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The Governor of West Virginia is the head of the executive branch of West Virginia's state government〔WV Constitution article VII, § 5.〕 and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.〔WV Constitution article VII, § 12.〕 The governor has a duty to enforce state laws,〔 and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the West Virginia Legislature,〔WV Constitution article VII, § 14.〕 to convene the legislature at any time,〔WV Constitution article VI, § 18–19.〕 and, except when prosecution has been carried out by the House of Delegates, to grant pardons and reprieves.〔WV Constitution article VII, § 11.〕 Since West Virginia became a state, it has had 35 governors; 33 different men have held the office (Arch A. Moore, Jr. and Cecil H. Underwood each served two nonconsecutive governorships). Six governors in the state's history have served multiple terms. The longest-serving governor was Moore, who served for three terms over twelve years. The state's first governor, Arthur I. Boreman, served the most consecutive terms, resigning a week before the end of his third term. Daniel D.T. Farnsworth was Senate President at the time; he filled the last seven days of Boreman's term and remains the shortest-serving governor. Underwood has the unusual distinction of being both the youngest person to be elected as governor (age 34 upon his first term in 1957) and the oldest to both be elected and serve (age 74 upon his second term in 1997; age 78 at the end of his second term in 2001). The current governor is Earl Ray Tomblin, who assumed office on November 13, 2011 after a special election on October 4, 2011.〔http://www.wowktv.com/story/16027267/earl-ray-tomblin-to-be-inaugurated-as-west-virginias-governor〕 Tomblin, as President of the West Virginia Senate, acted as governor from November 15, 2010 until November 13, 2011 upon the resignation of Joe Manchin to take a seat in the U.S. Senate. West Virginia was originally part of the state of Virginia, one of the original Thirteen Colonies. The northwestern counties of Virginia broke away during the American Civil War and formed the state, which was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863. Two more Virginia counties, Berkeley and Jefferson, joined the state on March 10, 1866. To be elected governor, a person must be at least 30 years old, and must have been a citizen of West Virginia for at least five years at the time of inauguration.〔WV Constitution article VII, § 1.〕 The Constitution of West Virginia, ratified in 1872, calls for a four-year term for the governor, commencing on the Monday after the second Wednesday in the January following an election.〔 The original constitution of 1863 had only a two-year term for governor.〔WV 1863 Constitution article V, § 1.〕 The constitution makes no mention of a lieutenant governor; if the governorship becomes vacant, the Senate President acts as governor. If more than one year remains in the governor's term at the time of vacancy, a new election is held; otherwise, the Senate President serves the remainder of the term.〔WV Constitution article VII, § 16.〕 A bill passed in 2000 grants the Senate President the honorary title of Lieutenant Governor,〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=H.B. 4781 (Enrolled March 11, 2009) )〕 but this title is rarely used in practice and the terms of the Senate President do not correspond with governorships. The same bill states that the line of succession after the Senate President will be the Speaker of the House of Delegates, followed by the state attorney general, the state auditor and former governors, in inverse order of term, that are in residence in the state at the time of the vacancy.〔 ==List of Governors== ; Parties 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of Governors of West Virginia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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