Gubernatorial Power in the Border States

--or an alternative way to present data on a Governor’s institutional

and personal powers

• Instead of presenting a state by state approach, you can do 1 of 2 alternatives. – Option 1 is to do the longitudinal analysis of how a

specific formal power has evolved over time (I show tenure and veto power) using the chronological data from the Beyle webpage.

– Option 2 is to show a comparison of a formal power for 2001 only.

• (I am only showing you this much text to tell you what I am doing)

Tenure Potential

TENURE POTENTIAL

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0.5

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1.5

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2.5

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4

4.5

KY NC TN VA 50 State Avg.

4 = Four-year term, only two terms permitted; 3 = Four-year term, no consecutive reelection permitted;

Tenure Potential

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4.5

1960 1966 1968 1980 1988 1994 1998 2001

KY NC TN VA 50 State Avg.

As of 1960, all 4 states only allowed 1 four year term, no consecutive re-election permitted. Only VA Governors have not changed. Rest are have four-year term, only two terms permitted. Kind of more interesting than just looking at 2001 only

Veto Power

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1948 1960 1968 1980 1988 1994 1998 2001

KY NC TN VA AVG

Source: Beyle, Institutional Power Ratings for the 50 Governors of the United States

Steady trend of increasing veto powers for Border state governors following national trends.

NC Governors are very weak, they have no item veto, and their regular veto can be overridden with only a special legislative majority.

Showing Informal Powers

• Beyle identifies a number of different personal powers. You can either use a state specific approach, see the 2 Tom Kaine slides, or create a chart that compares all the governors on a single dimension (electoral margin, experience, approval rating, control of legislature) either with or without their pictures and names.

Virginia Governor’s Personal Powers

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Electoral Mandate Ambition Ladder Personal Future Approval Rating

Virginia 50 state average

Tim Kaine (D-VA)• Experience

– Richmond City Council (4 terms)

– Mayor of Richmond (2 terms)– Lt Governor (2001-05)

• Margin of Victory– 52% - 46%; upset

• Public Approval Rating– 52% (Nov 2006)

• Legislature – Assembly 60% GOP– Senate 58% GOP

• Other– Son-in-law of former VA

governor

Electoral Margin of Victory

53-46%

Major upset

55-43%

Reelected as incumbent

69-30%

Reelected as incumbent

51%-49%

Extremely close

Tom Kaine (D-VA) Ernie Fletcher (D-KY)

Mike Easley (D-NC)Philip Bresden (D-TN)

Partisan Control of Legislature

Unified GOP Control of Assembly and Senate

Democratic Control

Assembly 54%

Senate 59%

???

???

Tom Kaine (D-VA) Ernie Fletcher (D-KY)

Mike Easley (D-NC)Philip Bresden (D-TN)