Previous Governors of Texas
Governors who previously held office in Texas, with term dates and party affiliation.
Greg Abbott was elected Governor of Texas in 2014 and re-elected in 2018 and 2022. He previously served as Texas Attorney General for twelve years and as a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court. A paraplegic since a 1984 accident, he has been a prominent advocate on issues ranging from tort reform to border security.
James Richard Perry is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015 and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections.
George Walker Bush is an American former politician, businessman, and former United States Air Force officer who was the 43rd president of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. He is the eldest son of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States.
Dorothy Ann Richards was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, when she gave the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards was the second female governor of Texas, and was frequently noted in the media for her outspoken feminism and her one-liners.
William Perry Clements Jr. was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two nonconsecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole term served by Mark Wells White, a Democrat who defeated Clements in the 1982 election only to lose his campaign for reelection in 1986.
Mark Wells White Jr. was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 43rd governor of Texas from 1983 to 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 74th secretary of state of Texas from 1973 to 1977 and as the 46th attorney general of Texas from 1979 to 1983.
William Perry Clements Jr. was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two nonconsecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole term served by Mark Wells White, a Democrat who defeated Clements in the 1982 election only to lose his campaign for reelection in 1986.
Dolph Briscoe Jr. was an American rancher and businessman from Uvalde, Texas, who was the 41st governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a conservative Democrat.
Preston Demarquis Smith is an American professional football linebacker. He played college football for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft. Smith has also been a member of the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers.
John Bowden Connally Jr. was an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Texas from 1963 to 1969 and as the 61st United States secretary of the treasury from 1971 to 1972. He began his career as a Democrat and became a Republican in 1973.