Governor of Maine

Governor of Maine
Seal of the Governor
Incumbent Paul LePage since January 5, 2011
Style	The Honorable
Residence	The Blaine House
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	William King
Formation	March 15, 1820
Website	maine.gov/governor

The governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive.

The current governor of Maine is Paul LePage, a Republican.

Eligibility

The office of the governor is established in the Maine Constitution, which provides in Article V, Part 1 that:

“

The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a Governor.

”

• At the beginning of the governor's term the governor must be at least 30 years of age; a citizen of the United States for at least 15 years; a Maine resident for at least five years, and a resident of Maine at the time of election and during the term for which elected (Section 4).
• No person holding any other office under the United States, Maine, or any other power, shall become governor (Section 5).
• The governor shall receive a compensation which cannot be increased or decreased while that governor is in office (Section 6).^[1]

Elections and terms of office

• The governor is elected directly and has a term of office of four years. There is a term limit of two consecutive elected four-year terms (Section 2). There is not, however, a limit on the number of total terms a governor may serve.
• The gubernatorial election is conducted in the same manner prescribed for members of the Maine Legislature. The Secretary of State of Maine receives votes and delivers the lists (and the ballots if the Legislature so elects) to the Maine House of Representatives and Senate. The Legislature determine the number of votes duly cast for governor, and declares the plurality of all of the votes returned. If there is no plurality and there is a tie between the two persons having the largest number of votes for governor, the House of Representatives and the Senate meet in joint session and elect one of the two persons governor (Section 3).

Executive Powers

• The governor acts as commander-in-chief of "the army and navy of the State, and of the militia" (the Maine National Guard), "except when the same are called into the actual service of the United States" (Section 7).
• The governor has the power to appoint officers, to appoint all judicial officers subject to confirmation except probate judges and justices of the peace if their manner of selection is otherwise provided for by the constitution or by law, and to appoint and all other civil and military officers whose appointment is not by this constitution, or otherwise provided for by law (Section 8).
• The Governor will have power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, except in cases of impeachment. The power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons also includes juvenile offenses (Section 11).

Cabinet

The Governor oversees the executive branch, which includes Maine's state agencies. His cabinet is often considered to be the state's commissioners, which are generally nominated by the governor but legally chosen by the Maine Legislature.

Current Cabinet

As of September 2011, the current cabinet is:^{[citation needed]}

The LePage Cabinet
OFFICE	NAME	TERM
Governor	Paul LePage	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Administrative & Financial Services	H. Sawin Millett Jr.	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture	Walter E. Whitcomb	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Conservation	William Beardsley	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Corrections	Joseph Ponte	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management	John W. "Bill" Libby	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development	Philip Congdon	2011
	George Gervais	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Education	Stephen Bowen	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection	Darryl Brown	2011
	Patricia Aho (acting)	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Health & Human Services	Mary Mayhew	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife	Chandler Woodcock	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources	Norm Olsen	2011
	Patrick C. Keliher	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety	John Morris	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Transportation	David Bernhardt	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Labor	Robert J. Winglass	2011 – Current
Commissioner of the Department of Professional & Financial Regulation	Anne Head	2011 – Current
Director of the State Planning Office	Darryl Brown	2011 – Current

Succession

Maine is one of seven states that does not have an office of ‎lieutenant governor. Under current law, if there is a vacancy in the office of governor, the president of the Maine Senate becomes governor. The current Senate president is Republican Kevin Raye.^[2]

Official Residence

The Blaine House in Augusta is the official governor’s mansion. It became the official residence in 1919, and is named after James G. Blaine. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964, and it was built by Captain James Hall in 1833. The home is located directly across the street from the Maine State House.^[3]

References

1. ^ http://janus.state.me.us/legis/const/
2. ^ http://www.maine.gov/legis/senate/about/generalinfo/Students/questions_students_ask-1.htm
3. ^ http://www.blainehouse.org/

See also

Maine portal

• List of Governors of Maine