RNC: No Rick Scott, No Problem

National political conventions have been frequently held in states in which the sitting governor does not attend (though usually a governor from the opposing party)

Rick Scott’s decision to withdraw from the Republican National Convention’s activities including his scheduled speech Monday evening due to the severe weather hitting his state of Florida leaves the convention without any presence by its host state’s governor.

While that is unusual in recent GOP convention history, it has not been a requirement that the governor of the convention state attends or receives a featured speech at the proceedings.

In fact, many convention locales have been in states with governors from the opposing political party – including eventual opposing presidential nominees.

A Smart Politics analysis of Republican and Democratic National Conventions finds that only two-thirds of such conventions have been held in states with a sitting governor of their own party (58 of 86).

Republicans have held their last five conventions in states governed by Republicans: California in 1996 (Pete Wilson), Pennsylvania in 2000 (Tom Ridge), New York in 2004 (George Pataki), Minnesota in 2008 (Tim Pawlenty), and Florida this August (Rick Scott).

Ridge, Pataki, and Pawlenty all spoke on the last day of their state’s respective convention.

However, during six of the 11 cycles over the previous 40 years (1952-1992), the Republican Party held conventions in states with sitting Democratic governors:

· 1952: Illinois (Chicago) with Adlai Stevenson.
· 1964: California (San Francisco) with Pat Brown.
· 1972: Florida (Miami Beach) with Reubin Askew.
· 1984: Texas (Dallas) with Mark White.
· 1988: Louisiana (New Orleans) with Buddy Roemer.
· 1992: Texas (Houston) with Ann Richards.

Stevenson, of course, became the Democratic nominee on the third ballot in the same building in Chicago two weeks after the Republican convention adjourned.

Overall, since the GOP’s first national convention in Pennsylvania in June 1856, there have been 29 Republican host state governors (72.5 percent) and members of another political party for 11 other cycles (27.5 percent).

Another historically prominent host state governor during the RNC is Rutherford Hayes.

Hayes had just started his third term as the chief executive of Ohio when he was nominated for president on the seventh ballot at the 1876 convention in Cincinnati.

Hayes would be elected president just a few months later by one Electoral College vote over Samuel Tilden.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has held its national convention in states with Republican governors during two of the last five cycles: Illinois (Chicago) in 1996 (Jim Edgar) and Massachusetts (Boston) in 2004 (Mitt Romney).

Romney joins Adlai Stevenson (Illinois, 1952) and Al Smith (New York, 1928) as governors of Democratic National Convention host states who have gone on to secure their party’s presidential nomination.

Overall, Democrats have governed states hosting the DNC just 61 percent of the time (28 of 46 cycles since 1828), with Republicans governing 33 percent of the time (15 cycles) and other parties for the remaining three cycles.

Note: If the GOP is looking to get a boost in Florida this cycle as part of its convention-site strategy, history suggests they may be disappointed.

Republican presidential nominees have averaged a 1-point decline in convention host state’s adjusted margin of victory (or loss) vis-à-vis the national vote compared to the previous election cycle since the first televised convention in 1940.

Convention locations aside, a previous Smart Politics study found there to be no correlation between a state’s presidential vote and gubernatorial partisan control.

Since 1968, Democratic presidential candidates have had the same success rate in carrying states with Democratic governors as Republican governors – one-third of the time.

Republican presidential nominees also carried states with GOP governors (67 percent) at essentially the same rate as Democratic governors (65 percent) during this 40-year span.

National Democratic and Republican Convention Host State Governor by Cycle, 1836-2012

Year	Convention	City	State	Host Governor	Party
2012	Democratic	Charlotte	NC	Beverly Perdue	Democrat
2012	Republican	Tampa	FL	Rick Scott	Republican
2008	Democratic	Denver	CO	Bill Ritter	Democrat
2008	Republican	St. Paul	MN	Tim Pawlenty	Republican
2004	Democratic	Boston	MA	Mitt Romney	Republican
2004	Republican	New York	NY	George Pataki	Republican
2000	Democratic	Los Angeles	CA	Gray Davis	Democrat
2000	Republican	Philadelphia	PA	Tom Ridge	Republican
1996	Democratic	Chicago	IL	Jim Edgar	Republican
1996	Republican	San Diego	CA	Pete Wilson	Republican
1992	Democratic	New York	NY	Mario Cuomo	Democrat
1992	Republican	Houston	TX	Ann Richards	Democrat
1988	Democratic	Atlanta	GA	Joe Harris	Democrat
1988	Republican	New Orleans	LA	Buddy Roemer	Democrat
1984	Democratic	San Francisco	CA	George Deukmejian	Republican
1984	Republican	Dallas	TX	Mark White	Democrat
1980	Democratic	New York	NY	Hugh Carey	Democrat
1980	Republican	Detroit	MI	William Millikan	Republican
1976	Democratic	New York	NY	Hugh Carey	Democrat
1976	Republican	Kansas City	MO	Kit Bond	Republican
1972	Democratic	Miami Beach	FL	Reubin Askew	Democrat
1972	Republican	Miami Beach	FL	Reubin Askew	Democrat
1968	Democratic	Chicago	IL	Samuel Shapiro	Democrat
1968	Republican	Miami Beach	FL	Claude Kirk	Republican
1964	Democratic	Atlantic City	NJ	Richard Hughes	Democrat
1964	Republican	San Francisco	CA	Pat Brown	Democrat
1960	Democratic	Los Angeles	CA	Pat Brown	Democrat
1960	Republican	Chicago	IL	William Stratton	Republican
1956	Democratic	Chicago	IL	William Stratton	Republican
1956	Republican	San Francisco	CA	Goodwin Knight	Republican
1952	Democratic	Chicago	IL	Adlai Stevenson	Democrat
1952	Republican	Chicago	IL	Adlai Stevenson	Democrat
1948	Democratic	Philadelphia	PA	James Duff	Republican
1948	Republican	Philadelphia	PA	James Duff	Republican
1944	Democratic	Chicago	IL	Dwight Green	Republican
1944	Republican	Chicago	IL	Dwight Green	Republican
1940	Democratic	Chicago	IL	Henry Horner	Democrat
1940	Republican	Philadelphia	PA	Arthur James	Republican
1936	Democratic	Philadelphia	PA	George Earle	Democrat
1936	Republican	Cleveland	OH	Martin Davey	Democrat
1932	Democratic	Chicago	IL	Louis Emmerson	Republican
1932	Republican	Chicago	IL	Louis Emmerson	Republican
1928	Democratic	Houston	TX	Dan Moody	Democrat
1928	Republican	Kansas City	MO	Samuel Baker	Republican
1924	Democratic	New York	NY	Al Smith	Democrat
1924	Republican	Cleveland	OH	Victor Donahey	Democrat
1920	Democratic	San Francisco	CA	William Stephens	Republican
1920	Republican	Chicago	IL	Frank Lowden	Republican
1916	Democratic	St. Louis	MO	Elliot Major	Democrat
1916	Republican	Chicago	IL	Edward Dunne	Democrat
1912	Democratic	Baltimore	MD	Philips Goldsborough	Republican
1912	Republican	Chicago	IL	Charles Deneen	Republican
1908	Democratic	Denver	CO	Henry Buchtel	Republican
1908	Republican	Chicago	IL	Charles Deneen	Republican
1904	Democratic	St. Louis	MO	Alexander Dockery	Democrat
1904	Republican	Chicago	IL	Richard Yates	Republican
1900	Democratic	Kansas City	MO	Lawrence Stephens	Democrat
1900	Republican	Philadelphia	PA	William A. Stone	Republican
1896	Democratic	Chicago	IL	John Altgeld	Democrat
1896	Republican	St. Louis	MO	William J. Stone	Democrat
1892	Democratic	Chicago	IL	Joseph Fifer	Republican
1892	Republican	Minneapolis	MN	William Merriam	Republican
1888	Democratic	St. Louis	MO	Albert Morehouse	Democrat
1888	Republican	Chicago	IL	Richard Oglesby	Republican
1884	Democratic	Chicago	IL	John Hamilton	Republican
1884	Republican	Chicago	IL	John Hamilton	Republican
1880	Democratic	Cincinnati	OH	Charles Foster	Republican
1880	Republican	Chicago	IL	Shelby Cullom	Republican
1876	Democratic	St. Louis	MO	Charles Hardin	Democrat
1876	Republican	Cincinnati	OH	Rutherford Hayes	Republican
1872	Democratic	Baltimore	MD	William Whyte	Democrat
1872	Republican	Philadelphia	PA	John Geary	Republican
1868	Democratic	New York	NY	Reuben Fenton	Republican
1868	Republican	Chicago	IL	Richard Oglesby	Republican
1864	Democratic	Chicago	IL	Richard Yates	Republican
1864	Republican	Baltimore	MD	Augustus Bradford	Union (Republican)
1860	Democratic	Baltimore	MD	Thomas Hicks	American
1860	Republican	Chicago	IL	John Wood	Republican
1856	Democratic	Charleston	SC	James Adams	Democrat
1856	Republican	Philadelphia	PA	James Pollock	Whig
1852	Democratic	Cincinnati	OH	Reuben Wood	Democrat
1848	Democratic	Baltimore	MD	Philip Thomas	Democrat
1844	Democratic	Baltimore	MD	Francis Thomas	Democrat
1840	Democratic	Baltimore	MD	William Grason	Democrat
1836	Democratic	Baltimore	MD	Thomas Veazey	Whig
1832	Democratic	Baltimore	MD	George Howard	Nat’l Republican

Table compiled by Smart Politics.

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