Pawlenty Faces 4th Largest Democratic-Dominated Legislature Among GOP Governors Nationwide
With the release of the DFL’s budget earlier this month, the war of words (and policies) in the budget battle between the DFL leadership and Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has seemingly intensified.
During her media availability last Friday, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher described her recent meeting with the Governor on the budget as “tense” and “a little rocky.” The Speaker laced her stated desire to have more budget meetings with Pawlenty with occasional admonishments of the Governor:
“The time for putting the political slogans aside has long passed…Come on – put aside your pledges and sloganeering and get down to work.”
As the DFL caucus lacks a veto-proof 90 votes in the House, both sides will more than likely need to make some compromises to see a budget through by mid-May.
Compromise, however, will not come easy.
A Smart Politics analysis of the partisan composition of state legislatures nationwide finds Governor Pawlenty facing the 4th largest Democratic-dominated legislature among the 22 Republican governors currently serving across the United States. Only the deep blue states of Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Connecticut elected Republican governors alongside a larger percentage of Senate and House legislators.
Pawlenty faces the 4th largest Democratic-led Senate among GOP governors, at 68.7 percent (46 of 67 legislators), behind Hawaii (92.0 percent), Rhode Island (86.8 percent), and Vermont (76.7 percent).
Pawlenty must also do battle with the 5th largest Democratic-dominated House among the nation’s 22 Republican governors, at 64.9 percent (87 of 134 legislators), behind Rhode Island (92.0 percent), Hawaii (88.2 percent), Connecticut (75.5 percent), and Nevada (66.7 percent).
Republican Governors by Percentage of Democrats Serving in State Legislatures, 2009
|
Rank
|
State
|
Governor
|
% Senate
|
% House
|
% Total
|
|
1
|
Rhode Island
|
Donald Carcieri
|
86.8
|
92.0
|
90.3
|
|
2
|
Hawaii
|
Linda Lingle
|
92.0
|
88.2
|
89.5
|
|
3
|
Connecticut
|
Jodi Rell
|
66.7
|
75.5
|
73.8
|
|
4
|
Minnesota
|
Tim Pawlenty
|
68.7
|
64.9
|
66.2
|
|
5
|
Vermont
|
Jim Douglas
|
76.7
|
63.3
|
65.6
|
|
6
|
California
|
Arnold Schwarzenegger
|
65.0
|
63.8
|
64.2
|
|
7
|
Nevada
|
Jim Gibbons
|
57.1
|
66.7
|
63.5
|
|
8
|
Alabama
|
Bob Riley
|
59.4
|
59.0
|
59.1
|
|
9
|
Mississippi
|
Haley Barbour
|
51.9
|
60.7
|
58.0
|
|
10
|
Louisiana
|
Bobby Jindal
|
59.5
|
49.5
|
52.1
|
|
11
|
Texas
|
Rick Perry
|
38.7
|
49.3
|
47.5
|
|
12
|
Alaska
|
Sarah Palin
|
50.0
|
45.0
|
46.7
|
|
13
|
Indiana
|
Mitch Daniels
|
34.0
|
52.0
|
46.0
|
|
14
|
South Carolina
|
Mark Sanford
|
41.3
|
42.7
|
42.4
|
|
15
|
Arizona
|
Jan Brewer
|
40.0
|
41.7
|
41.1
|
|
16
|
Georgia
|
Sonny Perdue
|
39.3
|
41.7
|
41.1
|
|
17
|
North Dakota
|
John Hoeven
|
44.7
|
38.3
|
40.4
|
|
18
|
Florida
|
Charlie Crist
|
35.0
|
36.7
|
36.3
|
|
19
|
South Dakota
|
Mike Rounds
|
40.0
|
34.3
|
36.2
|
|
20
|
Nebraska*
|
Jay Heineman
|
34.7
|
—
|
34.7
|
|
21
|
Utah
|
John Huntsman
|
27.6
|
29.3
|
28.8
|
|
22
|
Idaho
|
Butch Otter
|
20.0
|
25.7
|
23.8
|
* Nebraska has a unicameral, non-partisan legislature. Legislators identify as Republicans or Democrats for informational purposes only. Data from National Conference of State Legislatures compiled by Smart Politics.
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