List of current United States first spouses

In the United States, the first spouse is the term used to refer to the spouse of a chief executive—that is, of the spouse of the president of the United States (the first lady of the United States and the first gentleman of the United States) and the spouses of the governors of the 50 U.S. states and U.S. territories (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands) and the spouse of the mayor of the District of Columbia. (The spouses of many mayors are often called the "first lady" or "first gentleman" of the city as well, and the use of the terms sometimes extends even to the spouses of college presidents).

Since 1985, the National Governors Association has encouraged state first ladies and gentlemen to pursue their own, distinct causes and public agendas.^[1] The public role of the first spouse is traditionally ceremonial. Like the first ladies of the United States, state and territorial first spouses are not elected and earn no government salary. However, traditionally first spouses also champion important causes either nationally or within their individual states or territories,^[2] such as charitable and humanitarian work. First spouses are often seen as high-profile individuals who can direct public awareness towards a particular cause or campaign.^[2] For example, the nation's first spouses launched a nationwide national breast cancer awareness campaign in conjunction with the National Governors Association in 1994.^[2] In collaboration with the breast cancer initiative, some first spouses participated in media campaigns, public relations, chaired statewide breast cancer awareness committees, and even spearheaded the creation of a specific women's departments within state health departments.^[2] Diverse initiatives championed by individual current first spouses have included advocacy against drunk driving,^[3] heart disease in women,^[4] the Special Olympics, and development assistance projects in Rwanda.^[5]

Most first spouses have pursued their own careers before entering the public arena when their husbands or wives assumed the governor's mansion. For example, Lou Rell, former first gentleman of Connecticut, is a former naval pilot and commercial airline pilot with TWA.^[6]

In Colorado the governor was unmarried but had a domestic partner who acted as a de facto first spouse until they married in 2021. Three states, Alabama, Maine and New Mexico, along with the District of Columbia, do not have a first lady or first gentleman.

Current first spouses[]

United States[]

Current First Lady	President	Past	First Spouse since
Jill Biden	Joe Biden	List	January 20, 2021

Current Second Gentleman	Vice President	Past	Second Spouse since
Doug Emhoff	Kamala Harris	List	January 20, 2021

States[]

State	Current First Lady or First Gentleman	Governor	Past	First Spouse since
Alabama	Divorced	Kay Ivey
Alaska	Rose Dunleavy	Mike Dunleavy	List	December 3, 2018
Arizona	Angela Ducey	Doug Ducey		January 5, 2015
Arkansas	Susan Hutchinson	Asa Hutchinson		January 13, 2015
California	Jennifer Siebel Newsom^{[n 1]}	Gavin Newsom	List	January 7, 2019
Colorado	Marlon Reis ^[7]	Jared Polis		January 8, 2019
Connecticut	Ann Lamont	Ned Lamont		January 9, 2019
Delaware	Tracey Carney	John Carney		January 17, 2017
Florida	Casey DeSantis	Ron DeSantis		January 8, 2019
Georgia	Marti Kemp	Brian Kemp	List	January 14, 2019
Hawaii	Dawn Ige^[8]	David Ige	List	December 1, 2014
Idaho	Teresa Little	Brad Little		January 7, 2019
Illinois	Mary Pritzker	J. B. Pritzker		January 14, 2019
Indiana	Janet Holcomb	Eric Holcomb		January 9, 2017
Iowa	Kevin Reynolds	Kim Reynolds		May 24, 2017
Kansas	Ted Daughety	Laura Kelly		January 14, 2019
Kentucky	Britainy Beshear	Andy Beshear		December 10, 2019
Louisiana	Donna Edwards^[9]	John Bel Edwards		January 11, 2016
Maine	Widowed	Janet Mills
Maryland	Yumi Hogan	Larry Hogan	List	January 21, 2015
Massachusetts	Lauren Baker	Charlie Baker		January 8, 2015
Michigan	Marc Mallory	Gretchen Whitmer	List	January 1, 2019
Minnesota	Gwen Walz	Tim Walz	List	January 7, 2019
Mississippi	Elee Williams	Tate Reeves		January 14, 2020
Missouri	Teresa Parson	Mike Parson	List	June 1, 2018
Montana	Susan Gianforte	Greg Gianforte	List	January 4, 2021
Nebraska	Susanne Ricketts^[10]	Pete Ricketts		January 8, 2015
Nevada	Kathy Ong	Steve Sisolak	List	January 7, 2019
New Hampshire	Valerie Sununu	Chris Sununu		January 5, 2017
New Jersey	Tammy Murphy	Phil Murphy		January 16, 2018
New Mexico	Widowed	Michelle Lujan Grisham
New York	Bill Hochul	Kathy Hochul		August 24, 2021
North Carolina	Kristin Cooper	Roy Cooper		January 1, 2017
North Dakota	Kathryn Burgum^[11]	Doug Burgum	List	December 15, 2016
Ohio	Frances DeWine	Mike DeWine		January 14, 2019
Oklahoma	Sarah Stitt	Kevin Stitt	List	January 14, 2019
Oregon	Dan Little	Kate Brown		February 18, 2015
Pennsylvania	Frances Wolf	Tom Wolf	List	January 20, 2015
Rhode Island	Susan McKee	Dan McKee		March 2, 2021
South Carolina	Peggy McMaster	Henry McMaster		January 24, 2017
South Dakota	Bryon Noem	Kristi Noem		January 5, 2019
Tennessee	Maria Lee	Bill Lee		January 19, 2019
Texas	Cecilia Abbott	Greg Abbott	List	January 20, 2015
Utah	Abby Palmer	Spencer Cox		January 4, 2021
Vermont	Diana Scott	Phil Scott		January 5, 2017
Virginia	Pamela Northam	Ralph Northam		January 13, 2018
Washington	Trudi Inslee	Jay Inslee		January 16, 2013
West Virginia	Cathy Justice	Jim Justice		January 16, 2017
Wisconsin	Kathy Evers	Tony Evers	List	January 7, 2019
Wyoming	Jennie Muir	Mark Gordon		January 7, 2019

Territories[]

Territory	Current First Lady or First Gentleman	Governor	Past	First Spouse since
American Samoa	Ella Mauga	Lemanu Peleti Mauga	List	January 3, 2021
District of Columbia	Never married	Muriel Bowser (Mayor)
Guam	Jeffrey Cook	Lou Leon Guerrero	List	January 7, 2019
Northern Mariana Islands	Dianna Mendiola Tudela	Ralph Torres		December 29, 2015
Puerto Rico	Divorced	Pedro Pierluisi	List	January 2, 2021
U.S. Virgin Islands	Yolanda Bryan	Albert Bryan		January 7, 2019

References[]

^ Miller, John (2006-10-27). "Beauty queen, civil rights marcher could be first lady". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "More About Governors' Spouses: A Tradition of Helping Others" (PDF). National Governors Association. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
^ "First Lady Maryann Tulafono appeals to the general public". Government of American Samoa. Archived from the original on November 27, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
^ "Learn More about First Lady Cheri Daniels". State of Indiana. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
^ "Rwanda Project: Who We Are: Cecile de Jongh - Vice President and Co-Founder". Rwanda Project USVI. Archived from the original on 2009-07-25. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
^ Leigh Cowen, Alison (2004-06-22). "Connecticut's Governor steps down: A New Leader Carrying Hope -- M. Jodi Rell". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
^ How should we refer to Governor-elect Jared Polis’ longtime partner? The Denver Post. 8 November 2018. "Polis and Reis aren’t legally married... The Polis campaign has clarified that Reis will take the title 'first gentleman'".
^ "Dawn Amano-Ige". nga.org. National Governors Association.
^ "Donna Edwards". nga.org. National Governors Association. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
^ "Susanne Shore". nga.org. National Governors Association. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
^ "First Lady Kathryn Helgaas Burgum". North Dakota Office of the Governor. Retrieved 4 March 2017.

Notes[]

^ Jennifer Siebel Newsom will be California’s ‘first partner.’ Her agenda is cultural change. The Los Angeles Times. 24 November 2018. "Now she’ll take on her newest political role: 'first partner,' a term she prefers over 'first lady' — she sees it as more inclusive."

External links[]

National Governors Association: Biographies of Current U.S. Governors' Spouses

[mpdnews-1] Miller, John (2006-10-27). "Beauty queen, civil rights marcher could be first lady". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Retrieved 2015-05-23.

[nga-2] "More About Governors' Spouses: A Tradition of Helping Others" (PDF). National Governors Association. Retrieved 2009-04-26.

[as-3] "First Lady Maryann Tulafono appeals to the general public". Government of American Samoa. Archived from the original on November 27, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-26.

[indiana-4] "Learn More about First Lady Cheri Daniels". State of Indiana. Retrieved 2009-04-26.

[rwandausvi-5] "Rwanda Project: Who We Are: Cecile de Jongh - Vice President and Co-Founder". Rwanda Project USVI. Archived from the original on 2009-07-25. Retrieved 2009-04-26.

[nyt-6] Leigh Cowen, Alison (2004-06-22). "Connecticut's Governor steps down: A New Leader Carrying Hope -- M. Jodi Rell". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-26.

[8] How should we refer to Governor-elect Jared Polis’ longtime partner? The Denver Post. 8 November 2018. "Polis and Reis aren’t legally married... The Polis campaign has clarified that Reis will take the title 'first gentleman'".

[9] "Dawn Amano-Ige". nga.org. National Governors Association.

[10] "Donna Edwards". nga.org. National Governors Association. Retrieved 23 March 2017.

[11] "Susanne Shore". nga.org. National Governors Association. Retrieved 23 March 2017.

[12] "First Lady Kathryn Helgaas Burgum". North Dakota Office of the Governor. Retrieved 4 March 2017.

[7] Jennifer Siebel Newsom will be California’s ‘first partner.’ Her agenda is cultural change. The Los Angeles Times. 24 November 2018. "Now she’ll take on her newest political role: 'first partner,' a term she prefers over 'first lady' — she sees it as more inclusive."

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