Not to mention their Lieutenant Governor. It's some bizarre holdover law that many southern states and Pennsylvania used to have forbidding consecutive terms for Governors. Every state save Virginia ditched that law at some point - Georgia did in the mid seventies after Jimmy Carter after the Governorship. There was an effort to ditch this law in the early 2000s here, but it failed.
The situation in Texas is quite different from the situation in Virginia. The longest-serving incumbent governor in the United States, Greg Abbott will be running for his fifth term next year.
Meh, why not? If itтАЩs good itтАЩs good. IтАЩd be happy if Obama was still POTUS but good lord, no one should endure the stress of being POTUS for that long. ItтАЩs just not healthy.
I do have to say that I kind of like the enforced one and done governor terms though. Two terms is probably better. But it's also exceptionally difficult to unseat an incumbent governor in a primary. If NY had a one term limit we wouldn't still be dealing with the Cuomo-ification of the democratic party of the state a full generation after he was first elected. Between him and Hochul the state will be stuck with the consequences of his election for 20 years. This would still be true even if NY had a two term limit instead of no limits.
Contrast that with Virginia where the governor cannot exert a generational level of pull on the state party. They're not worried about seeking reelection, about future primary electorates. Governors cannot stick around well past their best-by date in Virginia. I like it.
That doesn't mean people won't try to run again. McAuliffe tried in 2021 but failed. The only time in Old Dominion history where a Governor won nonconsecutive terms was in 1965 and 1973 with Mills Godwin. The former as a Democrat (albeit a Harry Byrd style Democrat). The latter as a Republican. Even in that situation he was a reluctant candidate. He didn't want to switch to the Republican Party and he only ran for Governor again to prevent then Lieutenant Governor Henry Howell from becoming Governor. Had Sarge Reynolds, who had been elected LG in 1969 and died in office of cancer in 1971 lived, Reynolds would have run for Governor in 1973 and Godwin would not have run.
Definitely, but McAuliffe also failed in his 2021 attempted-return. No one in Virginia this century has had anywhere near that individual level of pull over the party. Even if McAuliffe had won in 2021 he wouldn't have been able to create that level of party transformation that people like Cuomo have done.
This year Virginia is going to elect it's 7th governor of this century. Next year, Texas is all but certain to reelect it's second governor of this century.
For the overwhelming number of offices I wholeheartedly agree. I generally dislike term limits.
I tend to come to a different conclusion for executive roles with enough power behind them. The potential dangers can be quite corrosive should they come to pass, while the downsides of the term limits, while real, are much smaller.
I think all of us are rather happy right now that there is a constitutional limit on presidential terms for similar reasons.
I have to say that I find the idea of Gov. and Lt. Gov being of opposite parties far more bizarre!! Case in point, last term in NC - Roy Cooper as Gov. and that crackpot Mark Robinson as Lt. Gov.
And let's not forget that NC is still one of a handful of states where the LG becomes "acting governor" if the governor leaves the state. Poor Roy Cooper was basically glued to his desk for four years to prevent Robinson and the gerrymandered legislature from passing all manner of bizarre sh!t in his absence.
Luckily, it's less of an issue for Josh Stein, since current LG Rachel Hunt is also a Democrat (and also, well, not crazy).
Yeah, I should have mentioned that! I have heard scuttlebutt that Robinson might try and primary Thom Tillis next year. The 2024 Governor's race was way to close for comfort considering the GOP candidate in question. Too many GOP voters in NC vote a straightline ticket without any consideration for candidate quality!
Just bizarre that Virginia permits its Attorney General to run for re-election but not its governor.
Not to mention their Lieutenant Governor. It's some bizarre holdover law that many southern states and Pennsylvania used to have forbidding consecutive terms for Governors. Every state save Virginia ditched that law at some point - Georgia did in the mid seventies after Jimmy Carter after the Governorship. There was an effort to ditch this law in the early 2000s here, but it failed.
The situation in Texas is quite different from the situation in Virginia. The longest-serving incumbent governor in the United States, Greg Abbott will be running for his fifth term next year.
No high-ranking executive politician (governor, big-city mayor, attorney general, etc.) should be able to stay in power that long.
Meh, why not? If itтАЩs good itтАЩs good. IтАЩd be happy if Obama was still POTUS but good lord, no one should endure the stress of being POTUS for that long. ItтАЩs just not healthy.
It is a bit odd.
I do have to say that I kind of like the enforced one and done governor terms though. Two terms is probably better. But it's also exceptionally difficult to unseat an incumbent governor in a primary. If NY had a one term limit we wouldn't still be dealing with the Cuomo-ification of the democratic party of the state a full generation after he was first elected. Between him and Hochul the state will be stuck with the consequences of his election for 20 years. This would still be true even if NY had a two term limit instead of no limits.
Contrast that with Virginia where the governor cannot exert a generational level of pull on the state party. They're not worried about seeking reelection, about future primary electorates. Governors cannot stick around well past their best-by date in Virginia. I like it.
If only New York had contented itself with Mario-Cuomoification!
That doesn't mean people won't try to run again. McAuliffe tried in 2021 but failed. The only time in Old Dominion history where a Governor won nonconsecutive terms was in 1965 and 1973 with Mills Godwin. The former as a Democrat (albeit a Harry Byrd style Democrat). The latter as a Republican. Even in that situation he was a reluctant candidate. He didn't want to switch to the Republican Party and he only ran for Governor again to prevent then Lieutenant Governor Henry Howell from becoming Governor. Had Sarge Reynolds, who had been elected LG in 1969 and died in office of cancer in 1971 lived, Reynolds would have run for Governor in 1973 and Godwin would not have run.
Definitely, but McAuliffe also failed in his 2021 attempted-return. No one in Virginia this century has had anywhere near that individual level of pull over the party. Even if McAuliffe had won in 2021 he wouldn't have been able to create that level of party transformation that people like Cuomo have done.
This year Virginia is going to elect it's 7th governor of this century. Next year, Texas is all but certain to reelect it's second governor of this century.
I maintain that forbidding people from voting for an incumbent isn't the solution to the problem, but I understand the problem.
For the overwhelming number of offices I wholeheartedly agree. I generally dislike term limits.
I tend to come to a different conclusion for executive roles with enough power behind them. The potential dangers can be quite corrosive should they come to pass, while the downsides of the term limits, while real, are much smaller.
I think all of us are rather happy right now that there is a constitutional limit on presidential terms for similar reasons.
Yes, but only because Congress has not done what the Founding Fathers expected and jealously guarded its powers.
Yep, high-ranking executive roles definitely warrant limitations.
Meanwhile, the best way to check lawmakers is to draw districts competitively.
I have to say that I find the idea of Gov. and Lt. Gov being of opposite parties far more bizarre!! Case in point, last term in NC - Roy Cooper as Gov. and that crackpot Mark Robinson as Lt. Gov.
And let's not forget that NC is still one of a handful of states where the LG becomes "acting governor" if the governor leaves the state. Poor Roy Cooper was basically glued to his desk for four years to prevent Robinson and the gerrymandered legislature from passing all manner of bizarre sh!t in his absence.
Luckily, it's less of an issue for Josh Stein, since current LG Rachel Hunt is also a Democrat (and also, well, not crazy).
Yeah, I should have mentioned that! I have heard scuttlebutt that Robinson might try and primary Thom Tillis next year. The 2024 Governor's race was way to close for comfort considering the GOP candidate in question. Too many GOP voters in NC vote a straightline ticket without any consideration for candidate quality!