Previous Governors of Colorado

Jared Schutz Polis is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Colorado. From 2009 to 2019, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Colorado's 2nd congressional district. From 2001 to 2007 he served on the Colorado State Board of Education. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. is an American politician, geologist, and businessman serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 2019 and as the 43rd mayor of Denver from 2003 to 2011.

August William Ritter Jr. is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his election to the governorship in 2006.

William Forrester Owens is an American former politician who served as the 40th governor of Colorado, from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he was re-elected in 2002, amassing 62.6% of the vote, the largest Republican share of the vote in state history. As of 2025, he is the most recent Republican to have served as governor of Colorado.

Roy Rudolf Romer is an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Colorado from 1987 to 1999, and subsequently as the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2000 to 2006. Romer was a member of the Democratic Party. He is the father of Paul Romer, a recipient of the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. Since the death of George Ariyoshi in April 2026, he is the oldest living former governor of any U.S. state and is the last living former American governor born in the 1920s.

Richard Douglas Lamm was an American politician, writer, and attorney. He served three terms as the 38th governor of Colorado as a Democrat (1975–1987) and ran for the Reform Party's nomination for President of the United States in 1996. Lamm was a certified public accountant and was the co-director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver.

John David Vanderhoof was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, Vanderhoof served as the 37th governor of Colorado from 1973 to 1975, assuming the office from John Arthur Love, who was appointed to the National Energy Policy Office by President Richard Nixon. Vanderhoof served out the remainder of Love's term, but failed to win a term in his own right, being defeated by Democrat Richard Lamm in the 1974 election.

John Arthur Love was an American attorney and Republican politician who served as the 36th governor of Colorado from 1963 to 1973.

Stephen Lucid Robert McNichols was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Colorado from 1957 to 1963.

Edwin Carl Johnson was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as both governor of and U.S. senator from the state of Colorado.