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Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox elected chair of National Governors Association, launches ‘Disagree Better’ Initiative
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis elected vice chair
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (July 14, 2023) – Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was elected chair of the National Governors Association (NGA). For the next year, he will be the voice of the leaders of 55 states, territories, and commonwealths dedicated to leading bipartisan solutions.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was elected as the NGA vice chair, with a role overseeing the NGA Center for Best Practices, the only research and development office directly serving the nation’s
governors. The governors assumed their new roles during the NGA Annual Meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey and will serve for one year.
Gov. Cox announced his Chair’s Initiative, Disagree Better: Healthy Conflict for Better Policy, at the closing session of the meeting. The initiative is designed to help Americans bridge the partisan divide and adopt a more positive approach to political and social discourse. Through public debates, service projects, public service announcements and a variety of other tools, governors are joining forces for the Disagree Better initiative.
“There’s an ‘exhausted majority’ of Americans out there who are discouraged by the ugliness of
our politics today,” said Gov. Cox. “The divisiveness undermines our success as a nation
and hurts our relationships with friends and family. We don’t all have to agree on every issue,
but we have to find a way to disagree better. Governors work together across party lines every
day, and we have a unique opportunity and obligation to demonstrate how to find solutions and
solve problems instead of endlessly bickering. My fellow governors from both red and blue
states are ready to lead toward a more positive and optimistic way of working through our
problems.”
“Elected officials and citizens alike all have a role to play in making our political debates more
civil and functional,” said Gov. Polis. “We can disagree without attacking each other. With
extreme partisanship grinding progress to a halt in Washington, it is more important than ever
that governors be the adults in the room and remind Americans that it’s possible to work
together and achieve good results.”
In addition to Govs. Cox and Polis, the following governors were elected to positions on the
NGA Executive Committee, which guides NGA’s operations and priorities:
Gov. Roy Cooper, North Carolina
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico
Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York
Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana
Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey (immediate past chair)
Gov. Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma
Gov. Chris Sununu, New Hampshire
Learn more about the Disagree Better initiative and upcoming bipartisan events on the NGA website.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was elected as the NGA vice chair, with a role overseeing the NGA Center for Best Practices, the only research and development office directly serving the nation’s
governors. The governors assumed their new roles during the NGA Annual Meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey and will serve for one year.
Gov. Cox announced his Chair’s Initiative, Disagree Better: Healthy Conflict for Better Policy, at the closing session of the meeting. The initiative is designed to help Americans bridge the partisan divide and adopt a more positive approach to political and social discourse. Through public debates, service projects, public service announcements and a variety of other tools, governors are joining forces for the Disagree Better initiative.
“There’s an ‘exhausted majority’ of Americans out there who are discouraged by the ugliness of
our politics today,” said Gov. Cox. “The divisiveness undermines our success as a nation
and hurts our relationships with friends and family. We don’t all have to agree on every issue,
but we have to find a way to disagree better. Governors work together across party lines every
day, and we have a unique opportunity and obligation to demonstrate how to find solutions and
solve problems instead of endlessly bickering. My fellow governors from both red and blue
states are ready to lead toward a more positive and optimistic way of working through our
problems.”
“Elected officials and citizens alike all have a role to play in making our political debates more
civil and functional,” said Gov. Polis. “We can disagree without attacking each other. With
extreme partisanship grinding progress to a halt in Washington, it is more important than ever
that governors be the adults in the room and remind Americans that it’s possible to work
together and achieve good results.”
In addition to Govs. Cox and Polis, the following governors were elected to positions on the
NGA Executive Committee, which guides NGA’s operations and priorities:
Gov. Roy Cooper, North Carolina
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico
Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York
Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana
Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey (immediate past chair)
Gov. Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma
Gov. Chris Sununu, New Hampshire
Learn more about the Disagree Better initiative and upcoming bipartisan events on the NGA website.
