# Who is the most powerful Governor in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-governor-in-the-us/673520 "2013-11-09T18:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-governor-in-the-us/673520/21 "2013-11-15T17:47:47Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I think the OP is asking about governor’s power relative to other parts of that state’s government. Obviously California wins if we are talking in absolute terms. I agree about the distinction between governor’s powers relative to other branches of government within the state versus absolute power. I’d just like to add that to me, it’s not as obvious that under the second criterion, California would be the winner. I think New York is at least a close contender. Sure, population, GDP and territory-wise, NY is much smaller than CA. But a lot of the country’s economic relations with other countries go via New York, and a lot of companies active across the USA are based there too. You have banking and the stock exchange, you have lots of professional services, media, whatever, and in many respects these will be required to comply with US law - indeed, the state’s Department of Financial Services has become very active in financial supervision recently and has become, for foreign banks operating in the US, a regulator about as powerful as many federal authorities. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-governor-in-the-us/673520/22 "2013-11-15T22:13:02Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I’m not sure but the things to look at would be: > > 1. Line-item veto power. Many State governors have it, having it generally means you are more powerful within State government relative to governors who do not have this power. > > 2. Veto-override requirements. In some States it is quite hard to override a governor’s veto, in others the governor’s veto is an almost powerless procedural technique. For example some States (West Virginia, Indiana) the veto override only requires a majority of each house of the legislature–which obviously is also the requirement to pass legislation in the first place. So in those States a veto basically just forces a revote, and if the same number of legislators go along with how they voted before the veto is overridden. Others copy the 2/3rds from the U.S. Constitution, others use 3/5ths, a few use a mix where normally it’s 2/3rds but to override a budget veto is 3/4ths (so the highest requirement there.) > > 3. Divided/undivided Executive Branch. Unlike the Federal Government where we only elect the President and Vice President, most States elect at least a few other Statewide officials. Some, it’s almost the entirety of the cabinet which is elected: [this](http://www.thegreenpapers.com/slg/oes.phtml) lists out the offices by State. As you can see some have relatively minor offices like State Auditor and Agriculture Commissioner as elected officials. > > 4. Appointment power of judges. [This](http://www.judicialselection.com/judicial_selection/methods/selection_of_judges.cfm?state=) shows how each State selects/elects judges. Obviously the States where the judges are gubernatorially appointed are the ones where the Governor is going to have even more power relative to states where that isn’t the case. > > Given the above information you should be able to craft a nexus of: > > High veto override requirements + limited division of elected executive branch + judicial appointment power + line item veto power and come to some approximation of which Governor is the most powerful. > > New Jersey is a good candidate: > > 1. Wide line-item veto powers: full veto, reduction veto, amendment veto. > > 2. Strong veto override requirement (2/3rds elected legislature.) > > 3. Limited division of executive power: only the Lieutenant Governor is elected other than the Governor, and the Lieutenant Governor runs on a ticket with the Governor and has no distinct responsibilities (essentially a Vice President.) New Jersey law requires the Lt Governor be appointed to run some cabinet-level office I’m guessing so they have some function to justify their salary. > > 4. Judicial appointments. Most of the States either use an election to select most judges or the governor gets to select judges proposed by theoretically non-partisan nominating commissions. In New Jersey the Governor gets to select his own judges and they face a confirmation vote in the Senate. Yes I was going to say New Jersey for just such reasons. We didn’t even have a LT governor until recently when the succession became an issue (both the Mcgreevy resignation and governor health issues such as being in a high speed crash). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-governor-in-the-us/673520/23 "2013-11-16T23:41:48Z")
So which governor has the _least_ power within his state? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-governor-in-the-us/673520/24 "2013-11-18T17:03:07Z")
Wisconsins Guv has considerable power, but it looks to me like New Jerseys may be the top. > [@TBG](#): > > So which governor has the _least_ power within his state? Everything I’ve read seems to suggest it might be Vermont followed by Texas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-powerful-governor-in-the-us/673520.md?page=1)