Tag: Governor

(Photo11: Dale G. Young, The Detroit News) Admittedly, the past few weeks have been on-the-job training for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. She served in both chambers of the Legislature and she briefly served as an interim county prosecuting attorney, but she has never been in a position of real power until now. Yet, she has been unwilling to set aside the partisan and ideological politics of the hard-left for the realities of divided government. Look, the politics of today’s Democratic Party in Michigan, of which Whitmer serves as titular head, are incredibly difficult, thanks to the hard-left. It also didn’t help when the new governor used her first State of the State address to issue a blanket threat to veto so-called referendum-proof legislation. Whitmer is governor, but Michigan is a republic and the Legislature is the first branch in the tripartite system of state government. Rather, her duty is to “faithfully” implement the laws as legislated. Otherwise, the governor will find herself relegated to issuing executive orders and enforcing partisan and ideological legal opinions from Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose desire to use her office for political gain is no secret. If Whitmer doesn’t begin governing then the budget won’t be a Whitmer budget.

He controls the Empire State Development Corporation, which circumvented local zoning laws and a democratic, locally-controlled land use review process to try to hand off land in Queens to Amazon. For two terms, Cuomo was the most dominant governor since a literal Rockefeller, spearheading whatever legislation he wanted, dreaming up and killing transit projects, and, most importantly for him, pulling every last economic development string. There is no doubt Cuomo gets his Amazon campus if the Republicans weren’t washed out of power last year. Of course, the power games won’t relent. Cuomo has tried to turn the suburban Democrats against their more liberal city counterparts, hoping this would somehow save the Amazon deal. After State Senator Todd Kaminsky, a Nassau County Democrat, suggested Amazon could come to Long Island still, a Cuomo spokesperson accused Kaminsky of having “cowered when he should have shown courage,” blasting him and his colleagues for catering to “local socialists” and kicking Amazon out of the state. If they can unite, he loses serious power over them. In Cuomo’s two terms, the legislature lacked leverage because it was divided. Democrats need to be ready to override Cuomo vetoes and meet him on his own level. For executives like Cuomo who so successfully instilled fear in others to drive an agenda, they can be particularly bewildering.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is facing mounting pressure to resign after a racist photo from his yearbook surfaced. But look, he’s lost the authority to lead. He's lost the authority to govern. He has to resign. It's in the best interest of the Commonwealth. It's in the best interest of the party." Former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder I stated, earlier, that Gov. It is difficult for anyone who watched the press conference today to conclude that he has any other choice ... but to resign. Our state president in Virginia has spoken with him and our position is the same.

There was little forgiveness in the air in national and state political circles. Most 2020 Democratic contenders demanded Northam’s resignation and before he spoke Susan Swecker, chair of the Democratic party of Virginia, said: “We made the decision to let Governor Northam do the correct thing and resign this morning – we have gotten word he will not do so. We stand with Democrats across Virginia and the country calling him to immediately resign.” The photo was included on Northam’s 1984 yearbook page from Eastern Virginia Medical School and was made public on Friday. The Democratic governor then confirmed he was one of the two people in the photo, but did not identify which individual he was. “It was offensive, racist and despicable.” Northam said he was certain the photo was not of him because he vividly remembered another damning incident, when he participated in a dance contest in Texas where he performed as Michael Jackson and darkened his skin using shoe polish. “I didn’t realize at the time it was so offensive, as I have since learned,” Northam said. Northam said reporters would have to ask the two people who called him that how they arrived at that nickname and that his more common nickname was “Goose”. “In light of his public admission and apology for his decision to appear in the photo, he has irrevocably lost the faith and trust of the people he was elected to serve,” the VLBC said. “Changing his public story today now casts further doubt on his ability to regain that trust.” The Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman, Tom Perez, said in a statement released during the press conference that he had spoken to Northam in the morning and believed he should step down. Biden said: “Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and should resign immediately, Justin Fairfax is the leader Virginia needs now.”

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who apologized for appearing in a racist yearbook photo, acknowledged that he darkened his face once to resemble Michael Jackson but says he will not resign from his position.

On Monday, Judy Woodruff sat down with three governors trying to work across party lines: Larry Hogan, R-Md., Chris Sununu, R-N.H. and Tom Wolf, D-Pa. Read the Full Transcript Judy Woodruff: As Washington, D.C., feels more divided now than ever before, some leaders at the state level are aiming for something often unheard of in today's politics, common ground. But the governors also struck a hopeful note about the state of American politics. : You know, I know people are very frustrated. I'm frustrated, not just with Washington, but the divisive, angry politics. And I know a lot of people are ready to give up, and they say that the system is broken and that we can't do anything about it. Know what respect is, and practice it. And that should give people hope. The system really, really works. Judy Woodruff: Our conversation at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore also touched on the 20 presidential contests and speculation over Governor Hogan's own ambitions. And I'm flattered that people are talking about that as a possibility, but it's not something I'm focused on.

That’s why I am formally announcing my campaign for reelection,” Edwards said in his online message. Political observers said there was never any doubt about Edwards’ intentions, and according to FOX 8 political analyst Mike Sherman, there were few surprises in the governors' announcement. “No surprises that Gov. Edwards is running for reelection. No surprises in his messaging,” Sherman said. Jindal, a name we haven’t heard [lately] in Louisiana political circles, to try to engender those feelings of a fiscal crisis and stagnation from a few years ago. He has raised a lot of money for his war chest. His polling numbers right now look fairly good for an incumbent Democratic governor in a Republican state, so I think he’s in a very strong position,” Collins said. Both Sherman and Collins said it is very likely that more Republicans will enter the race. And for Republicans, can they recapture Louisiana’s top post.” "It would look very bad for the national Republican Party to not be able to knock off a Democratic governor in a very red state,” Collins said.

Later Friday, Manchin said he had not read the column and did not directly answer a question of whether he’s going to run for governor. Sitting GOP Gov. Jim Justice is currently facing legal action in Kanawha County Circuit Court filed by a Democratic member of the House of Delegates alleging he is violating the state constitution by living at his Lewisburg home. Bray Cary, senior adviser to the governor and a board member of natural gas driller EQT, is known to have increasing influence in the office. In jest, Justice referred to Cary as “my oldest son” at his State of the State address Wednesday. “I think people are smart enough in West Virginia to put two and two together,” he said. The relationship eventually soured. Justice switched to the Republican Party in 2017; he fired Gayle Manchin, the senator’s wife, from her post as the secretary of the Department of Education and the Arts; and he endorsed Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in his failed Senate bid against Manchin. In a September 2018 interview, Manchin said supporting Justice’s campaign was the biggest “mistake” of his political career. However, after the interview, he clarified to say it was the greatest “disappointment” of his career.

Cincinnati Enquirer Republican Mike DeWine will be sworn in as Ohio's new governor on Monday. Of course, Ohio's governor is going to pay attention to the state's third-largest city, the home of Fortune 500 giants Kroger and Procter & Gamble, right? Kasich did very little for Greater Cincinnati. Former Adams County Commissioner Stephen Caraway was a ghost to Cincinnati business and economic development leaders during his 2½ years as Kasich's Southwest Ohio liaison. More: 7 ways Mike DeWine will be different than John Kasich 2. Business leaders and Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley made the interchange a priority, and Kasich delivered most of the funding for a project that had been on the drawing board of years. It's a simple message: No other major bridge in Ohio is in worse shape. Work with Northern Kentucky and Gov. They both favored tolling a new bridge, but Northern Kentucky's state lawmakers were never on board. DeWine has said the bridge is a priority.

Florida Governor-elect Ron DeSantis will take the Oath of Office in Tallahassee. DeSantis defeated Andrew Gillum in the Florida Governor's race in November. His oath will be administered by Chief Justice Charles Canady. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour…