That experience is the parent of wisdom, is an adage the truth of which is recognized by the wisest as well as the simplest of mankind.
Our Governor today is a very powerful executive. But it hasnât always been that way. The first Governor under the constitution was the great patriot, Patrick Henry. The Virginia Convention elected him Governor on June 29, 1776, the same day it proclaimed the new constitution. He had virtually no power, nor did Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the other early governors.
Candidates for the office of Governor of Virginia must be: 1  a United States citizen. 2  a resident of Virginia for at least five years at the time of the election. 3  a qualified elector of Virginia for at least one year preceding the election.  at least 30 years old.