DGA Chair Gov. Brian Schweitzer (Mont.) today congratulated former DGA Chair Gov. Tom Vilsack (Iowa) on being named to serve as Secretary of Agriculture in President-elect Barack Obama’s administration.

DGA Chair Gov. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Executive Director Nathan Daschle today congratulated Gov. Janet Napolitano (Ariz.) on being nominated to serve as the next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Media Matters today reports that Newt Gingrich falsely claimed that the Republican Governors of Indiana and Utah have earned the “lowest unemployment rates in their respective regions.” But, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics records, neither Utah nor Indiana has the lowest unemployment rate in its region, and several states with lower unemployment rates Democratic Governors.

Govs.-elect Bev Perdue in North Carolina and Jack Markell in Delaware don’t take office until January, but they’re not slowing down as they prepare to tackle the challenges they face and take their states to the next level.

DGA Surpasses $20-Million Mark for First Time Ever

DGA Chair Gov. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) today announced the DGA’s year-to-date fundraising total exceeds $20 million for the very first time in the organization’s history. In the DGA’s pre-election filing, the group reports having raised nearly $20.3 million. Read more

DGA Destroys All-Time Fundraising Record

DGA Chair Gov. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) announced the DGA’s third-quarter fundraising totals crush all of its previous records and outperform its Republican counterpart for the first time ever. The DGA reports having raised $18.7 million in the first three quarters of the year. That sum smashes the DGA’s all-time fundraising record set in 2006, a full twelve-month period that included 36 races. In the third quarter alone, the DGA raised $7.56 million – nearly $1 million more than its Republican counterpart – a colossal first for the DGA. Read more

Gregoire: State is on the Right Track

Gov. Chris Gregoire says she’s helped move Washington forward on school reforms, getting health care to more kids, promoting renewable energy and creating jobs, but she needs another four-year term to see the changes through. Gregoire said there are many reasons to think the state is on the right track. She said children’s lives are being saved because she mandated faster responses to reports of abuse and supported the added demand with hundreds of new social workers. Crime rates are lower; Washington ranks as the fifth-largest producer of wind power; and the state added nearly 250,000 jobs since she took office in the midst of an election challenge in January 2005. The state also has an $800 million budget surplus, and Forbes magazine ranks Washington as the third-best state for doing business. Read more