Governor of Minnesota

Governor of Minnesota
Incumbent Mark Dayton since January 3, 2011
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Minnesota Governor's Residence
Term length	Four years, no term limit
Formation	May 24, 1858
Deputy	Yvonne Prettner Solon
Salary	$120,303 (2010)[1]
Website	http://www.governor.state.mn.us/

Minnesota

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Minnesota

Constitution United States Constitution Minnesota Constitution Executive Government Governor: Mark Dayton Lieutenant Governor: Yvonne Prettner Solon Attorney General: Lori Swanson Secretary of State: Mark Ritchie State Auditor: Rebecca Otto State Treasurer: 1858-2003 State Cabinet Legislature Legislature Senate President of the Senate: Michelle Fischbach Majority Leader: Amy Koch Minority Leader: Tom Bakk House of Representatives Speaker: Kurt Zellers Majority Leader: Matt Dean Minority Leader: Paul Thissen Judiciary Supreme Court Court of Appeals District Courts Specialty Courts Elections Elections Political Parties Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Republican Party Green Party Independence Party List of political parties in Minnesota National minor parties Political party strength Divisions Counties Cities and Towns Federal Relations Federal representation United States Senate Amy Klobuchar (DFL) Al Franken (DFL) United States House 1: Tim Walz (DFL) 2: John Kline (R) 3: Jim Ramstad (R) 4: Betty McCollum (DFL) 5: Keith Ellison (DFL) 6: Michele Bachmann (R) 7: Collin Peterson (DFL) 8: Chip Cravaack (R) Politics of the United States

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The Governor of Minnesota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty different people have been governors of the state, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial governor, also served as state governor several years later. State governors are elected to office by popular vote, but territorial governors were appointed to the office by the United States president. The current governor of Minnesota is DFL'er Mark Dayton.

Powers and qualifications

Like the U.S. President, the governor has veto power over bills passed by the Minnesota State Legislature. As in most states, but unlike the U.S. President, the governor can also make line-item vetoes, where specific provisions in bills can be stripped out while allowing the overall bill to be signed into law.

The minimum required age of a candidate for the Governor of Minnesota is 25 years (having been a Minnesota resident for one year before the election).

Since a 1958 amendment to the Minnesota Constitution governors are elected to four-year terms. Previously, they served two-year terms. There is no term limit for governor of the state.^[2]

Cabinet

The governor has a cabinet consisting of the leaders of various state departments. The governor appoints these department heads, who are usually called commissioners. Cabinet-level departments include:

• Department of Administration
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Corrections
• Department of Education
• Department of Employment and Economic Development
• Department of Health
• Department of Human Rights
• Department of Human Services
• Iron Range Resources Board (Also known as the IRRB [pronounced "eye-triple-r-b"])
• Department of Labor and Industry
• Minnesota Management and Budget
• Bureau of Mediation Services
• Metropolitan Council
• Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission
• Department of Military Affairs
• Minnesota Higher Education Services Office
• Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
• Department of Natural Resources
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
• Department of Public Safety
• Department of Revenue
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Veterans Affairs

Residence

The Minnesota Governor's Residence is located in Saint Paul, at 1006 Summit Avenue.

Gallery

• 

  Henry Hastings Sibley, the first Governor of Minnesota

• 

  Alexander Ramsey, the second Territorial Governor of Minnesota

• 

  Harold Stassen, the 25th Governor of Minnesota

• 

  Arne Carlson, the 37th Governor of Minnesota

• 

  Jesse Ventura, the 38th Governor of Minnesota

• 

  Tim Pawlenty, the 39th Governor of Minnesota

• 

  Mark Dayton, The 40th and current Governor of Minnesota

See also

• List of Governors of Minnesota
• List of Minnesota gubernatorial elections
• Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
• List of Lieutenant Governors of Minnesota
• Minnesota Secretary of State
• Minnesota Attorney General
• Minnesota State Auditor
• Minnesota State Treasurer (office abolished January 6, 2003)
• Politics of Minnesota

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ "The Green Papers: Minnesota 2006 Midterm Election". Richard E. Berg-Andersson, Research and Commentary. http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G06/MN.phtml. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 

External links

• Website of the governor and lieutenant governor
• Minnesota Constitution, Article V