PUB 700397: Governor/Lt-Governor: Qualifications by Loyal Millett
ARTICLE IV: EXECUTIVE, Section 5. Election of governor, lieutenant governor and cabinet members; qualifications; terms.
SECTION 5.Election of governor, lieutenant governor and cabinet members; qualifications; terms.
- (1) At a state-wide general election in each calendar year the number of which is even but not a multiple of four, the electors shall choose a governor and a lieutenant governor and members of the cabinet each for a term of four years beginning on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of the succeeding year. (2) In primary elections, candidates for the office of governor may choose to run without a lieutenant governor candidate. In the general election, all candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall form joint candidacies in a manner prescribed by law so that each voter shall cast a single vote for a candidate for governor and a candidate for lieutenant governor running together. (3) No candidates for governor and lieutenant governor shall reside in the same county, legislative district, appellate district, or congressional district. (4) If a candidate for governor is male, his candidate for lieutenant governor shall be female. (5) Whenever possible, the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor shall be of different ethnicities.
- When elected, the governor, lieutenant governor and each cabinet member must be an elector not less than
thirtytwenty-five years of age who has resided in the state for the preceding seven years. The attorney general must have been a member of the bar of Florida for the preceding five years. No person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term.