Governors
• The governor is the most visible
person in state government
• Chief executive officer
• Chief policymaker
• institutional and informal powers
Gubernatorial Elections
• 48 states hold gubernatorial elections
every four years
– usually at ‘midterm’
• Some elect the governor at the same
time as the president
– WA, MT, UT, ND, MO, IN, WV, NC, VT,
NH (VT & NH every 2 years)
Gubernatorial Elections
• Voting for governor
– Governors are more visible than other
state elected officials
– They raise money more easily
– Huge incumbency advantage
– Held accountable for state’s economy
– Voters use party as shortcut
– National level forces
Gubernatorial Elections
• Gubernatorial campaign costs
– Skyrocketed in recent years
• WA 2008 $40m (candidates + others); down in 2012
• Arnold spent $75m on re-election in CA
– More expensive in larger states
• in highly contested races...$129m in CA 2006
– States vary in campaign finance regulation
• some have public funds (MN...)
– Charles Barkley
– When asked if he was serious, the former Philadelphia 76er said, “I
am, I can’t screw up Alabama.”
Gubernatorial Elections
• Gubernatorial campaign costs
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2014 IL: $74m
2014 NY: $49m
2014 FL: $33m
2014 WI: $24m
2014 OH: $25m
2014 MA: $21m
2014 MI: $18m
Gubernatorial Elections
• Why such stakes?
– Nationalization of state politics
– Future presidential candidates
• Christie NJ, Bush FL, Perry TX, Walker WI, Kasich, OH,
Cuomo NY, O’Malley, MD
– Future vice presidents
• S. Martinez NM, Nikki Haley SC
– Future presidential elections
• swing states Gov can be an assist (CO, FL, IA)
Gubernatorial Elections
• Election outcomes
– Candidate from dominant party is likely
to win (duh)
– 74% of incumbents were reelected from
1970 to 2005
– But this is more vulnerable than other
offices
• 96% of US House reps re-elected
Gubernatorial Elections
• Gregoire vs. Rossi I (Nov 2004)
– Gregoire (D) v. Rossi (R)
• open seat
– Results...
• First count
– Rossi up by 261 votes, declared winner Nov 29
• Ds pay for hand recount Dec 12
– King Co. ‘finds’ 560 ballots, 12 more, then 160 more (rejected ballots)
– Recount put Gregoire up by 8
– Court says count most uncounted ballots Dec 23
• Final count
– 1,373,361 to 1,373,232
– 48.8730 D 48.8685 R
129 votes
• Rossi calls for revote Dec 29
Gubernatorial Elections
• Gregoire vs. Rossi I (Nov 2004)
– Gregoire (D) v. Rossi (R)
• Dec 22 State Supremes ruled counties could make corrections
– ballots found after initial counts
• Hand recount
• Gregoire declared Gov Dec 30 (by Sam Reed, R)
– Legal motions (Chelan Co.) through February, Trial in May
• Should all ballots count
• Ballots counted after initial counts
• Ballots cast by ineligible voters
– 1678 cast illegally, some for Rossi
Gubernatorial Elections
• Gregoire vs. Rossi II (Nov 2008)
– Incumbent election
• popularity, scandal, MONEY...
– Party
• national mood, national candidates
– Economy (Rossi’s best hope...)
– Polls & Results...
•
•
•
•
Nov 2008
Sept 2008
Feb 2008
Oct 2007
Rossi 47%; Gregoire 53%
Rossi 48%; Gregoire 47%
Rossi 42%, Gregoire 54%
Rossi 42%, Gregoire 47%
Gubernatorial Elections
• McKenna v. Inslee; 2012
– Winter, spring polls had McKenna +3%
– Result 51.5% Inslee; 48.5% McKenna
Inslee
McKenna
Puget Sound
54%
41%
Eastern WA
31%
57%
Male
46%
47%
Independent
33%
53%
Under 30
43%
43%
Over 65
50%
43%
Female
49%
44%
Today’s Governors—Who Are
They?
• No longer good-time Charlies
• Today’s governors are younger and better
educated
• Career path
– Other elected offices, Lt. governor, attorneys
general, law enforcement, prosecutors; some
from a business background
Lt Gov
9
Atty Gen
7
Sec of State
1
Treas.
1
US House
7
US Senate
3
State leg.
4
Business
6
Local elected
5
Governors last jobs; Jan 2012…also 3 federal judges, 3 from universities.
Today’s Governors
• Also “outsider” gubernatorial candidates
• Some outside jobs may have a conflict of
interest
– AZ Mecham, Symington...
• Many go into the private sector after they
leave office
• Some continue to do public service
– Federal cabinet, non-profits
– Prison (3)
Today’s Governors
• Several become president (17)
– Bush II (01 - 09), Clinton I (93-01), Reagan (8189), Carter (77 - 81)...Jefferson, Jackson
• Women now more successful than in the
past
• First woman president likely thus in ranks of
current or ex elected governors?
– Haley (R SC), Martinez (R NM), Palin?
Chris
Gregoire
WA
D
2005-13
Sarah Palin
AK
R
2007-09
Jan Brewer
AZ
R
2009-
Bev. Perdue
NC
D
2009-13
Mary Fallin
OK
R
2011-
Nikki Haley
SC
R
2011-
Susana
Martinez
NM
R
2011-
Maggie Hassan NH
Gina Raimondo RI
D
D
20132015-
Women as Governors
• Exponential growth
• Perdue 2008
• Brewer,Fallin, Haley,
Martinez 2010
• LOTS of elections
2014, only one
woman
The Powers of the Governor
• Governors have three basic jobs
1. Help set public policy
2. Direct state bureaucracy
3. Deal with intergovernmental relations
• Gubernatorial powers are both
institutional and informal
The Powers of the Governor
• Governors have many other jobs
1. Party leader
2. Legislative leader
3. Chief executive
Institutional Powers
• Great variation across the states
• Constitutional and statutory
• Budget making authority (most important)
•
•
•
•
Unified executive?
Governors write budget proposals
Governor’s powers similar to US President w/ OMB
unless legislature dedicates revenues to specific
agencies and tasks (earmarked)
• Most of Govs budgets are adopted
Institutional Powers
• Veto
– The governor can sign a law or veto it
– The legislature can override the veto by
supermajority vote
– All governors have full veto
– 43 governors have a line-item veto over
appropriations bills
Institutional Powers
• Veto
– Other vetoes:
– Reduction veto—reduce spending amounts
– Vanna White veto
– Amendatory veto—veto & send back to
legislature and request specific changes
– Veto threats are important
Institutional Powers
• Appointment power
– Varies in two ways:
• Are top executive-level officials separately elected?
• How far does civil service system reach into managerial
positions in the bureaucracy?
– Governors used to hand out patronage jobs
• WA Governor has rather limited number of policy jobs to
fill
• More unpaid positions on state boards and
commissions
• Court vacancies
Institutional Powers
• Tenure potential
– Varies by term length and term limits
– Term limits make a governor lame duck
• Gubernatorial staff
– Solely responsible to the governor
– Much larger today
• Instruments to set legislative agenda
– State of the state address
– Ability to call special session
Institutional Powers
• Executive orders
– Have force of law
– To reorganize control over bureaucracy
– To call out the National Guard
– Set up study commissions
– To respond to federal rules, regulations,
and initiatives
Institutional Powers
• Formal powers—comparing the states
– All governors are stronger today than in
the past
– But variation in institutional powers
– Southern states tend to have weaker
governors stemming from Reconstruction
– Stronger governors
• Larger states
• States with liberal citizens
Informal Powers
• Skills, circumstances of the office,
charisma, intelligence
• Political capital—perceived political
power
• Symbolic head of state
• Public opinion
• Mass media attention
The ‘Three Jobs’ of the Governors
1. Chief Policymaker—Charting the
Course
• Setting policy agenda, budget
• Governor Schwarzenegger wanted to
reform budgeting, legislative redistricting
& other issues
• Proposition 77 and others ultimately
failed
The Three Jobs of the Governors
2. Chief Administrator—managing the
bureaucracy
•
•
•
•
The governor is the head of the executive
branch
How can a single executive direct / change
course of state bureaucracy?
Administrators write administrative rules
Even street-level bureaucrats set policy
The Three Jobs of the Governors
2. Chief Administrator—managing the
bureaucracy
•
In Washington, Executive Branch = 9 separate
positions
•
•
•
Attorney General, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State,
Lands Commissioner, Treasurer, Insurance
Commissioner, Auditor, SPI
Imagine if POTUS had a ‘cabinet’ with independent
electoral base
Dept of Ecology (Inslee); DNR (Goldmark)
The Three Jobs of the Governors
2. Chief Administrator—managing the
bureaucracy
•
In Washington
•
100s of Board and Commission appointments
•
•
Ecology, Transportation, CTED, Fish and Wildlife, Forest
Practices, GMHB, Health, HEC, Labor and Industry, Liquor
Control, State Patrol, Seed Potato Commission
Judicial appointments
The Three Jobs of the Governors
3. Intergovernmental Relations
Manager—Working well with others
• With other states, tribes, the national
government, and foreign governments
• Coordination of financial relationships
• Negotiates competing interests
• Governor Napolitano and border security
• (She was president of the National
Governors Conference)
Summary
• Today’s governors are more powerful
than those 50 years ago
• Powers are both institutional and
informal