Republican Governors Association

Last updated
Republican Governors Association
Chair Bill Lee (TN)
Vice Chair Brian Kemp (GA)
Policy Chair Kevin Stitt (OK)
Executive Committee Greg Abbott (TX)
Greg Gianforte (MT)
Eric Holcomb (IN)
Sarah Huckabee Sanders (AR)
Henry McMaster (SC)
Tate Reeves (MS)
Kim Reynolds (IA)
Glenn Youngkin (VA)
Founded1961;63 years ago (1961)
Headquarters1747 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 250
Washington, DC 20006
Affiliated Republican Party
State governors
27 / 50
Territorial governors
0 / 5
Federal district mayorship
0 / 1
Website
www.rga.org

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1961, [1] consisting of U.S. state and territorial Republican governors. Its primary objective is to help elect and support Republican governors. [2]

Contents

The RGA's Executive Committee for 2024 includes Governors Eric Holcomb of Indiana, Greg Abbott of Texas, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia. Additionally, Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee was elected Chairman, Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia was elected Vice Chairman, and Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma was elected Policy Chairman. [3]

Its Democratic counterpart is the Democratic Governors Association. The RGA is not directly affiliated with the non-partisan National Governors Association.

List of current Republican governors

All of the following states are members of the Republican Governors Association:

Current governor State PastTook officeCurrent term
Kay Ivey Flag of Alabama.svg Alabama List 2017Second term (term-limited in 2026)
Mike Dunleavy Flag of Alaska.svg Alaska List 2018Second term (term-limited in 2026)
Sarah Huckabee Sanders Flag of Arkansas.svg Arkansas List 2023First term
Ron DeSantis Flag of Florida.svg Florida List 2019Second term (term-limited in 2026)
Brian Kemp Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg Georgia List 2019Second term (term-limited in 2026)
Brad Little Flag of Idaho.svg Idaho List 2019Second term
Eric Holcomb Flag of Indiana.svg Indiana List 2017Second term (term-limited in 2024)
Kim Reynolds Flag of Iowa.svg Iowa List 2017Second term (elected to first full term in 2018)
Jeff Landry Flag of Louisiana.svg Louisiana List 2024First term
Tate Reeves Flag of Mississippi.svg Mississippi List 2020Second term (term-limited in 2027)
Mike Parson Flag of Missouri.svg Missouri List 2018First term (elected to first full term in 2020; term-limited in 2024)
Greg Gianforte Flag of Montana.svg Montana List 2021First term
Jim Pillen Flag of Nebraska.svg Nebraska List 2023First term
Joe Lombardo Flag of Nevada.svg Nevada List 2023First term
Chris Sununu Flag of New Hampshire.svg New Hampshire List 2017Fourth term (two-year term; retiring in 2024)
Doug Burgum Flag of North Dakota.svg North Dakota List 2016Second term
Mike DeWine Flag of Ohio.svg Ohio List 2019Second term (term-limited in 2026)
Kevin Stitt Flag of Oklahoma.svg Oklahoma List 2019Second term (term-limited in 2026)
Henry McMaster Flag of South Carolina.svg South Carolina List 2017Second term (elected to first full term in 2018; term-limited in 2026)
Kristi Noem Flag of South Dakota.svg South Dakota List 2019Second term (term-limited in 2026)
Bill Lee Flag of Tennessee.svg Tennessee List 2019Second term (term-limited in 2026)
Greg Abbott Flag of Texas.svg Texas List 2015Third term
Spencer Cox Flag of Utah.svg Utah List 2021First term
Phil Scott Flag of Vermont.svg Vermont List 2017Fourth term (two-year term)
Glenn Youngkin Flag of Virginia.svg Virginia List 2022First term (term-limited in 2025)
Jim Justice Flag of West Virginia.svg West Virginia List 2017Second term (term-limited in 2024)
Mark Gordon Flag of Wyoming.svg Wyoming List 2019Second term (term-limited in 2026)

List of RGA chairs

TermChairState
1963–1966 Robert E. Smylie Flag of Idaho.svg Idaho
1966–1967 John Love Flag of Colorado.svg Colorado
1967–1968 John Chafee Flag of Rhode Island.svg Rhode Island
1968–1970 Ronald Reagan Flag of California.svg California
1969–1970 Raymond P. Shafer Flag of Pennsylvania.svg Pennsylvania
1970–1971 Louie Nunn Flag of Kentucky.svg Kentucky
1971–1972 William Milliken Flag of Michigan.svg Michigan
1972–1973 Linwood Holton Flag of Virginia.svg Virginia
1973–1974 Winfield Dunn Flag of Tennessee.svg Tennessee
1974–1975 Kit Bond Flag of Missouri.svg Missouri
1975–1976 Arch Moore Flag of West Virginia.svg West Virginia
1976–1977 Robert Bennett Flag of Kansas.svg Kansas
1977–1978 Robert Ray Flag of Iowa.svg Iowa
1978–1979 Otis Bowen Flag of Indiana.svg Indiana
1979–1980 Richard Snelling Flag of Vermont.svg Vermont
1980–1981 John Dalton Flag of Virginia.svg Virginia
1981–1982 Jim Thompson Flag of Illinois.svg Illinois
1982–1983 Robert Orr Flag of Indiana.svg Indiana
1983–1984 Vic Atiyeh Flag of Oregon.svg Oregon
1984–1985 Dick Thornburgh Flag of Pennsylvania.svg Pennsylvania
1985–1986 John Sununu Flag of New Hampshire.svg New Hampshire
1986–1987 Tom Kean Flag of New Jersey.svg New Jersey
1987–1988 Mike Castle Flag of Delaware.svg Delaware
1988–1989 Mike Hayden Flag of Kansas.svg Kansas
1989–1990 John Ashcroft Flag of Missouri.svg Missouri
1990–1991 Carroll Campbell Flag of South Carolina.svg South Carolina
1991–1992 Tommy Thompson Flag of Wisconsin.svg Wisconsin
1992–1993 George Voinovich Flag of Ohio.svg Ohio
1993–1994 Jock McKernan Flag of Maine.svg Maine
1994–1995 Mike Leavitt Flag of Utah (1913-1922).png Utah
1995–1996 John Engler Flag of Michigan.svg Michigan
1996–1997 Terry Branstad Flag of Iowa.svg Iowa
1997–1998 David Beasley Flag of South Carolina.svg South Carolina
1998–1999 Frank Keating Flag of Oklahoma.svg Oklahoma
1999–2000 Ed Schafer Flag of North Dakota.svg North Dakota
2000–2001 Jim Gilmore Flag of Virginia.svg Virginia
2001 Tom Ridge Flag of Pennsylvania.svg Pennsylvania
2001–2002 John Rowland Flag of Connecticut.svg Connecticut
2002–2003 Bill Owens Flag of Colorado.svg Colorado
2003–2004 Bob Taft Flag of Ohio.svg Ohio
2004–2005 Kenny Guinn Flag of Nevada.svg Nevada
2005–2006 Mitt Romney Flag of Massachusetts.svg Massachusetts
2006–2007 Sonny Perdue Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg Georgia
2007–2008 Rick Perry Flag of Texas.svg Texas
2008–2009 Mark Sanford Flag of South Carolina.svg South Carolina
2009–2010 Haley Barbour Flag of Mississippi (2001-2020).svg Mississippi
2010–2011 Rick Perry Flag of Texas.svg Texas
2011–2012 Bob McDonnell Flag of Virginia.svg Virginia
2012–2013 Bobby Jindal Flag of Louisiana.svg Louisiana
2013–2014 Chris Christie Flag of New Jersey.svg New Jersey
2014–2015 Bill Haslam Flag of Tennessee.svg Tennessee
2015–2016 Susana Martinez Flag of New Mexico.svg New Mexico
2016–2017 Scott Walker Flag of Wisconsin.svg Wisconsin
2017–2018 Bill Haslam Flag of Tennessee.svg Tennessee
2018–2019 Pete Ricketts Flag of Nebraska.svg Nebraska
2019–2020 Greg Abbott Flag of Texas.svg Texas
2020–2021 Doug Ducey Flag of Arizona.svg Arizona
2021–2022 Doug Ducey
Pete Ricketts
Flag of Arizona.svg Arizona
Flag of Nebraska.svg Nebraska
2022–2023 Kim Reynolds Flag of Iowa.svg Iowa
2023–present Bill Lee Flag of Tennessee.svg Tennessee

Executive directors

TermDirector
1963–1964 Robert McCall
1966 Carl McMurray
1967–1969 Richard Fleming
1971–1975 Buehl Berentson
1976–1980 Ralph Griffith
1980–1981 Ronald Rietdorf
1981 John Stevens
1982–1985 Carol Whitney
1985–1991 Michele Davis
1991–1995 Chris Henick
1995–1996 Paul Hatch
1996 LeAnne Wilson
1997Brian Kennedy
1997–2000 Clinton Key
2000–2001 Michael McSherry
2001 Duncan Campbell
2001–2002 Clinton Key
2002–2004 Edward Tobin
2004–2005 Mike Pieper
2005–2006 Phillip Musser
2006–2011 Nick Ayers
2011–2014 Phil Cox
2014–2018 Paul Bennecke
2019–2022Dave Rexrode
2023–presentSara Craig Gongol

Election cycles

2018

36 gubernatorial races occurred during the 2018 election cycle. The elections were held on November 6, 2018, with Republicans losing a net of 7 governorships. [4]

In 2017, it sponsored a website The Free Telegraph to promote issues from the perspective of Republicans. [5]

2020

In the 2020 election cycle, 11 states and two territories held elections for governors. The elections were held on November 3, 2020, with Republicans gaining a net of one governorship, Montana, for state elections. [6] This marked the first time Montana elected a Republican governor in 16 years. [7] Former Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, who was a member of the Republican Governors Association, lost reelection in Puerto Rico, meaning a net loss of one Republican governor for territorial elections. [8] As of 2021, this election meant that only one of five American territories have Republican governors.[ citation needed ]

2022

36 gubernatorial races occurred during the 2022 election cycle. The elections were held on November 8, 2022, with Republicans losing a net of 2 governor ships and lost all territorial governorships.[ citation needed ]

2023

3 gubernatorial races occurred during the 2023 election cycle including Louisiana where Republican Jeff Landry was elected to succeed term-limited Democrat John Bel Edwards and is scheduled to take office in January 2024.

Fundraising

In the 18 months ending June 30, 2010, the RGA raised $58 million, while its counterpart DGA raised $40 million. "Unlike the national political parties and federal candidates, the governors' associations can take in unlimited amounts from corporations," according to Bloomberg, which notes that the RGA recently received $1 million from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, the parent corporation of Fox News, and $500,000 from WellPoint (now Anthem). [9]

In 2018, the Republican Governors Association announced that $63.2 million was raised in all of 2017, including $27.2 million raised in the final six months of the year, setting a new fundraising record that significantly eclipses the $52.5 million raised in 2013, the last comparable year. [10]

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References

  1. Sparacino, Anthony (2021). "The Democratic and Republican Governors Associations and the Nationalization of American Party Politics, 1961–1968". Studies in American Political Development. 35: 76–103. doi:10.1017/S0898588X20000188. ISSN   0898-588X. S2CID   233359969.
  2. "About the RGA". Archived from the original on 2007-07-27.
  3. https://www.rga.org/rga-announces-2024-leadership/
  4. Haslam, Bill. "RGA" . Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  5. Chokshi, Niraj (2017-09-19). "This New G.O.P. Publication Looks a Lot Like a News Website (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  6. "2020 gubernatorial election results". www.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-01. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  7. Muvlihill, Geoff (2020-11-03). "Montana goes red; it's status quo in other governor races". WSLS. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  8. Florido, Adrian (2020-08-16). "Puerto Rico's Governor Loses Primary Bid For Full Term". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  9. Salant, Jonathan D. (August 16, 2010). "Republicans See Gains in Governors' Races as Funding Hits Peak". Bloomberg News .
  10. "RGA Breaks Fundraising Records, Brings In $63 Million in 2017" (Press release). Washington, DC: RGA. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2018-02-19.