# Would losing all 50 State Governors lead to America being pushed into chaos? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 13, 2021, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373 "2021-07-13T07:04:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/21 "2021-07-13T16:16:17Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > It wasn’t the landowners they were trying to destroy, it was the Protestant King and Parliament, in order to restore Catholicism. > [@SanVito](#): > > Which was basically the same thing. Doubly so because it was the House of Lords (besides James) that was their target. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/22 "2021-07-15T02:42:24Z")
In Missouri, the Governor doesn’t even have to be dead. The Lt. Gov. automatically takes over when the Gov. travels outside the state - a throwback to frontier days. In 2000 Missouri’s governor was killed in a plane crash, just three weeks before the election. However, he wasn’t running for reelection as Governor, he was running for the Senate. Not only did the Lt. Gov. take over as governor, another governor was elected (the Lt. Gov. was retiring anyway) AND the dead governor won the Senate election (his wife was appointed to serve until a special election. Despite the political chaos, the wheels of government never even slowed down. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/23 "2021-07-15T22:30:55Z")
You’d do much more damage by killing the top 50 elected officials in one state than the single top elected officials in all 50 states. Granted, it will be more localized… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/24 "2021-07-15T22:42:34Z")
Or, say, the top 10 each in New York, California, and Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/25 "2021-07-16T05:48:36Z")
That’s not enough killin’. Please add 20 more. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/26 "2021-07-16T06:01:15Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > In Missouri, the Governor doesn’t even have to be dead. The Lt. Gov. automatically takes over when the Gov. travels outside the state - a throwback to frontier days. That reminds me of a more recent story. I don’t remember which state it was offhand, but there was a recent incident where the governor had to not be in office for some reason, and the lieutenant governor took the time to cancel some COVID-19 related stuff. So the governor had to return early and undo it. In any state where the governor and lieutenant governor could be from different parties, I could see some disruption. But, for most, the disruption would be more about everyone reacting to the news or investigating the crime. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/27 "2021-07-16T12:08:23Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > A state doesn’t have a military, for instance. What are the state National Guard units? I mean, I realize there’s an overarching national structure to them, but they are organized by state, and can be called up by state governors. And then there’s [these guys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_defense_force)… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/28 "2021-07-16T12:29:53Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > That’s not enough killin’. Please add 20 more. This is veering from “what if” to “bring it on”, which is moving pretty close to > [@Terms of Service and FAQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-of-service-and-faq/823562/2): > > Do not post material that fosters or promotes activity that is illegal in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/29 "2021-07-16T15:13:05Z")
Wow, sorry, I thought it was obvious joke, but will be more careful. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/30 "2021-07-16T18:37:55Z")
Texas governor is kind of a low-power job, isn’t it? Idaho’s reasonable governor would be dead so their idiot LtGov would take over. I don’t think it would change around here because my governor hangs out 7 hours away most of the year. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/31 "2021-07-16T18:46:58Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Texas governor is kind of a low-power job, isn’t it? Yeah, the Governor himself doesn’t have a whole lot of statutory power in normal circumstances; the Legislature has nearly all of it, and the most powerful person is actually the Lieutenant Governor, in that he’s the guy who controls the legislative calendar, i.e. what bills go up for votes, etc… and he’s automatically on several Senate committees, and even is the chair of several by virtue of the position. The Governor can sign or veto, and he can convene the Legislature/call special sessions. And in extremis, he can pass executive orders like Abbott has done during the pandemic. I’m not at all convinced that wiping out the top 10 Texas state officials wouldn’t be an unqualified success. We’d get rid of Abbott (Gov), Patrick (Lt. Gov), that crook Paxton (Atty Gen), that moron Sid Miller (Ag Commissioner), Hegar (Comptroller), George P. Bush (Land Commissioner), and the 3 members of the Railroad commission (Craddick, Sitton and Christian). The last four could be considered collateral damage I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373/32 "2021-07-17T02:45:38Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Wow, sorry, I thought it was obvious joke, but will be more careful. I got it. You were just saying that, to be equivalent to killing all 50 governors, you’d need to kill 20 more than the 10 people in three states that Chronos mentioned—also not seriously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-losing-all-50-state-governors-lead-to-america-being-pushed-into-chaos/946373.md?page=1)