As per the Constitution of India, the governor of Karnataka is the state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister, a template applicable to all other Indian states.

Since 1947, there have been a total of twenty-three chief ministers of Mysore (as the state was known before 1 November 1973) and Karnataka.

A majority of them belonged to the Indian National Congress (INC) party, including the inaugural officeholder K. C. Reddy.

The longest-serving chief minister, D. Devaraj Urs, held the office for over seven years in the 1970s.

S. R. Bommai served as the chief minister representing the Janata Parivar, whose son Basavaraj Bommai became chief minister representing the BJP in 2021 becoming the second father-son duo to serve office after HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy.