Kammala wannan magana: Bayan ya koma aikinsa na shari'a na tsawon shekaru biyu, ya yi takarar gwamna a kan dan Republican John Davis Lodge, ya lashe zaben da sama da kuri'u dubu uku. A matsayin gwamna (1955<unk>1961), Ribicoff ba da daɗewa ba ya fuskanci kalubale na sake gina jiharsa bayan ambaliyar ruwa da ta faru a ƙarshen lokacin rani da kaka na 1955, kuma ya samu nasarar jagorancin ƙoƙarin bipartisan don taimakawa yankunan da suka lalace. Ribicoff sa'an nan kuma ya yi nasara a kan ƙara yawan kuɗin da ake kashewa a makarantu da shirye-shiryen jin dadin jama'a. Ya kuma goyi bayan gyare-gyare ga kundin tsarin mulkin jihar wanda ya kara karfin ikon gwamnatocin kananan hukumomi. An sake zabar shi a cikin 1958, Ribicoff ya zama mai aiki a fagen siyasa na kasa. Aboki na dogon lokaci na Massachusetts Sanata John F. Kennedy, Ribicoff ya zabi dan uwansa New Englander don mataimakin shugaban kasa a
1956 Democratic National Convention kuma yana daya daga cikin jami'an gwamnati na farko don tallafawa yakin neman zaben shugaban kasa na Kennedy.