Governor of one state and senator from a different state

[John Chessant]

There has been recent speculation that Mitt Romney (former governor of Massachusetts, who now lives in Utah) might run in the Senate election there next year if Orrin Hatch retires.

Have there been any other examples of individuals who were popularly elected to be governor of one state and senator from a different state? Or close calls?

This is unusual because, while a state's senate seats are usually more conducive than its governorship to non-native-born individuals, in the time that it takes for a former governor to be established in a new state he/she will already be too old to start a career in the senate (an institution that is built around seniority). Mitt Romney has had ties to Utah for a long time, and even at his age (he will be almost 72 in January 2019) it is unusual to begin a senate term.

I'm aware of examples like Nathaniel Tallmadge (senator from New York, then territorial governor of Wisconsin), but obviously he was popularly elected to neither office. Of course, there's Sam Houston (governor of Tennessee, then senator from Texas); obviously his was an unparalleled situation, being president of Texas in the interim, etc.

A close call I've found is Bill Clinton, who was on David Paterson's list of potential appointments to continue his wife's senate term.

Any others?

[Rich Rostrom]

Post by John Chessant
Have there been any other examples of individuals
who were popularly elected to be governor of one
state and senator from a different state? Or close
calls?

Well, the "popular election" requirement eliminates
any Senators elected before 1918.

That's pretty harsh, because the great age of American
mobility was the 1800s (when someone like James Shields
could be elected Senator from three different states).

In that ere, I immediately thought of Sam Houston, who
was governor of Tennessee, and later Senator from and
governor of Texas.

[David Tenner]

Post by John Chessant
There has been recent speculation that Mitt Romney (former governor of
Massachusetts, who now lives in Utah) might run in the Senate election
there next year if Orrin Hatch retires.
Have there been any other examples of individuals who were popularly
elected to be governor of one state and senator from a different state?
Or close calls?
This is unusual because, while a state's senate seats are usually more
conducive than its governorship to non-native-born individuals, in the
time that it takes for a former governor to be established in a new
state he/she will already be too old to start a career in the senate (an
institution that is built around seniority). Mitt Romney has had ties to
Utah for a long time, and even at his age (he will be almost 72 in
January 2019) it is unusual to begin a senate term.
I'm aware of examples like Nathaniel Tallmadge (senator from New York,
then territorial governor of Wisconsin), but obviously he was popularly
elected to neither office. Of course, there's Sam Houston (governor of
Tennessee, then senator from Texas); obviously his was an unparalleled
situation, being president of Texas in the interim, etc.
A close call I've found is Bill Clinton, who was on David Paterson's
list of potential appointments to continue his wife's senate term.
Any others?

Former Minnesota governor Harold Stassen, who became a Pennsylanian, doesn't
alienate a lot of Republicans by trying to dump Nixon from the GOP ticket in
1956. Then in 1958 instead of running for governor as in OTL he runs for the
Senate. (Admittedly he would have a hard time defeating Hugh Scott in the
primary, but maybe in this ATL Scott runs for governor instead...) Like
Scott in OTL, he narrowly wins in November.

[John Chessant]

Post by Rich Rostrom

Post by John Chessant
Have there been any other examples of individuals
who were popularly elected to be governor of one
state and senator from a different state? Or close
calls?

Well, the "popular election" requirement eliminates
any Senators elected before 1918.
That's pretty harsh, because the great age of American
mobility was the 1800s (when someone like James Shields
could be elected Senator from three different states).
In that ere, I immediately thought of Sam Houston, who
was governor of Tennessee, and later Senator from and
governor of Texas.
--
Nous sommes dans une pot de chambre, et nous y serons emmerdés.
--- General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot at Sedan, 1870.

Ah, I see. Do you know of any other examples from before popular election of senators?

-----

Post by Rich Rostrom

Post by John Chessant
There has been recent speculation that Mitt Romney (former governor of
Massachusetts, who now lives in Utah) might run in the Senate election
there next year if Orrin Hatch retires.
Have there been any other examples of individuals who were popularly
elected to be governor of one state and senator from a different state?
Or close calls?
This is unusual because, while a state's senate seats are usually more
conducive than its governorship to non-native-born individuals, in the
time that it takes for a former governor to be established in a new
state he/she will already be too old to start a career in the senate (an
institution that is built around seniority). Mitt Romney has had ties to
Utah for a long time, and even at his age (he will be almost 72 in
January 2019) it is unusual to begin a senate term.
I'm aware of examples like Nathaniel Tallmadge (senator from New York,
then territorial governor of Wisconsin), but obviously he was popularly
elected to neither office. Of course, there's Sam Houston (governor of
Tennessee, then senator from Texas); obviously his was an unparalleled
situation, being president of Texas in the interim, etc.
A close call I've found is Bill Clinton, who was on David Paterson's
list of potential appointments to continue his wife's senate term.
Any others?

Former Minnesota governor Harold Stassen, who became a Pennsylanian, doesn't
alienate a lot of Republicans by trying to dump Nixon from the GOP ticket in
1956. Then in 1958 instead of running for governor as in OTL he runs for the
Senate. (Admittedly he would have a hard time defeating Hugh Scott in the
primary, but maybe in this ATL Scott runs for governor instead...) Like
Scott in OTL, he narrowly wins in November.
--
David Tenner

Nice answer! I had forgotten about him.

[John Chessant]

Found another close one! Endicott Peabody was governor of Massachusetts from 1963 to 1965 and the Democratic nominee in the 1986 senate election in New Hampshire (though he lost by over thirty points to incumbent Warren Rudman).

[Matthew Ranouli]

William Bibb (senator from Georgia, then 1st governor of Alabama)

John Geary (1st mayor of San Francisco, then 3rd territorial governor of Kansas, then 16th governor of Pennsylvania)

James Lane (11th lieutenant governor of Indiana, then senator from Kansas)

Edward Livingston (brother of Robert Livingston of Louisiana Purchase fame) (46th mayor of New York City, then senator from Louisiana)

-----

If we count U.S. reps. too, then there were also:

Israel Pickens (U.S. rep. from North Carolina, then 3rd governor of Alabama)

John Weller (U.S. rep. from Ohio, then 5th governor of California)

John Sevier (only governor of Franklin (an unrecognized state in the 1700s), then U.S. rep. from North Carolina where Franklin was formally re-absorbed)

William Claiborne (U.S. rep. at-large from Tennessee, then 1st governor of Louisiana)

Albion Parris (U.S. rep. from Massachusetts, then 5th governor of Maine)

Enoch Lincoln (distant ancestor of Abraham Lincoln) (U.S. rep. from Massachusetts, then 6th governor of Maine)

Alexander Ramsey (U.S. rep. from Pennsylvania, then 2nd governor of Minnesota)

David Holmes (U.S. rep. from Virginia, then 1st and 5th governor of Mississippi)

[Rich Rostrom]

Post by Matthew Ranouli
Enoch Lincoln (distant ancestor of Abraham Lincoln)

Distant _relative_... fourth cousin or so.

He was only 21 years older than Abe, so it would
be hard for him to be an ancestor, much less a
distant one.

[John Chessant]

Post by Matthew Ranouli
William Bibb (senator from Georgia, then 1st governor of Alabama)
John Geary (1st mayor of San Francisco, then 3rd territorial governor of Kansas, then 16th governor of Pennsylvania)
James Lane (11th lieutenant governor of Indiana, then senator from Kansas)
Edward Livingston (brother of Robert Livingston of Louisiana Purchase fame) (46th mayor of New York City, then senator from Louisiana)
-----
Israel Pickens (U.S. rep. from North Carolina, then 3rd governor of Alabama)
John Weller (U.S. rep. from Ohio, then 5th governor of California)
John Sevier (only governor of Franklin (an unrecognized state in the 1700s), then U.S. rep. from North Carolina where Franklin was formally re-absorbed)
William Claiborne (U.S. rep. at-large from Tennessee, then 1st governor of Louisiana)
Albion Parris (U.S. rep. from Massachusetts, then 5th governor of Maine)
Enoch Lincoln (distant ancestor of Abraham Lincoln) (U.S. rep. from Massachusetts, then 6th governor of Maine)
Alexander Ramsey (U.S. rep. from Pennsylvania, then 2nd governor of Minnesota)
David Holmes (U.S. rep. from Virginia, then 1st and 5th governor of Mississippi)

Most of this list was some form of "senator from one state, then governor of another (usually newly-created) state", rather than the other way around. James Lane and Edward Livingston in your list seem to be the closest to "governor, then senator". I guess it's significantly rarer for a governor to leave the state where he/she was governor, to pursue office elsewhere; probably, this is because governors are more likely than senators to be native-born, as I remarked in the original post.

Mitt Romney will be the exception to all this, of course; now that Orrin Hatch is retiring, he will almost certainly run (and win).

[Rich Rostrom]

Post by John Chessant
I guess it's significantly rarer for a governor to
leave the state where he/she was governor, to pursue
office elsewhere; probably, this is because
governors are more likely than senators to be
native-born, as I remarked in the original post.

Sam Houston was Governor of Tennessee (1827-1829),
then President of Texas (1836-1838, 1841-1844), then
US Senator from Texas (1846-1859), then Governor of
Texas (1859-1861).

[John Chessant]

Post by Rich Rostrom

Post by John Chessant
I guess it's significantly rarer for a governor to
leave the state where he/she was governor, to pursue
office elsewhere; probably, this is because
governors are more likely than senators to be
native-born, as I remarked in the original post.

Sam Houston was Governor of Tennessee (1827-1829),
then President of Texas (1836-1838, 1841-1844), then
US Senator from Texas (1846-1859), then Governor of
Texas (1859-1861).
--
Nous sommes dans une pot de chambre, et nous y serons emmerdés.
--- General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot at Sedan, 1870.

Yeah, I mentioned Houston and Nathaniel Tallmadge in the original post.

Another recent example of a governor leaving their home state after their term is Bill Weld of Massachusetts. Weld resigned after losing a senate race to John Kerry in 1996 and being nominated by Bill Clinton for ambassador to Mexico in 1997; many suspected that he was simply tired of being governor. He was never confirmed as ambassador to Mexico, and he moved to New York afterwards. He was a candidate in the Republican primary for governor of New York in 2006 but he lost to John Faso, who lost in the general election to Eliot Spitzer. Maybe if Weld chose a different, moderate-Republican state and ran for Senate in a good Republican year like 2010...

[m***@gmail.com]

Former VP Dan Quayle considered two post-vice-presidency gubernatorial bids, one in Indiana in 1996 and another in Arizona (where he moved) in 2002. If he followed through and won in 2002, he would have been senator from Indiana and governor of Arizona.

[t***@gmail.com]

Post by John Chessant
There has been recent speculation that Mitt Romney (former governor of Massachusetts, who now lives in Utah) might run in the Senate election there next year if Orrin Hatch retires.
Have there been any other examples of individuals who were popularly elected to be governor of one state and senator from a different state? Or close calls?
This is unusual because, while a state's senate seats are usually more conducive than its governorship to non-native-born individuals, in the time that it takes for a former governor to be established in a new state he/she will already be too old to start a career in the senate (an institution that is built around seniority). Mitt Romney has had ties to Utah for a long time, and even at his age (he will be almost 72 in January 2019) it is unusual to begin a senate term.
I'm aware of examples like Nathaniel Tallmadge (senator from New York, then territorial governor of Wisconsin), but obviously he was popularly elected to neither office. Of course, there's Sam Houston (governor of Tennessee, then senator from Texas); obviously his was an unparalleled situation, being president of Texas in the interim, etc.
A close call I've found is Bill Clinton, who was on David Paterson's list of potential appointments to continue his wife's senate term.
Any others?

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