List of current United States first spouses

United States

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In the United States, the first spouse (first lady for women, first gentleman for men) 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 spouses of the governors of the 50 U.S. state 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).

The public role of the first spouse is usually 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,^[1] 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.^[1] For example, the nation's first spouses launched a nationwide national breast cancer awareness campaign in conjunction with the National Governors Association in 1994.^[1] 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.^[1] Diverse initiatives championed by individual current First Spouses have included civic education and citizenship,^[2] advocacy against drunk driving,^[3], blankets for the homeless,^[4] heart disease in women,^[5] the Special Olympics, and development assistance projects in Rwanda.^[6]

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, first gentleman of Connecticut, is a former naval pilot and commercial airline pilot with TWA.^[7] Michelle Fenty, first lady of the District of Columbia, is a lawyer. ^[8]

Mikey L. Hoeven, the first lady of North Dakota, is currently the longest serving First Spouse in the United States. Three states currently have no First Lady or Gentleman: Hawaii, Illinois, and New Jersey.

Current First Ladies and Gentlemen

United States

Current First Lady	Picture	State	President	Past	First Spouse since
Michelle Obama		United States	Barack Obama	List	January 20, 2009

States

Current First Lady or First Gentleman	Picture	State	Governor	Past	First Spouse since
Patsy Riley		Alabama	Bob Riley	List	January 20, 2003
Sandra Parnell		Alaska	Sean Parnell	List	July 26, 2009
John Brewer		Arizona	Jan Brewer	List	January 20, 2009
Ginger Beebe		Arkansas	Mike Beebe	List	January 9, 2007
Maria Shriver		California	Arnold Schwarzenegger	List	November 17, 2003
Jeannie Ritter		Colorado	Bill Ritter	List	January 9, 2007
Lou Rell		Connecticut	M. Jodi Rell	List	July 1, 2004
Carla Markell		Delaware	Jack Markell	List	January 20, 2009
Carole Crist		Florida	Charlie Crist	List	December 12, 2008 (Date of marriage)
Mary Ruff Perdue		Georgia	Sonny Perdue	List	January 13, 2003
None (Governor divorced)		Hawaii	Linda Lingle	List
Lori Easley		Idaho	Butch Otter	List	January 1, 2007
None (Governor divorced)		Illinois	Pat Quinn	List
Cheri Lynn Daniels		Indiana	Mitch Daniels	List	January 10, 2005
Mariclare Culver		Iowa	Chet Culver	List	January 12, 2007
Stacy Parkinson		Kansas	Mark Parkinson	List	April 29, 2009
Jane Beshear		Kentucky	Steve Beshear	List	December 11, 2007
Supriya Jindal		Louisiana	Bobby Jindal	List	January 14, 2008
Karen Baldacci		Maine	John Baldacci	List	January 8, 2003
Catherine Curran O'Malley		Maryland	Martin O'Malley	List	January 17, 2007
Diane Patrick		Massachusetts	Deval Patrick	List	January 4, 2007
Daniel Mulhern		Michigan	Jennifer Granholm	List	January 1, 2003
Mary Pawlenty		Minnesota	Tim Pawlenty	List	January 6, 2003
Marsha Barbour		Mississippi	Haley Barbour	List	January 13, 2004
Georganne Nixon		Missouri	Jay Nixon	List	January 12, 2009
Nancy Schweitzer		Montana	Brian Schweitzer	List	January 3, 2005
Sally Heineman		Nebraska	Dave Heineman	List	January 20, 2005
Dawn Gibbons (filed for divorce in 2008)		Nevada	Jim Gibbons	List	January 1, 2007
Susan Lynch		New Hampshire	John Lynch	List	January 6, 2005
None (Governor is divorced)		New Jersey	Jon Corzine	List
Barbara Richardson		New Mexico	Bill Richardson	List	January 1, 2003
Michelle Paige Paterson		New York	David Paterson	List	March 17, 2008
Bob Eaves		North Carolina	Beverly Perdue	List	January 10, 2009
Mikey L. Hoeven		North Dakota	John Hoeven	List	December 15, 2000
Frances Strickland		Ohio	Ted Strickland	List	January 8, 2007
Kimberly Ann Henry		Oklahoma	Brad Henry	List	January 13, 2003
Mary Oberst		Oregon	Ted Kulongoski	List	January 13, 2003
Marjorie Rendell		Pennsylvania	Ed Rendell	List	January 21, 2003
Suzanne Carcieri		Rhode Island	Donald Carcieri	List	January 7, 2003
Jenny Sanford		South Carolina	Mark Sanford	List	January 15, 2003
Jean Rounds		South Dakota	Mike Rounds	List	January 7, 2003
Andrea Conte		Tennessee	Phil Bredesen	List	January 18, 2003
Anita Thigpen Perry		Texas	Rick Perry	List	December 21, 2000
Jeanette Herbert		Utah	Gary Herbert	List	August 11, 2009
Dorothy Foster Douglas		Vermont	Jim Douglas	List	January 9, 2003
Anne Holton		Virginia	Tim Kaine	List	January 14, 2006
Mike Gregoire		Washington	Christine Gregoire	List	January 12, 2005
Gayle Manchin		West Virginia	Joe Manchin	List	January 17, 2005
Jessica Doyle		Wisconsin	Jim Doyle	List	January 6, 2003
Nancy Freudenthal		Wyoming	Dave Freudenthal	List	January 6, 2003

Territories

Current First Lady or First Gentleman	Picture	Territory	Governor	Past	First Spouse since
Tulafono, MaryMary Tulafono		American Samoa	Tulafono, TogiolaTogiola Tulafono	List	02003-04-07 April 7, 2003
Fenty, Michelle CrossMichelle Cross Fenty		District of Columbia	Fenty, AdrianAdrian Fenty (Mayor)	List	02007-01-02 January 2, 2007
Camacho, JoannJoann Camacho		Guam	Camacho, Felix PerezFelix Perez Camacho	List	02003-01-06 January 6, 2003
Fitial, JosieJosie Fitial		Northern Mariana Islands	Fitial, BenignoBenigno Fitial	List	02006-01-09 January 9, 2006
Vela de Fortuño, LucéLucé Vela de Fortuño		Puerto Rico	Fortuño, LuisLuis Fortuño	List	02009-01-02 January 2, 2009
de Jongh, CecileCecile de Jongh		U.S. Virgin Islands	de Jongh, JohnJohn de Jongh	List	02007-01-01 January 1, 2007

See also

• List of First Ladies of the United States
• List of current United States governors
• List of current United States lieutenant governors

References

External links

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