President-elect Joe Biden is about to inherit a situation that governors in politically divided states know all too well.
He’ll assume the presidency in a country that’s not only divided about how to control the coronavirus but also about how to emerge from the pandemic-related economic downturn, how and whether to reopen schools and how to prevent future virus outbreaks.
Governors in the nation’s two dozen states with divided governments or divided electorates worked through this dynamic for much of 2020 as their policies angered constituents and colleagues alike.
Republican lawmakers in Michigan sued Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her emergency orders. In North Carolina, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest sued Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper over his executive orders. In Louisiana and Kansas, Democratic governors sued Republican state lawmakers over efforts to limit their pandemic powers.
The lawsuits are just one symptom of the deep partisan fracture in the U.S. that was seen on Election Day, when the majority of voters in 25 states cast ballots for Biden and majorities in another 25 states cast ballots for Donald Trump.
“It’s really been kind of ugly — the rhetoric,” Whitmer, the target of an alleged kidnapping plot, said in an interview.
Still, Whitmer continues to meet with Republican lawmakers regularly. “I know we have zero shot of finding common ground if we're not even talking to each other,” she said.
Republicans governors, too, are doing the same.
“There is no shortage of critical issues before our state and nation, and we’ll need both sides working together to really make a difference,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, the incoming head of the Republican Governors Association, said in a statement after meeting recently with newly elected Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly. Ducey has come under intense fire from Trump and other Republicans for not doing more to overturn Biden’s win in the state.
As part of The Fifty, a series that examines the role of state and local leaders in America today, POLITICO asked governors from the country’s most divided states to discuss how they’ve dealt with these challenges and how Biden, too, can unite the country. No Republicans accepted our invitation, but Whitmer and Cooper both agreed to interviews.
Here are their perspectives, edited for length and clarify:
Polarized America
You have been sued and our country feels really polarized right now. There is so much resistance to Covid orders and you both govern in states where both Republicans and Democrats are in charge. How are you working with members of the opposite party in this environment?
Whitmer: This last year has been really hard with Covid. Once the president put the spotlight on me, it kind of changed my politics on the ground here. Unfortunately, not for the better. So it’s going to be challenging, but I'm absolutely determined to do everything that we can to get an agenda accomplished. And it's got to be centered by what the vast majority of people care about. That's why I keep going back to those dinner table issues.
We have continued to hold conversations [with Republican lawmakers] every other week. We've kept the schedule even when the legislature was suing me. We’ve been doing that virtually because they don't subscribe to the same mask wearing that I do. Even when those conversations are hard, they're still happening. It's not always easy. It's not always fun, but it's essential.
Cooper: You have to rely on cooperation and you have to have an ability to put yourself in the other shoes to try to figure out where they are coming from. A lot of us have the same goals of wanting a great future for our kids and good paying jobs and having clean water when you turn on the tap. Sometimes in a state — a purple state that's divided — sometimes our people do that intentionally to try to make sure that one is a check on the other.
I think you have to be satisfied continuing to get four yards on every play and making sure you get a first down instead of the long bomb. And eventually you can get where you need to go. But sometimes it takes a little longer.
Fighting the virus
Michigan was hit really hard with Covid early on and cases have been spiking again. In North Carolina, cases have been growing this fall and winter. How are you trying to get the pandemic under control given the opposition to your orders?
Whitmer: The legislature started suing me and lost in the [Michigan] Supreme Court, so now the nature of our powers are a little bit different. I still have the ability to take actions to protect people. Like every governor in the country, we have to always weigh what we know to be the perfect action. If we could all really stop in place for three weeks, we would see a dramatic improvement.
What can the people tolerate and what is the medically smartest thing to do and where is the place where the two meet? Because the perfect policy that is not accepted by anyone won't do anything to address the issue. A half measure that everyone buys into won't do it. Ultimately it is individual choices that the people are making.
It's going to get worse. I hate having to continue to say that. But these vaccines on the horizon, that gives us great hope and optimism. Our call to Michiganders is to buckle down and do what we got to do right now.
Cooper: It’s been a struggle because I've had a Republican legislature that has passed legislation that would undercut a lot of the authority that I have used. Fortunately, I've been able to veto them and have had the vetoes upheld. We've had a lot of lawsuits. Fortunately, we've been able to beat most of those back, but it’s about continued cooperation, continued information. I think the public knows that this can be a matter of life and death for their loved ones. Most of the public realizes that we can't get our economy fully going again until we slow the spread of this virus. So we're trying to use that support we believe we have out there to try to get things done.
Putting the election behind
Michigan has been at the center of Trump’s false election fraud claims. Trump won North Carolina by about 1 percentage point. This has obviously been an election season that is unlike any we have seen in its intensity and divisiveness. How does the country move on from this election and its aftermath?
Whitmer: It's going to be harder to recover from it. However, it doesn't mean it's not doable. I do think that leaders like President-elect Biden, who in his first speech after being declared the victor, talked about unity and being a president for every American, that's really important. I'm hopeful that that kind of spirit will change what's happening in Washington and we can reflect that here in Michigan as well.
Cooper: It’s clear that we've had a president that is intentionally trying to divide people. I do not think people are as divided as our politics would suggest. I think there are a lot of everyday people who are just trying to put food on the table, particularly during this pandemic, who are on the edge trying to pay their utility bills, trying to pay the rent. I'm grateful this election is over. A lot of people need to realize that it's over and we need to begin transition and we need to now look forward and stick to the science and data.
Working with Washington
Trump told governors that they should take control of the pandemic in their states. Early on he left state leaders in charge of securing testing supplies and personal protective equipment, but also didn’t dictate which orders they should implement to control the virus. How should the Biden administration work with states to combat Covid? Should he let state leaders decide what’s best for their states or take a more national approach?
Whitmer: First and foremost, a strategy around consistent and accurate information dissemination would go a long way. Second, the resources to continue our Covid response, as well as building up the administration of vaccines, that's going to be crucial. I know we are all being lobbied about prioritization within vaccine groupings in terms of who's eligible and who gets it and what tranche. The fact of the matter is, a lot of that is going to be determined at the federal level. There will be some discretion for the states, and I think that's OK.
For the state to have some discretion is important. States need to really own a lot of the messaging to different populations. Every state's different. When I'm talking to people in Dearborn, Mich., a very Arabic community, versus talking to the Upper Peninsula, talking to Detroiters, there are different communities that make up these different geographies. Those unique challenges are going to need to be met at the local level. However, the resources to meet them are going to have to be a part of the federal strategy.
Cooper: We need a better coordinated federal strategy. Operation Warp Speed was well devised and it has held a lot of promise. But we've been lacking in most other things from a federal strategy. It has been difficult because this president has taken the position that at times he's been interested in it, but at other times that we really don't need to worry about it and actually arguing that people should protest and disobey executive orders that governors have put in place across the country.
A new president might be able to do a favor to some governors by taking some of the political pressure off of them to say we are going to have a national mask mandate. It would be a big help if we had a president that said you should wear a mask, social distance, stay six feet apart, and you should try to wash your hands. If we can have our leaders who are talking about the basic things that really don't cost anything, that really don't cause any economic harm, but actually, in fact, help the economy, just that central core messaging, that this is something serious, even if you don't give us another dollar and we need lots of dollars.
Redistricting by commission
Michigan will rely on an independent commission to draw congressional districts while North Carolina’s legislature will continue to draw districts. What’s your take on doing redistricting through an independent commission?
Whitmer: Our secretary of state will be working with this commission that's been created by our amendment to the Constitution in 2018. This is the first time we've ever done anything like this. I'm excited because I think that this is eminently smarter than having the legislature draw districts where they don't make a lot of sense. They were gerrymandered. They were designed to promote the current occupant of the seat in winning. That’s why we have such a big disconnect between the people and the decisions that are made in the legislature. This is going to be a great opportunity for us to rectify that disconnect.
Cooper: I'm all in favor of an independent, nonpartisan commission like in Arizona. We need that in North Carolina. It's worked well in other states that have done it. The key is that we don't have a citizen initiative. It would have to be the legislature which has the power now to give up that power. I vowed that I would sign a bill to do that.
But what we're trying to do is create a bipartisan effort here to get this done. Now, as we are entering into redistricting, the Republicans do have a majority in our state legislature. We don't necessarily expect them to go to an independent redistricting commission. But that's one way to avoid a lot of the litigation and it's one way to avoid that very red, very blue districts issue that I talked about. More purple districts, more swing districts are better for negotiation and compromise. We can cooperate without giving up on our principles.
Bringing the country together
What happens now? How can we all come together when the country is so divided?
Whitmer: I believe that this election was really about coalitions of people coming together to plot a new course in America. The other piece, though, that I think that we have to be very mindful of and thoughtful and intentional about is understanding that there still was 70 some million people who voted for Donald Trump. We have to understand what motivates people as we develop an agenda so that every American can see something of a value in that. For some, it's probably not possible, but I think for the majority, we should be working hard to try.
Cooper: I think it's been made much more difficult now for a couple of reasons. One is social media, which continues to amplify the loudest, most stringent voices, and in addition, the hyper partisan gerrymandering that's in place that draws very blue and very red districts and elects members to state legislatures and members of Congress that don't have political incentive to compromise and to move forward, although I believe they have the moral incentive to do that simply because they are elected representatives.
I think we have to appeal to that everyday person. We have to do what we think is right, even though we may have to stand up to some loud voices in our own parties in order to get something done. And I hope we can do that because we have a lot to do. There's a lot to repair.
We need aggressive healing, a strong voice that will continue to understand that diversity is our strength. That will help us heal, but also being aggressive in the things that we need to do to get help to people right now.
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