The Weekender (5/1/20)

Welcome to the Democratic Governors Association’s Friday newsletter, The Weekender.
Let’s get started.

West Virginia: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s primary opponent Woody Thrasher released another anti-Justice attack ad – telling West Virginians to “judge Jim Justice by his deeds.” According to the ad, some of Justice’s most notable deeds during his time in office include being accused of racketeering and fraud, cutting off health insurance for coal miners, and failing to fix the state’s roads.
Indiana: Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former health commissioner Dr. Woody Myers called on GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb to increase the state’s testing capacity before reopening the economy. He said, “We haven’t seen a sustained decrease in the number of cases. We certainly know that there are pockets that are being found every day of clusters that have not been adequately addressed. So, that worries me deeply.”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial: In Parson versus Galloway, the Defender of Darkness meets his match
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson got hit with another scathing editorial. We’re having trouble keeping up! (Just kidding, we’re definitely keeping count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.)
On Tuesday, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board pilloried Parson for trying to hide spending details of $2.38 billion in federal coronavirus aid from Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway, who just happens to be Parson’s likely gubernatorial opponent in the fall. The editorial board even gave the GOP governor a new nickname (which we think describes him perfectly). Introducing: Mike Parson, Defender of Darkness.
Luckily, Missouri has someone trying to let the sunshine in – State Auditor Galloway. Galloway wrote a letter to the governor, asking for details on how the governor plans to allocate this money. His response? You can go to my Facebook page.
The battle isn’t over yet, though. According to the Post-Dispatch, the law is on the side of Galloway and the taxpayers.

America Overwhelmingly Approves of Democratic Governors
Navigator Research released a new poll showing that 69% of voters approve of governors’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic while only 44% approve of President Trump’s actions. Specifically, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has 75% approval, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has 65% approval, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has 70% approval, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has 80% approval, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has 74% approval. This overwhelming support for governors is a reflection of the strength and clarity the governors have shown in their leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The exceptions to the governors’ sky-high approval ratings? GOP Govs. Ron DeSantis (called his state “God’s waiting room” and couldn’t figure out how to put on a mask) and Brian Kemp (didn’t know asymptomatic people could spread coronavirus).

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, issuing a warning to Americans: do. not. drink. bleach.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on MSNBC Live with Katy Tur, participating in a socially-distanced in-person interview.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Brian Williams, discussing Colorado and Nevada joining the Western States Pact and working with other governors on best practices.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on CNN with Chris Cuomo, describing the White House’s “schizophrenic” coronavirus response and Connecticut’s deal with CVS Health to ramp up testing.



“It takes guts, it takes courage. And you don’t get that from a typical politician. So it warms my heart to see an elected official who is not a typical politician. Thank you, governor.”

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo praising Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear for standing up to Mitch McConnell’s suggestion that states should file for bankruptcy.

“This is a tough time. It doesn’t mean you just start writing checks to everybody for anything. Because when does that stop?”
Who said it? Send your answer to press@dga.net and we’ll reveal the answer in the next Weekender!
If you guessed GOP Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick last week, you were right! Patrick was recycling his old favorite talking point – that people should die for the economy. He said “there are more important things than living” and “we gotta take some risks” during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson.