What’s in a Photo? A Political Analysis of Gubernatorial Portraits

Republican governors are eight times more likely to wear flag pins on their lapels than Democrats, and three times more likely to wear red ties over blue

A governor’s official portrait is, to be sure, more than simply a photo capturing a moment in time.

The portrait is an enduring image that brands the governor as it becomes the go-to photo reproduced on hundreds and hundreds of occasions across print, television, and digital media outlets.

Although most governors adhere to traditional formalities of dress and decorum for these photographs, the way in which a governor presents his or herself around the edges is rarely left to chance, with a critical eye towards not only wearing the right smile, but also effectively utilizing important symbols – from flags all the way down to the choice of tie color.

Such symbolism can create quite powerful images – and the choices a governor makes in adorning his or herself may reveal a lot to constituents.

And what choices have the current crop of governors made in their photographs?

Smart Politics content analyzed the official portraits of the nation’s 50 governors and found that Republicans were more likely to pose with a state or U.S. flag than Democrats and more than eight times as likely to decorate their suit with a lapel flag pin.

Republicans were also three times as likely to choose a red tie over a blue tie, whereas the red-vs.-blue tie selection was virtually split down the middle among Democratic governors.

Note: The photos analyzed for this report are the official portraits, usually appearing prominently on gubernatorial websites. For the small number of governors for which no such official photo was available on-site, either the photo on the governor’s official Facebook page or the most prominently displayed photo on the state website was used (e.g. usually on the top banner).

Capturing the Flag

Governors chose to sit for their official portraits with flags in the background at nearly twice the rate (32) as those that did not (18).

GOP governors were slightly more likely to be captured by the lens alongside a U.S. or state flag (20 of 29, 69 percent) as their Democratic colleagues (12 of 20, 60 percent), unlike the findings of a 2010 Smart Politics study of campaign websites of U.S. Representatives, that discovered Republicans incorporated flags at a much higher rate than Democrats.

· Three Republican governors and one Democrat were photographed in front of the U.S. flag: GOPers Robert Bentley (Alabama), Tom Corbett (Pennsylvania), Matt Mead (Wyoming), and Democrat Deval Patrick (Massachusetts).

· Five Republicans and two Democrats posed in front of their respective state flags: GOPers Sam Brownback (Kansas), Haley Barbour (Mississippi), Dave Heineman (Nebraska), Rick Perry (Texas), Scott Walker (Wisconsin) and Democrats Mike Beebe (Arkansas) and Martin O’Malley (Maryland).

· Another 21 governors, 12 Republicans and nine Democrats, incorporated both the U.S. and state flags in their portrait backdrops.

On the Republican side: Rick Scott (Florida), Terry Branstad (Iowa, pictured), Bobby Jindal (Louisiana), Paul LePage (Maine), Brian Sandoval (Nevada), Chris Christie (New Jersey), Susana Martinez (New Mexico), John Kasich (Ohio), Mary Fallin (Oklahoma), Nikki Haley (South Carolina), Gary Herbert (Utah), and Bob McDonnell (Virginia).

For the Democrats: John Hickenlooper (Colorado), Jack Markell (Delaware), Pat Quinn (Illinois) Steve Beshear (Kentucky), Mark Dayton (Minnesota), Jay Nixon (Missouri), John Lynch (New Hampshire), Peter Shumlin (Vermont), and Earl Ray Tomblin (West Virginia).

Wearing the Flag

But while Democratic governors were nearly as likely to pose with a flag as Republicans, GOP governors definitely raised the bar when it came to wearing the flag – adding an extra layer of symbolism to their portraits.

The partisan breakdown of flag pin-wearing governors was 12 for the Republicans and just one for the Democrats.

That means GOP governors were eight times more likely to wear a flag pin on their lapel (41 percent) than their Democratic counterparts (5 percent).

Independent Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island also did not wear a flag pin in his portrait.

The only Democratic governor to sport such a pin in an official portrait was John Kitzhaber, who wore an Oregon state pin.

For the Republicans:

· Those wearing U.S. flag pins in their photographs are Robert Bentley (Alabama), Rick Scott (Florida, pictured), Terry Branstad (Iowa), Dave Heineman (Nebraska), Gary Herbert (Utah), and Scott Walker (Wisconsin).

· Those wearing state pins are New Jersey’s Chris Christie and North Dakota’s Jack Dalrymple.

· And Republicans wearing pins of both the U.S. flag and their respective state are Bobby Jindal (Louisiana), Rick Snyder (Michigan), Tom Corbett (Pennsylvania), and Nikki Haley (South Carolina).

Note: Two additional GOP governors were photographed wearing pins, although not of the U.S. or state flags. Rick Perry of Texas wears a “Silver Antelope” pin on his left lapel in his portrait, an award given for outstanding longtime service to the Boy Scouts of America. Matt Mead of Wyoming, meanwhile, wears a U.S. Attorney’s pin in his portrait (Mead was an attorney for the District of Wyoming for six years under George W. Bush).

But there is one governor, more than any other across the nation, who goes ‘all in’ when it comes to the power of the symbolism of flags – Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

Jindal is one of only two governors – along with Nikki Haley – to be photographed with both the American and state flags in his backdrop as well as on his lapels.

Interestingly, Jindal and Haley are the only Indian-American governors in U.S. history.

Jindal, however, does Haley one better by getting photographed with a pair of U.S. and a pair of Louisiana state flags in his backdrop, whereas Haley utilizes just one of each in her portrait.

In total, adding in lapel pins, Jindal appears alongside the images of six flags in his official portrait – more than any other governor.

By contrast, 15 governors did not have any flags in their backdrops or on their clothing: Sean Parnell (Alaska), Jan Brewer (Arizona), Jerry Brown (California), Dan Malloy (Connecticut), Nathan Deal (Georgia), Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii), Butch Otter (Idaho), Mitch Daniels (Indiana), Brian Schweitzer (Montana), Andrew Cuomo (New York), Bev Perdue (North Carolina), Lincoln Chafee (Rhode Island), Dennis Daugaard (South Dakota), Bill Haslam (Tennessee), and Christine Gregoire (Washington).

Flag Symbols in Gubernatorial Portraits

State	Governor	Party	Flag	Pin
AK	Sean Parnell	GOP	None	None
AL	Robert Bentley	GOP	US	US
AZ	Jan Brewer	GOP	None	None
AR	Mike Beebe	Dem	State	None
CA	Jerry Brown	Dem	None	None
CO	John Hickenlooper	Dem	US and state	None
CT	Dan Malloy	Dem	None	None
DE	Jack Markell	Dem	US and state	None
FL	Rick Scott	GOP	US and state	US
GA	Nathan Deal	GOP	None	None
HI	Neil Abercrombie	Dem	None	None
IA	Terry Branstad	GOP	US and state	US
ID	Butch Otter	GOP	None	None
IL	Pat Quinn	Dem	US and state	None
IN	Mitch Daniels	GOP	None	None
KS	Sam Brownback	GOP	State	None
KY	Steve Beshear	Dem	US and state	None
LA	Bobby Jindal	GOP	US and state	US and state
MA	Deval Patrick	Dem	US	None
MD	Martin O’Malley	Dem	State	None
ME	Paul LePage	GOP	US and state	None
MI	Rick Snyder	GOP	None	US and state
MN	Mark Dayton	DFL	US and state	None
MO	Jay Nixon	Dem	US and state	None
MS	Haley Barbour	GOP	State	None
MT	Brian Schweitzer	Dem	None	None
NC	Beverly Perdue	Dem	None	None
ND	Jack Dalrymple	GOP	None	State
NE	Dave Heineman	GOP	State	US
NH	John Lynch	Dem	US and state	None
NJ	Chris Christie	GOP	US and state	State
NM	Susana Martinez	GOP	US and state	None
NV	Brian Sandoval	GOP	US and state	None
NY	Andrew Cuomo	Dem	None	None
OH	John Kasich	GOP	US and state	None
OK	Mary Fallin	GOP	US and state	None
OR	John Kitzhaber	Dem	None	State
PA	Tom Corbett	GOP	US	US and state
RI	Lincoln Chafee	Ind	None	None
SC	Nikki Haley	GOP	US and state	US and state
SD	Dennis Daugaard	GOP	None	None
TN	Bill Haslam	GOP	None	None
TX	Rick Perry	GOP	State	Other
UT	Gary Herbert	GOP	US and state	US
VT	Peter Shumlin	Dem	US and state	None
VA	Bob McDonnell	GOP	US and state	None
WA	Christine Gregoire	Dem	None	None
WI	Scott Walker	GOP	State	US
WV	Earl Ray Tomblin	Dem	US and state	None
WY	Matt Mead	GOP	US	Other

Table compiled by Smart Politics.

Red for Republican

Putting the finishing touches on the governor’s portrait is, of course, the clothes themselves and (for the 44 male governors), their choice of ties.

Overall, Republicans were three times as likely to choose a red tie over a blue tie, with well more than half of the 25 male GOPers (15, or 60 percent) sporting red – the modern symbolic color of the Party – around their neck.

Five Republican governors, however, chose to brazenly wear blue – the modern Democratic symbol – with four of these coming from strongly Republican states: Sean Parnell (Alaska), Dennis Daugaard (South Dakota), Bill Haslam (Tennessee), and Matt Mead (Wyoming) along with Tom Corbett (Pennsylvania).

Another two Republican governors wore ties that were equal parts red and blue (Jindal and Virginia’s Bob McDonnell), while Mitch Daniels (Indiana) and Sam Brownback (Kansas) chose yellow and Gary Herbert (Utah) wore gray.

Democrats, however, dressed a little differently for their portraits.

For example, more male Democratic governors opted for red ties (seven) than blue ties (six), or 39 and 33 percent respectively.

Democrats wearing red include Mike Beebe (Arkansas), Dan Malloy (Connecticut), Jack Markell (Delaware), Martin O’Malley (Maryland), Jay Nixon (Missouri), Brian Schweitzer (Montana), and John Lynch (New Hampshire).

On top of that, three male Democratic governors chose not to even wear a tie at all (apparently not a viable option on the GOP side).

The three governors who dressed down were all from the West: Colorado’s John Hickenlooper (pictured), Hawaii’s Neil Abercrombie, and Oregon’s John Kitzhaber.

And then there is this footnote: As for shirts (or blouses), 31 governors opted for white, 12 chose blue, with one green, one red, one purple, and one black. Three female governors opted for blue suits without visible shirts.

Choice of Tie Color in Official Portraits for Male Governors by Party

Color	Democrat	Republican	Independent	Total
Red	7	15	0	22
Blue	6	5	0	11
Yellow	1	2	1	4
Red & Blue	0	2	0	2
Orange	1	0	0	1
Gray	0	1	0	1
No tie	3	0	0	3

Note: Dominate color tallied for non-solid neckties. Table compiled by Smart Politics.

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