Interim governors throughout First State history: When lieutenant governors transition to governor

For a brief period of time, as Delaware Governor John Carney stepped down to assume his new role as Wilmington’s next mayor, Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long briefly served as the state’s highest elected official.

On Jan. 7, at the Delaware Historical and Cultural Affairs’ Old State House, Hall-Long took the oath of office to temporarily serve as Delaware’s 75th governor. Hall-Long’s two-week reign is among a relatively short list of interim governors who have stepped in throughout Delaware’s political history, thanks to a state Constitutional requirement.

According to Delaware historians, there have been only four occasions since 1897 in which serving governors left office before the end of their terms. In each of those cases, the lieutenant governor has been sworn in to serve as governor for a matter of weeks.

Here’s a look at a few others who stepped in as serving governors stepped down:

David P. Buckson became governor from Dec. 30, 1960, to Jan. 17, 1961, when Gov. J. Caleb Boggs resigned to start his first U.S. Senate term. Buckson served as “acting governor” for 18 days.

Dale E. Wolf, the last Republican governor of Delaware to date, served in that capacity from Dec. 31, 1992, to Jan. 19, 1993, when Gov. Michael Castle resigned to take his new role in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Ruth Ann Minner was the first woman to serve as “acting governor” before her election as governor, when then-Governor Thomas Carper had to resign early to take his seat in the U.S. Senate. Minner began her new job 13 days early, and after two terms, left as Delaware’s longest-serving governor as well as the state’s first female leader.

Here are a few, but certainly not all, other instances of short-serving leaders of the First State from its earliest days of governance:

John McKinly served as the first president of Delaware, equivalent of the governor, from Feb. 12 to Sept. 22, 1777, when he was captured and imprisoned by the British. 

John Cook was head of the Delaware State Senate and next in line when Delaware President John Dickinson resigned in November 1782. Cook served as head of the state until a special election was held in February 1783. 

Like John Cook, Jehu Davis was next in line when Delaware President Thomas Collins died in office March 29, 1789. Davis became president and served in that capacity until June 1789, when a special election was held. 

Henry Moleston was elected to the Delaware governorship in 1819, but died before he could take office, causing a constitutional crisis that took a creative solution to solve. 

Joseph Maul served as governor from March 2 to May 3, 1846, when he died of heart disease.