The uncertain results of the Florida and Georgia races notwithstanding, new governors — especially when they come from a different party than the last governor — tend to shake up their department leaders. That includes IT staff.
So come 2019, we expect to see a lot of new state chief information officers.
Of course, it's not a hard-and-fast rule. One only has to look at Greg Zickau to see that. Zickau has been leading Idaho's Office of Information Technology Services for more than 14 years, and has served under three different governors.
Zickau is one of the state CIOs facing a change in administration, with Governor-Elect Brad Little set to replace Gov. Butch Otter in early January.
As Little and 19 other governors take office, Government Technology will be tracking any IT leadership changes they make, as well as any pre-emptive moves by state CIOs in advance of changes due to new administrations.
*The winners of Florida and Georgia's gubernatorial elections aren't yet confirmed — Florida is headed for a recount, while Georgia appears to be headed for a runoff election. The listed new governors of those states are the candidates leading in the vote count as of publication.
