The Rockefeller family

A vice president and three governorships across three states: the political wing of America’s most famous fortune.
New York · Arkansas · West Virginia · Senate · Governor
Combined career popular votes
16,209,479
Members on the ballot
3
Combined W–L
13–3
Years on the ballot
1958–2008

Nelson Rockefeller was a four-term governor of New York and vice president under Gerald Ford; his brother Winthrop Rockefeller was elected governor of Arkansas; and Nelson’s nephew Jay Rockefeller served as governor and then long-time U.S. senator from West Virginia. The family held statewide office in three different states.

The Rockefeller family members, ranked by career popular votes
MemberOfficesYearsCareer popular votesRecord
Jay RockefellerDSenate · Governor1972–20083,077,82071
Nelson RockefellerRGovernor1958–197012,050,57440
Winthrop RockefellerRGovernor1964–19701,081,08522

How this is measured

Combined career popular votes are summed across the 3 family members we track, each counted once across every presidential, U.S. Senate, governor, and U.S. House election in our data. Family membership is hand-curated and verified against primary sources, never matched by surname alone, so unrelated namesakes are never folded in. A vote for a presidential ticket counts for both the president and the vice-presidential candidate, matching how each profile reports its own totals.

Compiled by PolitiFinder · published June 14, 2026 · sources: Data & sources.