Mike Pence & Doug Ducey: Two Crisis-Ridden Governors Together At Last
What do Gov. Doug Ducey and Mike Pence have in common? Both of them are defined by career-altering public relations crises during their time as governor. So it’s fitting that Doug Ducey is expected to introduce Mike Pence at an event in Arizona this afternoon.
For Ducey, his failures to fix Arizona’s education system – which includes among the lowest teacher pay in the nation– led to an ongoing statewide crisis and #REDforED backlash that has dominated news coverage for more than two months. Some even asked if Ducey was in denial over his poor performance. Make no mistake, his poor policies made this inevitable.
And as for Pence, his tenure as Indiana’s governor was defined by his attacks on the LGBTQ community. It took more than a week’s worth of national backlash (and one horrible national news interview) before Mike Pence rescinded his Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). But the damage had been done, and his attacks on LGBTQ Hoosiers hovered over him until he fled the state in July of 2016.
“Doug Ducey and Mike Pence should trade notes this afternoon on how to create massive headaches through policies that hurt their constituents,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director David Turner. “Both are terrific at starting crises, and terrible at solving them. Unfortunately for Ducey, there’s no parachute waiting to get him out of this election, and Arizonans are looking to election day to send him a message.”
With #REDforED hanging over Ducey’s shoulders, expect education to follow the governor through the rest of the election year. Here’s how both Ducey and Pence stack up on each of their public relations crisis.
Doug Ducey | Mike Pence | |
Created Statewide Crisis | Yes | Yes |
Made National News | Yes | Yes |
Panned by State Editorial Boards | Yes | Yes |
Backlash from Community | Yes | Yes |
Solved Crisis | No | No |
Harmed Reelection Chances | Yes | Yes |