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GOVERNORS OF TEXAS Notes GUBERNATORIAL POWER As is the trend in many Southern states, the Governor's power is quite limited. When the office was created by the Texas Constitution of 1876, the authors dispersed much of the power traditionally given to the office of the governor to independently elected officials, creating what some refer to as a "plural executive." {Link without Title} With the exception of the Secretary of State, the remaining members of the Governor's cabinet are also elected by popular vote. In addition, because the Lieutenant Governor runs on a separate ticket, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor can be (and have been) from different political parties. Another limitation on gubernatorial power involves the commutation of prisoner sentences, an issue which arises whenever a Death Penalty sentence is to be carried out. The Governor can ''only'' overturn a death sentence upon the positive recommendation of the Texas Board Of Pardon And Parole , the Governor can choose to ignore the Board's clemency recommendation and carry out the execution, but the opposite is not true—the Governor ''cannot'' commute or overturn a sentence if the Board does not recommend such. The only unilateral option the Governor has is to issue one 30-day stay of execution. The governor does have one key power that the Texas Legislature does not have—the governor can call the Legislature into special session for 30 days, as many times as the governor desires (the Legislature cannot call itself into session). These special sessions can only address issues located on the governor's "call", which can be changed at any time by the governor. SEE ALSO
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