# Republican Governors Association

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a Washington, D.C.–based 527 organization founded in 1961, consisting of U.S. state and territorial Republican governors. Its primary objective is to help elect and support Republican governors.
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. In November of that year, Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia was elected Chairman, Governor Greg Gianforte of Montana was elected Vice Chairman, and Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina was elected Policy Chairman.
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 | Past | Took office | Current term |
| Kay Ivey | Alabama | List | 2017 | Second term (term-limited in 2026) |
| Mike Dunleavy | Alaska | List | 2018 | Second term (term-limited in 2026) |
| Sarah Huckabee Sanders | Arkansas | List | 2023 | First term |
| Ron DeSantis | Florida | List | 2019 | Second term (term-limited in 2026) |
| Brian Kemp | Georgia | List | 2019 | Second term (term-limited in 2026) |
| Brad Little | Idaho | List | 2019 | Second term |
| Mike Braun | Indiana | List | 2025 | First term |
| Kim Reynolds | Iowa | List | 2017 | Second term (elected to first full term in 2018) |
| Jeff Landry | Louisiana | List | 2024 | First term |
| Tate Reeves | Mississippi | List | 2020 | Second term (term-limited in 2027) |
| Mike Kehoe | Missouri | List | 2025 | First term |
| Greg Gianforte | Montana | List | 2021 | First term |
| Jim Pillen | Nebraska | List | 2023 | First term |
| Joe Lombardo | Nevada | List | 2023 | First term |
| Kelly Ayotte | New Hampshire | List | 2025 | First term (two-year term) |
| Kelly Armstrong | North Dakota | List | 2024 | First term |
| Mike DeWine | Ohio | List | 2019 | Second term (term-limited in 2026) |
| Kevin Stitt | Oklahoma | List | 2019 | Second term (term-limited in 2026) |
| Henry McMaster | South Carolina | List | 2017 | Second term (elected to first full term in 2018; term-limited in 2026) |
| Larry Rhoden | South Dakota | List | 2025 | First term |
| Bill Lee | Tennessee | List | 2019 | Second term (term-limited in 2026) |
| Greg Abbott | Texas | List | 2015 | Third term |
| Spencer Cox | Utah | List | 2021 | Second term |
| Phil Scott | Vermont | List | 2017 | Fourth term (two-year term) |
| Glenn Youngkin | Virginia | List | 2022 | First term (term-limited in 2025) |
| Patrick Morrisey | West Virginia | List | 2025 | First term |
| Mark Gordon | Wyoming | List | 2019 | Second term (term-limited in 2026) |
In addition to governors of U.S. states, the RGA also offers membership to Republican governors of U.S. territories.
| Current governor | Territory | Past | Took office | Current term |
| Pula Nikolao Pula | American Samoa | List | 2025 | First term |
| Arnold Palacios | Northern Mariana Islands | List | 2023 | First term |
| Jenniffer González-Colón | Puerto Rico | List | 2025 | First term |

## List of RGA chairs

| Term | Chair | State |
| 1963–1966 | Robert E. Smylie | Idaho |
| 1966–1967 | John Love | Colorado |
| 1967–1968 | John Chafee | Rhode Island |
| 1968–1970 | Ronald Reagan | California |
| 1969–1970 | Raymond P. Shafer | Pennsylvania |
| 1970–1971 | Louie Nunn | Kentucky |
| 1971–1972 | William Milliken | Michigan |
| 1972–1973 | Linwood Holton | Virginia |
| 1973–1974 | Winfield Dunn | Tennessee |
| 1974–1975 | Kit Bond | Missouri |
| 1975–1976 | Arch Moore | West Virginia |
| 1976–1977 | Robert Bennett | Kansas |
| 1977–1978 | Robert Ray | Iowa |
| 1978–1979 | Otis Bowen | Indiana |
| 1979–1980 | Richard Snelling | Vermont |
| 1980–1981 | John Dalton | Virginia |
| 1981–1982 | Jim Thompson | Illinois |
| 1982–1983 | Robert Orr | Indiana |
| 1983–1984 | Vic Atiyeh | Oregon |
| 1984–1985 | Dick Thornburgh | Pennsylvania |
| 1985–1986 | John Sununu | New Hampshire |
| 1986–1987 | Tom Kean | New Jersey |
| 1987–1988 | Mike Castle | Delaware |
| 1988–1989 | Mike Hayden | Kansas |
| 1989–1990 | John Ashcroft | Missouri |
| 1990–1991 | Carroll Campbell | South Carolina |
| 1991–1992 | Tommy Thompson | Wisconsin |
| 1992–1993 | George Voinovich | Ohio |
| 1993–1994 | Jock McKernan | Maine |
| 1994–1995 | Mike Leavitt | Utah |
| 1995–1996 | John Engler | Michigan |
| 1996–1997 | Terry Branstad | Iowa |
| 1997–1998 | David Beasley | South Carolina |
| 1998–1999 | Frank Keating | Oklahoma |
| 1999–2000 | Ed Schafer | North Dakota |
| 2000–2001 | Jim Gilmore | Virginia |
| 2001 | Tom Ridge | Pennsylvania |
| 2001–2002 | John Rowland | Connecticut |
| 2002–2003 | Bill Owens | Colorado |
| 2003–2004 | Bob Taft | Ohio |
| 2004–2005 | Kenny Guinn | Nevada |
| 2005–2006 | Mitt Romney | Massachusetts |
| 2006–2007 | Sonny Perdue | Georgia |
| 2007–2008 | Rick Perry | Texas |
| 2008–2009 | Mark Sanford | South Carolina |
| 2009–2010 | Haley Barbour | Mississippi |
| 2010–2011 | Rick Perry | Texas |
| 2011–2012 | Bob McDonnell | Virginia |
| 2012–2013 | Bobby Jindal | Louisiana |
| 2013–2014 | Chris Christie | New Jersey |
| 2014–2015 | Bill Haslam | Tennessee |
| 2015–2016 | Susana Martinez | New Mexico |
| 2016–2017 | Scott Walker | Wisconsin |
| 2017–2018 | Bill Haslam | Tennessee |
| 2018–2019 | Pete Ricketts | Nebraska |
| 2019–2020 | Greg Abbott | Texas |
| 2020–2021 | Doug Ducey | Arizona |
| 2021–2022 | Doug Ducey Pete Ricketts | Arizona Nebraska |
| 2022–2023 | Kim Reynolds | Iowa |
| 2023–2024 | Bill Lee | Tennessee |
| 2024–present | Brian Kemp | Georgia |

### Executive directors

| Term | Director |
| 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 |
| 1997 | Brian 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 |
| 2019–2022 | Dave Rexrode |
| 2023–present | Sara 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.
In 2017, it sponsored a website The Free Telegraph to promote issues from the perspective of Republicans.

### 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. This marked the first time Montana elected a Republican governor in 16 years. 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.

### 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.

### 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).
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.