Who are the best red state GOP Govs/blue state Dem Govs?

[socaldem]

It seems that the most popular governors with forum members like Kansas' Sebelius, Montana's Schweitzer, or Connecticut's rell are fish out of water, representing states that tend to oppose their parties.

Who are the best D governors in D states and r governors in r states?

[socaldem]

My selections:

GOP
Gov. Hoeven
Gov. riley (should this not count because of continued Dem domination of the legislature?)

Dems
Gov. Lynch (though NH really should count as a GOP state)
Uh... there aren't really any stand-out blue state governors... personally I think Doyle, Granholm and rendell are decent enough, but they certainly don't know how to play the game of politics well enough to maintain decent popularity...

honorary mentions:
Gov. Manchin- I know W.V. is GOP in presidential elections, but locally its solidly Democratic. 
Gov. richardson- Ditto W.V., though, it, of course, leaned less to Bush...

[Joe Republic]

It's kind of interesting to note that pretty much all of the solid Democratic states (in presidential elections, that is) have GOP governors; i.e. NY, CA, MA, VT, RI, CT, MN, MD and HI.  And the remaining Democratic states that do have Democratic governors all seem to have anemic approval ratings; e.g. NJ, IL, MI, WI, WA, OR, and ME.  (Pennsylvania seems to be becoming the exception, but Rendell has had difficulties before.)

[Smash255]

It's kind of interesting to note that pretty much all of the solid Democratic states (in presidential elections, that is) have GOP governors; i.e. NY, CA, MA, VT, RI, CT, MN, MD and HI.  And the remaining Democratic states that do have Democratic governors all seem to have anemic approval ratings; e.g. NJ, IL, MI, WI, WA, OR, and ME.  (Pennsylvania seems to be becoming the exception, but Rendell has had difficulties before.)

while just moving into the Dem column, N.H has pretty much become a Democratic State on the Pres level and has a very popular Dem Govenor in Lynch

[dazzleman]

It's kind of interesting to note that pretty much all of the solid Democratic states (in presidential elections, that is) have GOP governors; i.e. NY, CA, MA, VT, RI, CT, MN, MD and HI.  And the remaining Democratic states that do have Democratic governors all seem to have anemic approval ratings; e.g. NJ, IL, MI, WI, WA, OR, and ME.  (Pennsylvania seems to be becoming the exception, but Rendell has had difficulties before.)

That is an interesting point, one that I've noticed myself.

I think that at the state level, the parties can get closer to the preferences of the state's voters, rather than having to have a consistent national platform.

I also think a lot of these Democratic states like to have Republican governors to control the legislatures.

[Alcon]

I always have to wonder about candidates like Jon Huntsman.  He has only 18% disapproval -- granted, it's in Utah, but it seems like good solid state governors could be ignored in favour of more moderate ones.

[socaldem]

I always have to wonder about candidates like Jon Huntsman.  He has only 18% disapproval -- granted, it's in Utah, but it seems like good solid state governors could be ignored in favour of more moderate ones.

Huntsman seems to be a pretty good guy, though, of course, he doesn't have the greatest enviro record... His family's business, afterall, is petro-chemical-related (my Dad actually once worked for Huntsman Corp.). 

That said, I would have rather seen the fabulous short-lived governorship of Olene Walker extended...

[Smash255]

It's kind of interesting to note that pretty much all of the solid Democratic states (in presidential elections, that is) have GOP governors; i.e. NY, CA, MA, VT, RI, CT, MN, MD and HI.  And the remaining Democratic states that do have Democratic governors all seem to have anemic approval ratings; e.g. NJ, IL, MI, WI, WA, OR, and ME.  (Pennsylvania seems to be becoming the exception, but Rendell has had difficulties before.)

That is an interesting point, one that I've noticed myself.

I think that at the state level, the parties can get closer to the preferences of the state's voters, rather than having to have a consistent national platform.

I also think a lot of these Democratic states like to have Republican governors to control the legislatures.

Good point.  When you look at states with Govenor's from the opposie Party of the state, they tend to be much more moderate than their National party.  CA, CT, NY, VT, RI, MA(his recent rightward 08 run not withstanding) all have Govenors who either are  or in Romney's case ran races in which they were much further to the left and closer to the center than the National GOP.

The same thing is the case in states like KS, OK, TN, WY, solid GOP states with Dem Govenors, and those Democrats tend to be muchh closer to the center than the Democratic Party on a National level.

State level races tend to be a bit less partisan than national races because the state Parties tend to be a closer reflective of that particular state than the National Parties are.  Now you still have cases where the State Representives are overwelmingly from one part (such as in the cases of RI & MA), but their genreally is less partisan voting on the state level than their is on a National level

[MissCatholic]

Jon Lynch (New Hampshire) - hope he runs for the senate in 2008/2010. the republicans could be down to two senators in the northeast if collins keeps her word and retires in 08.

Kenny Guinn (Nevada) - virtually untouchable he could defeat reid