Election Report: Change in State Capitals
December 14, 2006
With 36 governors’ offices at stake across the United States, voters elected new governors in 11 states on November 7, 2006, and gave the Democratic Party a majority of governors’ offices for the first time since 1994.
Seven new Democratic governors were elected. The new Democrats will take control in New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Maryland, Iowa, Colorado and Arkansas.
New Republican governors were elected in Alaska, Florida, Idaho and Nevada.
The election of such a large group of new governors—each serving a four-year term—will bring policy and economic initiatives changes in many states and will likely produce a new set of challenges for corporations doing business at the state level.
Among the major issues likely to be addressed at the state level are:
- State approval of mergers of corporations in regulated industries, including health care, insurance and electric utilities.
- Pharmaceutical issues, including state formularies for Medicaid, drug importation and group purchasing.
- Leasing of infrastructure assets such as highways, bridges, airports and ports to private operators.
- Privatization of government services, such as prison health services, institutional food services, prison management and data management.
- State tax and minimum wage issues that affect large companies doing business in multiple states.
- State pension fund issues, including investment strategies and pension fund activism in corporate governance issues.
- State incentives for corporate relocation, expansion and job creation.
- Environmental clean-up and enforcement.
- Insurance regulation.
-
Alternative and renewable source energy policy.
McDermott Will & Emery’s Government Strategies Group has extensive experience working at the state level for a broad range of clients, and the election of new governors in 11 states offers the opportunity to further serve clients in adjusting to political changes and challenges in state capitals.
The Government Strategies Group includes Paul Hatch, a former executive director of the Republican Governors’ Association, and Doug Richardson, former executive director and communications director of the Democratic Governors’ Association. Both Hatch and Richardson have remained very active in these groups’ fund-raising, policy and political operations—putting them in a unique position to help clients with state-level issues.
McDermott Will & Emery’s team also includes William F. Weld, the former two-term Governor of Massachusetts.
