How to Contact Your Governor

Last updated 1 day ago. Our resources are updated regularly but please keep in mind that links, programs, policies, and contact information do change.

To contact a governor, start with USAGov’s State governors directory, which gives contact information for each state and territory. The right route from there depends on the purpose: giving an opinion, asking for help with a state agency, commenting on a bill or requesting a meeting.

Some offices prefer an online form; California’s office calls its message form the best method. A governor’s staff may also help get an answer from a state agency, but that is different from appealing the agency’s decision. Washington’s governor’s office warns that its casework, its help with an individual’s problem, is not a legal or administrative process and that it can only attempt to assist.

Find the official contact page for your state

Contact a governor through the official state website, using the message form, phone number or mailing address it provides. In the USAGov directory, select or type the state or territory to get that governor’s contact information. USAGov’s Find and contact elected officials page also directs readers to state and territorial governors. Use the office linked for the intended state rather than a contact address copied from a campaign or an old list.

Digital.gov explains that a .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Its security guidance identifies a lock icon or a web address beginning with https:// as signs of a secure connection to a .gov website. Check the address before entering personal details, and if it is not a .gov address, confirm the page through the USAGov directory before using its forms.

On the governor’s page, look for links labeled contact, constituent services or request assistance. Constituent services is the office’s help for people dealing with state government; choose that route when seeking assistance rather than giving an opinion.

Choose a channel and write a clear request

Pennsylvania calls its online form the fastest way to write because mailed correspondence goes through security screening and processing. For mailed requests for help with state services, Pennsylvania asks for a phone number and email address. Georgia’s contact form requires first and last names, a primary United States phone number and an email address with matching confirmation. Give the details the form asks for and nothing more sensitive; the section on personal information below explains why.

California’s office says it cannot receive email attachments for security reasons. It directs senders to mail attachments instead.

Take the mailing address and phone number from the state’s own contact page. California’s page, for example, lists the governor’s office at 1021 O Street, Suite 9000, Sacramento, CA 95814, and its telephone number as (916) 445-2841. To email a governor whose office lists no email address, use the message form it offers instead of guessing an address.

Texas’s governor contact page directs people using a telecommunications device for the deaf to call 711 for Relay Texas. When a contact method is inaccessible, look for the office’s alternative telephone or assistance instructions.

For an opinion, explain the policy or bill and why it matters; for an assistance request, name the agency and describe the unresolved problem. Keep the background connected to that request rather than adding unrelated grievances.

• Begin with the issue and the requested action.
• Add a short explanation of the effect on the sender or community.
• For agency help, describe earlier attempts to resolve the problem and the response received.
• Provide the requested contact details and check them before sending.

Address a mailed letter to the governor’s office using its published address, and sign it with the sender’s name. For a phone call, prepare the same brief explanation and ask for the office that handles the request.

Texas’s governor contact page separates sharing an opinion, requesting assistance and making an open-records request, which asks for government records. Choose the option that matches the task.

Send a complaint about a state agency

USAGov says to file a complaint against a state or local agency using the contact information on the agency’s website. If a direct complaint remains unresolved, USAGov recommends contacting an elected representative. A request for the governor’s help should therefore say what the problem is, which agency was contacted and what remains unresolved.

Georgia’s instructions for its Environmental Protection Division use the same sequence: contact the division directly first, and if there is trouble reaching it or getting an answer, send a message to the governor’s Constituent Services staff. Washington directs state-agency assistance requests to a casework form, where a caseworker reviews the details. That review is not a promise to reverse an agency’s decision. If the agency’s decision can be appealed, file the appeal by the agency’s own deadline, and do not count on a message to the governor’s staff to take its place.

Pennsylvania’s governor office says it cannot provide legal advice or assistance or intervene in court cases because the executive and judicial branches are separate. Ask the governor’s office for an action it can take, not for a court outcome it cannot deliver.

Identify the government body responsible for the problem before escalating it. Pennsylvania directs problems involving federal agencies or policies, including Social Security and passports, to federal elected officials. It directs local issues to local officials such as councilmembers, county commissioners or mayors. USAGov’s elected-officials directory provides contact routes for U.S. senators and representatives as well as information about state and territorial legislators.

Ask for action on a bill

To ask a governor to support, sign or veto a bill, use the office’s ordinary opinion or message route. Identify the state, the bill number and legislative session, then explain the requested action in plain language.

In California, a bill goes to the governor after both legislative houses approve it. The governor can sign it, allow it to become law without a signature or veto it. Before sending a bill comment, check whether the measure is still with legislators or has reached the governor, and ask for an action that fits that stage.

The California Assembly publishes Bill Information and an Assembly History that shows all actions on measures from the beginning of the legislative session. In another state, use the legislature’s own official bill information to check the bill before describing it.

Know what a reply or meeting can promise

Washington’s governor office says it reads every comment but cannot always respond to each email because of message volume. Georgia likewise says its team reads and records submissions, although some may receive no response. Both describe what the office does with messages; neither promises that the governor personally reads or answers each one. Treat a phone call as contact with the governor’s office, not with the governor, and a meeting as a separate request.

North Carolina’s Request page provides a form for sending a meeting request to the governor. Use the scheduling route listed by the relevant office, explain the purpose and propose the requested time or event. Wait for an actual confirmation before treating the request as an appointment.

Keep a copy of the message and note when and how it was sent. For a follow-up, refer to the original request and ask about its status or the appropriate next contact. If the office publishes a response period, go by it rather than by a waiting time from anywhere else.

Protect personal information before sending

Washington warns that all correspondence with its governor’s office could be subject to public disclosure under its public-records law. Do not assume that an ordinary contact form is confidential simply because it is addressed to an elected official. Georgia specifically tells senders not to share private information such as Social Security or driver’s license numbers. Follow the form’s privacy instructions, and ask how to provide sensitive supporting records before placing them in a general message.