Thursday, January 22, 2015

Updated: Minority Governors by Time in Office

Update: With the 2014 elections, came a new addition to the list: David Ige of Hawaii.  The elections also saw Deval Patrick finish out his term.
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We've previously looked (and will continue to look) at women governors and their time in office.  What about minority governors?  There have been only 22 minority governors.  First let's take a look by days in office.  Those in bold are currently serving.

Governor State Time in Office
George Ariyoshi Hawaii 4384 Days
Miguel Antonio Otero New Mexico 3114 Days
Deval Patrick Massachusetts 2927 Days
Bill Richardson New Mexico 2923 Days
Ben Cayetano Hawaii 2923 Days
John Waihee Hawaii 2923 Days
Gary Locke Washington 2920 Days
Bobby Jindal Louisiana 2566 Days
John Sununu New Hampshire 2191 Days
Susana Martinez New Mexico 1483 Days
Brian Sandoval Nevada 1481 Days
Nikki Haley South Carolina 1472 Days
Bob Martinez Florida 1464 Days
Douglas Wilder Virginia 1463 Days
Toney Anaya New Mexico 1462 Days
Jerry Apodaca New Mexico 1462 Days
David Paterson New York 1020 Days
Raul Castro Arizona 1019 Days
Octaviano Ambrisio Larrazolo New Mexico 732 Days
Romualdo Pacheco California 286 Days
David Ige Hawaii 53 Days
Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca New Mexico 49 Days
P.B.S. Pinchback Louisiana 36 Days

Looking at just how many days someone served doesn't tell the whole story.  As noted with our women governors, Ruth Ann Minner may have been the longest serving woman governor, but how does serving as governor of Delaware compare with serving as governor of Michigan or Texas?

Another way we can look at this list is by their population when they took office multiplied by their days in office through today.  Those in bold are currently serving.

Governor State Total Governing Pop. Time in Office
David Paterson New York 19,596,684,720 1020 Days
Deval Patrick Massachusetts 18,825,173,193 2927 Days
Bob Martinez Florida 17,564,022,312 1464 Days
Gary Locke Washington 16,570,261,240 2920 Days
Bobby Jindal Louisiana 11,318,102,536 2566 Days
Douglas Wilder Virginia 9,052,104,754 1463 Days
Nikki Haley South Carolina 6,808,565,248 1472 Days
Bill Richardson New Mexico 5,479,496,722 2923 Days
Brian Sandoval Nevada 4,033,239,882 1481 Days
George Ariyoshi Hawaii 3,805,215,552 4384 Days
Ben Cayetano Hawaii 3,741,167,728 2923 Days
John Waihee Hawaii 3,074,300,326 2923 Days
Susana Martinez New Mexico 3,053,762,457 1483 Days
Raul Castro Arizona 2,328,259,093 1019 Days
John Sununu New Hampshire 2,099,271,594 2191 Days
Toney Anaya New Mexico 2,038,555,782 1462 Days
Jerry Apodaca New Mexico 1,695,838,128 1462 Days
Miguel Antonio Otero New Mexico 608,195,340 3114 Days
Octaviano Ambrisio Larrazolo New Mexico 264,984,000 732 Days
Romualdo Pacheco California 160,230,642 286 Days
David Ige Hawaii 75,236,733 53 Days
P.B.S. Pinchback Louisiana 26,168,940 36 Days
Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca New Mexico 17,689,000 49 Days

One thing that probably stands out are 2 states. Hawaii and New Mexico dominate this list.  Of the 23 minority governors, 11 come from those 2 states. 7 from New Mexico and 4 from Hawaii.