Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
Coat of arms of Vermont
Incumbent David Zuckerman since January 5, 2023
Term length	Two years, no term limit
Inaugural holder	Jonathan Hunt
Formation	1791; Constitution of Vermont
Succession	Every two years, unless re-elected.
Salary	$78,145[1]

The lieutenant governor of Vermont is elected for a two-year term and chosen separately from the governor. The Vermont Lieutenant Governor's main responsibilities include acting as governor when the governor is out of state or incapacitated, presiding over the Vermont Senate, casting tie-breaking votes in the Senate when required, and acceding to the governorship in case of a vacancy.^[2][3][4] As a member of the state senate's Committee on Committees, the lieutenant governor plays a role in determining committee assignments for individual senators, as well as selecting committee chairs, vice chairs, and clerks.^[5][6][7]

Mountain rule

From the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s until the 1960s only Republicans won general elections for Vermont's statewide offices. One method that made this possible was imposition of the "Mountain Rule." Under the provisions of the Mountain Rule, one U.S. Senator was a resident of the east side of the Green Mountains and one resided on the west side, and the governorship and lieutenant governorship alternated between residents of the east and west side. Nominees for governor and lieutenant governor were allowed two one-year terms, and later one two-year term. For nearly 100 years likely Republican candidates for office in Vermont agreed to abide by the Mountain Rule in the interests of party unity. Several factors led to the eventual weakening of the Mountain Rule, including: the longtime political dispute between the Proctor (conservative) and Aiken-Gibson (liberal) wings of the party; primaries rather than conventions to select nominees; the direct election of U.S. Senators; and several active third parties, including the Progressives, the Prohibition Party, and the Local Option movement. In the 1960s the rise of the Vermont Democratic Party and the construction of Interstate 89 also contributed to the end of the Mountain Rule. Though I-89 is a north–south route, it traverses Vermont from east to west and changed the way Vermonters view how the state is divided.^[8][9]

Vacancies

Vermont has no provision for filling the lieutenant governor's office in the event of a vacancy,^[10] and it has been vacant four times.^[11] Thomas Chittenden died in August 1797 while serving as governor, and Lieutenant Governor Paul Brigham served until the end of Chittenden's term in October.^[11] Brigham, the winner of that year's September election for lieutenant governor, began his new term in October and was succeeded as governor by Isaac Tichenor.^[11] In February 1870, Governor Peter T. Washburn died and George Whitman Hendee became governor.^[11] The lieutenant governor's office remained vacant until George N. Dale, the winner of that September's election, took office in October.^[11] In January 1950, Governor Ernest W. Gibson Jr. resigned and Harold J. Arthur became governor.^[11] The lieutenant governor's office was vacant until Joseph B. Johnson, the winner of the 1950 election, took office in January 1951.^[11] In August 1991, Governor Richard A. Snelling died and Howard Dean succeeded him.^[10] The lieutenant governorship remained vacant until Snelling's widow Barbara, the winner of the 1992 election, took office in January 1993.^[12]

List of lieutenant governors

Here is a list of lieutenant governors of Vermont in chronological order:^[13][14]

As the independent Vermont Republic

#	Image	Name	Party	Term	Governor(s) served under
1		Joseph Marsh	—	1778–1779	Thomas Chittenden
2		Benjamin Carpenter	—	1779–1781	Thomas Chittenden
3		Elisha Payne	—	1781–1782	Thomas Chittenden
4		Paul Spooner	—	1782–1787	Thomas Chittenden
5		Joseph Marsh	—	1787–1790	Moses Robinson
6		Peter Olcott	—	1790–1791	Thomas Chittenden

As the U.S. state of Vermont

Parties

  Democratic (7)   Democratic-Republican (5)   Federalist (1)   Republican/National Union (57)   Whig/National Republican/Anti-Masonic (10)
  Progressive (1)

#	Image	Name	Party	Term	Governor(s) served under
1		Peter Olcott	—	1791–1794	Thomas Chittenden
2		Jonathan Hunt	—	1794–1796	Thomas Chittenden
3		Paul Brigham	Democratic-Republican	1796–1813	Thomas Chittenden himself Isaac Tichenor Israel Smith Isaac Tichenor Jonas Galusha
4		William Chamberlain	Federalist	1813–1815	Martin Chittenden
5		Paul Brigham	Democratic-Republican	1815–1820	Jonas Galusha
6		William Cahoon	Democratic-Republican	1820–1822	Richard Skinner
7		Aaron Leland	Democratic-Republican	1822–1827	Richard Skinner Cornelius P. Van Ness Ezra Butler
8		Henry Olin	Democratic-Republican	1827–1830	Ezra Butler
9		Mark Richards	National Republican	1830–1831	Samuel C. Crafts
10		Lebbeus Egerton	Anti-Masonic	1831–1835	William A. Palmer
11		Silas H. Jennison	Whig / Anti-Masonic	1835–1836	Silas H. Jennison
12		David M. Camp	Whig	1836–1841	Silas H. Jennison
13		Waitstill R. Ranney	Whig	1841–1843	Charles Paine
14		Horace Eaton	Whig	1843–1846	John Mattocks William Slade
15		Leonard Sargeant	Whig	1846–1848	Horace Eaton
16		Robert Pierpoint	Whig	1848–1850	Carlos Coolidge
17		Julius Converse	Whig	1850–1852	Charles K. Williams
18		William C. Kittredge	Whig	1852–1853	Erastus Fairbanks
19		Jefferson P. Kidder	Democratic	1853–1854	John S. Robinson
20		Ryland Fletcher	Republican	1854–1856	Stephen Royce
21		James M. Slade	Republican	1856–1858	Ryland Fletcher
22		Burnham Martin	Republican	1858–1860	Hiland Hall
23		Levi Underwood	Republican	1860–1862	Hiland Hall Erastus Fairbanks
24		Paul Dillingham	Republican / National Union	1862–1865	Frederick Holbrook J. Gregory Smith
25		Abraham B. Gardner	Republican	1865–1867	Paul Dillingham
26		Stephen Thomas	Republican	1867–1869	John B. Page
27		George W. Hendee	Republican	1869–1870	Peter T. Washburn
28		George N. Dale	Republican	1870–1872	George W. Hendee John W. Stewart
29		Russell S. Taft	Republican	1872–1874	Julius Converse
30		Lyman G. Hinckley	Republican	1874–1876	Asahel Peck
31		Redfield Proctor	Republican	1876–1878	Horace Fairbanks
32		Eben Pomeroy Colton	Republican	1878–1880	Redfield Proctor
33		John L. Barstow	Republican	1880–1882	Roswell Farnham
34		Samuel E. Pingree	Republican	1882–1884	John L. Barstow
35		Ebenezer J. Ormsbee	Republican	1884–1886	Samuel E. Pingree
36		Levi K. Fuller	Republican	1886–1888	Ebenezer J. Ormsbee
37		Urban A. Woodbury	Republican	1888–1890	William P. Dillingham
38		Henry A. Fletcher	Republican	1890–1892	Carroll S. Page
39		Farrand Stewart Stranahan	Republican	1892–1894	Levi K. Fuller
40		Zophar M. Mansur	Republican	1894–1896	Urban A. Woodbury
41		Nelson W. Fisk	Republican	1896–1898	Josiah Grout
42		Henry C. Bates	Republican	1898–1900	Edward C. Smith
43		Martin F. Allen	Republican	1900–1902	William W. Stickney
44		Zed S. Stanton	Republican	1902–1904	John G. McCullough
45		Charles H. Stearns	Republican	1904–1906	Charles J. Bell
46		George H. Prouty	Republican	1906–1908	Fletcher D. Proctor
47		John A. Mead	Republican	1908–1910	George H. Prouty
48		Leighton P. Slack	Republican	1910–1912	John A. Mead
49		Frank E. Howe	Republican	1912–1915	Allen M. Fletcher
50		Hale K. Darling	Republican	1915–1917	Charles W. Gates
51		Roger W. Hulburd	Republican	1917–1919	Horace F. Graham
52		Mason S. Stone	Republican	1919–1921	Percival W. Clement
53		Abram W. Foote	Republican	1921–1923	James Hartness
54		Franklin S. Billings	Republican	1923–1925	Redfield Proctor Jr.
55		Walter K. Farnsworth	Republican	1925–1927	Franklin S. Billings
56		Hollister Jackson	Republican	1927–1927	John E. Weeks
57		Stanley C. Wilson	Republican	1929–1931	John E. Weeks
58		Benjamin Williams	Republican	1931–1933	Stanley C. Wilson
59		Charles M. Smith	Republican	1933–1935	Stanley C. Wilson
60		George D. Aiken	Republican	1935–1937	Charles Manley Smith
61		William H. Wills	Republican	1937–1941	George D. Aiken
62		Mortimer R. Proctor	Republican	1941–1945	William H. Wills
63		Lee E. Emerson	Republican	1945–1949	Mortimer R. Proctor Ernest W. Gibson Jr.
64		Harold J. Arthur	Republican	1949–1950	Ernest W. Gibson Jr.
65		Joseph B. Johnson	Republican	1951–1955	Lee E. Emerson
66		Consuelo N. Bailey	Republican	1955–1957	Joseph B. Johnson
67		Robert T. Stafford	Republican	1957–1959	Joseph B. Johnson
68		Robert S. Babcock	Republican	1959–1961	Robert T. Stafford
69		Ralph A. Foote	Republican	1961–1965	F. Ray Keyser Jr. Philip H. Hoff
70		John J. Daley	Democratic	1965–1969	Philip H. Hoff
71		Thomas L. Hayes	Republican	1969–1971	Deane C. Davis
72		John S. Burgess	Republican	1971–1975	Deane C. Davis Thomas P. Salmon
73		Brian D. Burns	Democratic	1975–1977	Thomas P. Salmon
74		T. Garry Buckley	Republican	1977–1979	Richard Snelling
75		Madeleine Kunin	Democratic	1979–1983	Richard Snelling
76		Peter P. Smith	Republican	1983–1987	Richard Snelling Madeleine Kunin
77		Howard Dean	Democratic	1987–1991	Madeleine Kunin Richard Snelling
78		Barbara Snelling	Republican	1993–1997	Howard Dean
79		Doug Racine	Democratic	1997–2003	Howard Dean
80		Brian Dubie	Republican	2003–2011	Jim Douglas
81		Phil Scott	Republican	2011–2017	Peter Shumlin
82		David Zuckerman	Progressive–Democratic	2017–2021	Phil Scott
83		Molly Gray	Democratic	2021–2023	Phil Scott
84		David Zuckerman	Progressive–Democratic	2023–present	Phil Scott

• Italics denote a governor of a different party than the lieutenant governor.