OPINION: Why Can Our Governor Serve Only One Term?
By David Kerr
This article was republished with permission from FXBG Advance’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
What one limitation on our governor makes Virginia unique among all the 50 states? Give up?
It’s that Virginia’s governor can’t run for reelection for a consecutive term. It’s amazing how many people don’t realize this. Often my college-level government students, who are pretty savvy about politics, don’t know it and find it surprising. But it’s a restriction whose roots go back 2½ centuries, and we’re the only state that has it.
One governor, Mills Godwin, back in 1973, ran for election after skipping a term and won. Almost 50 years later, in 2021, Terry McAuliffe tried for a comeback after a one-term hiatus but ended up losing to our current governor, Glenn Youngkin.
All other governors in the United States can run for a second term. Some states have a two-term lifetime limit, as we do for President. Some states, including North Carolina and California, allow a governor to serve two terms, take a break, and if they can get elected again, serve up to another two terms.
Other states have no limit at all. If you were governor of New York, you could run for as many terms as you can get elected to. But none of that applies to Virginia.
A fair question: Where did this anachronistic limitation come from? How did it evolve? The answer is that like many things in Virginia it goes back a long way – in this case, to before the Revolutionary War.
Virginia had uniquely bad experiences with the autocratic nature of its colonial governors under the British. So, after independence, the Virginia General Assembly was opposed to almost any strong executive power.
At first, the governor was elected by the legislature, served a one-year term and could serve only three years in a row. In 1830, this was extended to one three-year term, and, in 1851, for the first time, the people of Virginia – not the legislature – could choose their governor. However, the governor, as is the case today, was subject to a one-term limit. That has never changed.
Although we have become used to this quirky limitation, it can produce some skewed politics – and some awkward governing. For one thing, the governor, once elected, never has to answer to the electorate again. In terms of accountability, this probably isn’t a good thing.
Another concern is that one term rarely allows enough time for a governor to formulate and implement their initiatives. Four years usually isn’t enough. It’s been said that Virginia’s governor has about a year or two to implement their policies before they become a lame duck.
Then there is simply the question of what a governor does after their one term. Is there any political future? Or do they become high-priced lobbyists with big law firms? The answer is yes and no.
Our two U.S. Senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, are both former governors. Youngkin entertained thoughts of running for President, or maybe being a pick for Vice President. Nothing came of either prospect. It’s said he has his eyes on a run for President in 2028. But by then it should be a crowded field and he will be just a “former” governor. Like many of his predecessors, I am sure he wishes he could run for another term.
It’s not a good arrangement. The term limit unduly weakens the political power of the governor and doesn’t give the voters a chance to weigh in by giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down on a second term.
Because Virginia is such an outlier with its one-term limit, will it remain that way? The answer is probably yes. There have been moves to change the one-term limit (it requires a state Constitutional amendment), but they haven’t gotten far. Just like the General Assembly of 250 years ago, our 21st century legislature is jealous of its prerogatives and powers.
A two-term governor could shift the balance of that power – and that’s something few in the General Assembly want to contemplate. They like things the way they are.
David Kerr is a Stafford resident and an adjunct professor of political science at VCU. He worked on Capitol Hill and for various federal agencies for many years.
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