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 constitutional officer in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the second-highest rank in the state government, behind only the governor.

The lieutenant governor serves as the first person in the gubernatorial line of succession, as an ex officio member of several state boards, and as the president of the Texas Senate. Unlike most lieutenant governors in the U.S., whose position in their respective state senates are largely ceremonial, the lieutenant governor of Texas plays an active role in running the chamber.

The lieutenant governor is elected every four years during the state's midterm elections. It is elected separately from the governor and has no term limits. The current lieutenant governor is Dan Patrick, who has served since January 20, 2015.

Powers and duties

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 and has broad discretion in following Senate procedural rules.

The lieutenant governor is an ex officio member of several statutory bodies, including the Legislative Budget Board, the Legislative Council, and the Legislative Audit Committee, 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.

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.

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.

History

The position of the lieutenant governor was established in the Constitution of 1845 as a successor to the Vice President of the Republic of Texas. The term of office was originally two years. In 1972, voters approved a constitutional amendment that changed the term of office for both the governor and lieutenant governor to four years, starting with the 1974 election.^[4]

List of lieutenant governors of Texas

Legend:   Democratic (38)   Republican (4)

List of lieutenant governors of Texas^[5]

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

Notes

References

External links

• Legislative Reference Library of Texas
• Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846–1982, Texas Legislative Council, Austin, Texas, August 1982.
• Duties and Powers of the lieutenant governor