The Republican Governors Association is a Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

-based 527 organization founded in 1963, consisting of U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 and territorial governors affiliated with the Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

.

Its Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 counterpart is the Democratic Governors Association

Democratic Governors Association

The Democratic Governors Association is a Washington, D.C. based 527 organization founded in 1983, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to provide party support to the election and re-election of Democratic...

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

National Governors Association

The National Governors Association , founded in 1908 as the National Governors' Conference, is funded primarily by state dues, federal grants and contracts and private contributions. NGA represents the governors of the fifty U.S. states and five U.S. territories The National Governors Association...

.

Its current Chairman is Governor

Governor of Virginia

The governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia....

 Bob McDonnell

Bob McDonnell

Robert Francis "Bob" McDonnell is an American politician who has been the 71st Governor of Virginia since January 2010. A former lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, McDonnell served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1993 to 2006 and served as Attorney General of Virginia from 2006...

 of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, who assumed the office in August 2011 after Governor

Governor of Texas

The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...

 Rick Perry

Rick Perry

James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...

 of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 announced he was running for president

Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2012

Rick Perry, the four-term Governor of Texas, announced via a spokesman on August 11, 2011, that he will be running for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for president of the United States...

 in 2012

Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2012

The 2012 Republican presidential primaries are the selection processes in which voters of the Republican Party will choose their nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential election. The primary contest began with a fairly wide field, and is the first presidential primary...

.

• Bobby Jindal
  Bobby Jindal
  Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....
  
  , Governor of Louisiana, Gala Chairman
• Nikki Haley
  Nikki Haley
  Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley is the 116th and current Governor of South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, Haley represented Lexington County in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010....
  
  , Governor of South Carolina
  Governor of South Carolina
  The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...
  
  , Recruitment Chairwoman
• Susana Martinez
  Susana Martinez
  Susana Martinez is the 31st and current governor of New Mexico.A Republican, Martinez is the first female governor of New Mexico, as well as the first female Hispanic governor in the United States. She was formerly the district attorney for the 3rd Judicial District of the U.S. state of New Mexico...
  
  , Governor of New Mexico, at-large
• Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey
  Governor of New Jersey
  The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
  
  , at-large

Mission statement

1. To assist in the election of Republican gubernatorial candidates and the reelection of incumbent Republican Governors.
2. To utilize the talent, knowledge, creativity of the governors to effectively debate and shape public policy on issues affecting the states; and
3. To enable Republican Governors to express, develop and promote the philosophy of the Republican party at the state and local levels nationwide.

List of current Republican governors

Current Governor	State U.S. state A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...	Past	Took office	Seat Up
Robert J. Bentley	Alabama Alabama Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...	List	2011	2014
Sean Parnell Sean Parnell Sean R. Parnell is an American Republican politician who is the tenth and current Governor of Alaska. He succeeded Sarah Palin following her resignation, and was sworn in at the Governor's Picnic in Fairbanks on July 26, 2009...	Alaska Alaska Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...	List	2009	2014
Jan Brewer Jan Brewer Janice Kay "Jan" Brewer is the 22nd and current Governor of the U.S. state of Arizona and a member of the Republican Party. She is the fourth woman, and third consecutive woman, to hold the office...	Arizona Arizona Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...	List	2009	2014
Rick Scott	Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...	List	2011	2014
Nathan Deal Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal is a United States politician, the 82nd and current Governor of Georgia. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1992 but switched to the Republican Party in 1995...	Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...	List	2011	2014
Butch Otter	Idaho Idaho Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....	List	2007	2014
Terry Branstad	Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...	List	2011	2014
Mitch Daniels Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias "Mitch" Daniels, Jr. is the 49th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. A Republican, he began his first four-year term as governor on January 10, 2005, and was elected to his second term by an 18-point margin on November 4, 2008. Previously, he was the Director of the...	Indiana Indiana Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...	List	2005	2012 (term limits)
Sam Brownback Sam Brownback Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...	Kansas Kansas Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...	List	2011	2014
Bobby Jindal Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....	Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...	List	2008	2011
Paul LePage Paul LePage Paul Richard LePage is an American businessman and politician who is serving as the 74th and current Governor of Maine. A Republican, he was previously mayor of Waterville from 2003 to 2011, and was a city councilor before that...	Maine Maine Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...	List	2011	2014
Rick Snyder	Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....	List	2011	2014
Haley Barbour Haley Barbour Haley Reeves Barbour is an American Republican politician currently serving as the 63rd Governor of Mississippi. He gained a national spotlight in August 2005 after Mississippi was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Barbour won re-election as Governor in 2007...	Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...	List	2004	2011 (term limits)
Dave Heineman Dave Heineman David Eugene "Dave" Heineman is the 39th and current Governor of Nebraska. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:...	Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....	List	2005	2014
Brian Sandoval Brian Sandoval Brian Edward Sandoval is an American politician. He is the 29th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Nevada since January 3, 2011. Sandoval is a former judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada...	Nevada Nevada Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...	List	2011	2014
Chris Christie	New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...	List	2010	2013
Susana Martinez Susana Martinez Susana Martinez is the 31st and current governor of New Mexico.A Republican, Martinez is the first female governor of New Mexico, as well as the first female Hispanic governor in the United States. She was formerly the district attorney for the 3rd Judicial District of the U.S. state of New Mexico...	New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...	List	2011	2014
Jack Dalrymple Jack Dalrymple John "Jack" Dalrymple is a North Dakota politician and businessman who is the current Governor of North Dakota, and a one-time candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1992. Dalrymple became governor after the resignation of John Hoeven, who was elected to the U.S...	North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....	List	2010	2012
John Kasich John Kasich John Richard Kasich is the 69th and current Governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 1983 to 2001...	Ohio Ohio Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...	List	2011	2014
Mary Fallin Mary Fallin Mary Fallin is the 27th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. She was a U.S. Representative for from 2007 until 2011....	Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...	List	2011	2014
Tom Corbett Tom Corbett Thomas W. Corbett is the 46th and current Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. He is a former Attorney General of Pennsylvania and was elected to that office in 2004 and reelected in 2008...	Pennsylvania Pennsylvania The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...	List	2011	2014
Nikki Haley Nikki Haley Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley is the 116th and current Governor of South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, Haley represented Lexington County in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010....	South Carolina South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...	List	2011	2014
Dennis Daugaard	South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...	List	2011	2015
Bill Haslam Bill Haslam William Edward "Bill" Haslam is the 49th and current Governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam was elected to office in 2010...	Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...	List	2011	2014
Rick Perry Rick Perry James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...	Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...	List	2000	2014
Gary Herbert	Utah Utah Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...	List	2009	2012
Bob McDonnell Bob McDonnell Robert Francis "Bob" McDonnell is an American politician who has been the 71st Governor of Virginia since January 2010. A former lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, McDonnell served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1993 to 2006 and served as Attorney General of Virginia from 2006...	Virginia Virginia The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...	List	2010	2013 (Term limits)
Scott Walker Scott Walker (politician) Scott Kevin Walker is an American Republican politician who began serving as the 45th Governor of Wisconsin on January 3, 2011, after defeating Democratic candidate Tom Barrett, 52 percent to 47 percent in the November 2010 general election...	Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...	List	2011	2014
Matt Mead Matt Mead Matthew Hansen "Matt" Mead , is the 32nd and current Governor of Wyoming.-Early Life:Mead is the son of Peter Mead and Mary Hansen Mead , the GOP gubernatorial nominee in 1990, and the grandson of the late Governor and U.S. Senator Clifford P. Hansen...	Wyoming Wyoming Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...	List	2011	2014

In addition to the states, the Republicans also hold the governorship of the U.S. territories

Insular area

An insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states nor the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States...

 of Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, the Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...

, and Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

:

Governor	Territory	Prev	Took office	Seat Up
Eddie Calvo	Guam Guam Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...	List	2011	2014
Benigno Fitial	Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...	List	2006	2015
Luis Fortuño Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...	Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...	List	2009	2012

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 Businessweek, which notes that the RGA recently received $1 million from Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch

Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....

's NewsCorp, the parent corporation of Fox News, and $500,000 from WellPoint

WellPoint

WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health plan company in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. It was formed when WellPoint Health Networks, Inc. merged into Anthem, Inc., with the surviving Anthem adopting the name, WellPoint, Inc...

, a major US health insurance firm.

External links

• RGA Official Website
• Contributors and Expenditures at OpenSecrets.org
  Center for Responsive Politics
  The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy and maintains a public online database of its information.Their database...