DJ, Congressman Hoekstra is sure to win the MI governorship, given that he’s a foreign-born naturalized citizen . . . . : )
All kidding aside, Hoekstra was born in the Netherlands and his family moved to the U.S. when he was a small child (once, when looking for potential runningmates for Fred Thompson, I thought of Hoekstra, then remembered that he was constitutionally ineligible to serve as President or VP). And, as we all know, current Gov. Granholm was born in Canada and is also a naturalized citizen. When was the last time that two foreign-born, naturalized U.S. citizens served back-to-back as governors of a state?
I’ll take Hoekstra over Cox any day. Sorry that Candice Miller won’t be running though.
Well, I went and did some research for you going back to the late 19th century (before that, there’d be a larger pool). After the early 1890s, 4 states elected back-to-back foreign born Governors. 3 elected 2 in a row (ID, NV & OR), 1 elected 3 (!) in a row, Utah. The high point seemed to have come in the 1910s when at least 3 or more states had at least 1 foreign-born Governor. But Idaho was the “last” to elect 2 in a row — in 1918. Utah the last to elect 3 in a row — in 1916 (of those 3, the first two were English born, whose parents were Mormon converts that moved out West, both Republicans; the third was a German Jew Democrat who beat the incumbent English Mormon in an upset. That’s the last Jew ever to serve as Governor of UT).
As follows:
AL - None after 1890
AK - None after statehood, 1959
AZ - (After statehood, 1912); Raul Castro of Sonora, Mexico (1975-77)
AR - None after 1893
CA - (After 1891); Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austria (2003-
CO - None after statehood, 1875
CT - (After 1893); Hiram Bingham of Hawaii (then a foreign country, born to missionary parents) (1925); John Dempsey of Ireland (naturalized) (1961-71); Lowell Weicker, Paris, France (1991-95)
DE - None after 1895
FL - None after 1881
GA - None after 1894
HI - None after statehood, 1959
*ID - (After statehood, 1890); Frank Robert Gooding of England (naturalized) (1905-09); Moses Alexander of Bavaria (Germany) (1915-19); David William Davis of Wales (naturalized) (1919-23)
IL - (After 1873); John Peter Altgeld of Germany (1893-97); Samuel Shapiro, Estonia (naturalized) (1968-69) (not elected)
IN - None after 1891
IA - None after 1894
KS - None after 1893
KY - None after 1875
LA - None after 1892
ME - None after 1897
MD - None after 1896
MA - (After 1896); Christian Herter, Paris, France (1953-57)
MI - (After 1897); Fred M. Warner of England (naturalized-adopted by American couple) (1905-11); John Burley Swainson of Ontario (naturalized) (1961-63); George Romney: Chihuahua, Mexico (1963-69); Jennifer Granholm, Canada (2003-
MN - (After 1895); John Lind of Sweden (1899-1901); Adolph Olson Eberhart of Sweden (1909-15); Hjalmar Petersen of Denmark (1936-37)
MS - None after 1896
MO - None after 1897
MT - (After statehood, 1893); Frank Henry Cooney of Canada (naturalized) (1933-35); John Hugo Aronson of Sweden (naturalized) (1953-61); Stan Stephens of Canada (naturalized) (1989-93)
NE - None after 1893
**NV - John Edward Jones, Wales (naturalized) (1895-96); Reinhold Sadler, Prussia (naturalized) 1896-1903 (Jones and Sadler had an interesting distinction as they were running mates, both foreign born, Jones died in office, Sadler elected in his own right)
NH - (After 1893); John McLane of Scotland (naturalized) (1905-07); John Sununu of Cuba (1983-89)
NJ - None after 1887
NM - (After statehood, 1912); Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo of Chihuahua, Mexico (naturalized) (1919-21)
NY - None after 1892
NC - None after 1893
ND - (After statehood, 1889); Roger Allin of England (then became Canadian citizen) (naturalized) (1895-97); Ragnvold Anderson Nestos of Norway (naturalized) (1921-25); Walter Welford of England (naturalized) (1935-37) - succeeded Gov. Moodie (who was removed office for not meeting state residency requirements); John Moses of Norway (naturalized) (1939-45)
OH - None after 1890
OK - None after Statehood, 1907
***OR - (After 1887); Oswald West of Ontario, Canada (naturalized) (1911-15); James Withycombe of England (naturalized) (1915-19); Albin Walter Norblad, Sr. of Sweden (naturalized) (1929-31) - succeeded Gov. Patterson (deceased)
PA - (After 1883); John Kinley Tener of Ireland (1911-15)
RI - (After 1887); Aram Pothier of Quebec, Canada (naturalized) (1909-15; 1925-28)
SC - None after 1890
SD - (After statehood, 1889); Andrew Ericson Lee of Norway (naturalized) (1897-1901); Sigurd Anderson of Norway (naturalized) (1951-55)
TN - None after 1883
TX - None after 1891
****UT - (After statehood, 1896); John Christopher Cutler of England (naturalized) (1905-09) William Spry of England (naturalized) (1909-17); Simon Bamberger of Germany (naturalized) (1917-21)
VT - (After 1890); Josiah Grout of Quebec, Canada (1896-98); Joseph Blaine Johnson of Sweden (1955-59); Madeleine M. Kunin of Switzerland (naturalized) (1985-91)
VA - (After 1890); Westmoreland Davis (American citizen, but born in Atlantic Ocean en route to England) (1918-22)
WA - (After statehood, 1889); Ernest Lister of England (naturalized) (1913-19); Roland H. Hartley of New Brunswick, Canada (naturalized) (1925-33)
WV - None after statehood, 1863
WI - (After 1889); James O. Davidson of Norway (1906-11); Julius Peter Heil of Germany (naturalized) 1939-43
WY - None after statehood, 1890