory hiatus, and becomes eligible once more. That cycle can repeat throughout a career. The practical answer to how many times a governor can run in these states is: as many times as the voters will have them, just not all in a row.

The states in this group are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.¹

How Long the Sit-Out Lasts

Most states in this group require a hiatus of one full election cycle, or four years. Indiana, Oregon, and Wyoming follow that one-term pause.¹

Montana is stricter. Its constitution bars anyone from serving eight or more years as governor within any sixteen-year window, which effectively forces an eight-year break before a former governor can run again.¹ In a one-cycle-pause state, a governor could leave office at 50 and be back by 54. In Montana, the earliest return is 58.

Virginia’s One-Term Rule

Virginia sits inside this group but has the most restrictive consecutive rule in the country. Its constitution bars a sitting governor from running for the term that immediately follows their own. A governor serves one four-year term and then must leave.¹ This is often mistaken for a lifetime ban, and it isn’t. After four years out, a former Virginia governor can run again. Mills Godwin did it, winning the office from 1966 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1978.

States With Lifetime Two-Term Bans

Nine states permanently end a governor’s eligibility after two terms, no matter how long they wait. Those states are Arkansas, California, Delaware, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, and Oklahoma.¹

In these states, the two terms don’t need to be consecutive. Someone who serves from 2027 to 2031, skips a decade, and serves again from 2043 to 2047 has used their eligibility. Oklahoma’s constitution puts it plainly: no one may serve as governor for more than eight years total. Delaware’s language is similarly absolute, stating that a governor “shall not be elected a third time to said office.”¹

Jerry Brown’s career in California shows how the timing of a constitutional change matters. Brown served two terms from 1975 to 1983, before California adopted its gubernatorial term limit. Because the provision only applied to terms beginning after its adoption, he was able to return and serve two more terms from 2011 to 2019. Under current rules, no future California governor can repeat that.

When Partial Terms Count

The math gets harder when someone takes office mid-term. A lieutenant governor who steps in after a resignation or death may have served for years before ever appearing on a gubernatorial ballot. Whether that counts as a full term varies by state.

The most common standard is the half-term rule. In Colorado, Michigan, and Nevada, serving more than half of a predecessor’s four-year term, meaning more than two years, counts as a full term for limit purposes. Less than two years doesn’t count.¹ Mississippi and Missouri use the same two-year threshold. A lieutenant governor who takes over with 25 months left has used up a term of eligibility. One who takes over with 23 months left has not.

Some states handle it differently. Oklahoma doesn’t count partial terms against its eight-year lifetime cap at all, so a successor who finishes a partial term can still serve two full terms of their own. Rhode Island excludes partial terms under two years from its consecutive limit calculation. Florida measures total time served rather than counting terms, and its constitution prevents anyone who has served (or would have served but for resignation) more than six years across two consecutive terms from running for the next term.¹

Resigning Early Doesn’t Reset the Clock

A governor can’t dodge a term limit by resigning early. Several states have written anti-circumvention language directly into their constitutions. Arizona counts “any part of a term served” toward its two-consecutive-term limit, so resigning on day one of a second term still burns the term.¹ Florida’s language is broader: it applies to anyone who “has, or but for resignation would have, served” beyond the threshold. Florida looks at the term you were elected to, not the portion you actually finished.

Without such provisions, a governor could resign a day short of a threshold and argue they hadn’t served a full term. In states whose constitutions don’t address the question directly, that argument would have to be resolved in court.

1
Ballotpedia. States with Gubernatorial Term Limits