CPAC Foundation Ranks the Best Governors: Arkansas Governor Huckabee Sanders Tops the List

ALEXANDRIA, VA (October 14, 2024) — CPAC Foundation’s analysis reveals the first-of-its-kind scorecard of Republican governors based on the full scope of a governors’ actions including spending, regulation, and legislation.

“CPAC set out to determine which governors have best answered the call to defend their state from woke socialism and fight for economic prosperity,” said CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp. “We are proud to recognize the governors who have best fought for conservative values.”

Earning the top score and CPAC Foundation’s Award for Conservative Leadership Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "I'm proud to receive recognition as the top conservative governor in the country," said Governor Sanders. "When I ran for this office, I promised to make Arkansas a national leader in education reform, tax cuts, and bold conservative leadership. As this award shows, we are making Arkansas a model for conservative states around the country."

The full list of scores for Republican Governor’s is below: (*Governors who scored 80% and above earned CPAC Foundation’s Award for Conservative Leadership)

Rank	State	Governor	Score
1	Arkansas	Sarah Huckabee Sanders	96.3%
2	Louisiana	Jeff Landry	94.8%
3	Montana	Greg Gianforte	94.5%
4	Iowa	Kim Reynolds	91.5%
5	Florida	Ron DeSantis	91.0%
6	Oklahoma	Kevin Stitt	87.5%
7	Texas	Greg Abbott	86.6%
8	North Dakota	Doug Burgum	85.3%
9	Tennessee	Bill Lee	82.5%
10	West Virginia	Jim Justice	81.3%
11	Virginia	Glenn Youngkin	81.0%
12	Idaho	Brad Little	76.5%
13	Alaska	Mike Dunleavy	76.0%
14	Georgia	Brian Kemp	75.3%
16	Missouri	Mike Parson	75.2%
15	New Hampshire	Chris Sununu	74.8%
17	Mississippi	Tate Reeves	73.0%
18	Wyoming	Mark Gordon	73.0%
19	Alabama	Kay Ivey	72.5%
20	South Carolina	Henry McMaster	70.5%
21	Indiana	Eric Holcomb	70.5%
22	Nebraska	Jim Pillen	70.0%
23	Ohio	Mike DeWine	69.4%
24	Utah	Spencer Cox	67.5%
25	South Dakota	Kristi Noem	66.9%
26	Nevada	Joe Lombardo	66.3%
27	Vermont	Phil Scott	59.0%

CPAC Foundation’s Ratings of the Governors methodology is divided into three sections that evaluate different aspects of the governors’ performance. The legislative section focuses on the bills that the governor signs and vetoes and makes up 50% of the score. The Executive Action section focuses on the executive orders issued by the governor and other major activities that the governor engages in and represents 40% of the score. The Fiscal section evaluates the governors’ actions with regard to taxation and the state budget representing 10% of the final score.

See the full scorecards HERE.

The Center for Legislative Accountability (CLA), an initiative of the CPAC Foundation, is the premier organization for holding lawmakers accountable. CPAC Foundation produces the longest-running conservative congressional scorecard and is the only organization in the nation that scores all 8,000 lawmakers in the 50 states across every policy area. CPAC Foundation’s Ratings are widely considered the “gold standard” and are utilized by activists, voters, academics and elected officials to determine which lawmakers best adhere to conservative principles.

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