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CREW Releases “Worst Governors” Report – 11 Governors Who Champion Their Interest Over Their State

Washington, D.C. - Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a report on the nation’s most incompetent and unethical governors. CREW’s Worst Governors report provides in-depth analyses of 11 elected officials who have pushed their states’ best interests aside in favor of their supporters, families, political parties and bank accounts.

In compiling Worst Governors, CREW reviewed the job performances of all 50 U.S. governors before identifying the worst 11. Though ethics laws, campaign finance rules and financial disclosure regulations vary from state to state, CREW found these governors’ proclivities for corruption, cronyism and self-enrichment outweighed their competency, integrity and commitment to transparency.

CREW’s unranked list of the 11 worst governors includes:

• Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)
• Gov. Donald Carcieri (R-RI)
• Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
• Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
• Gov. David Paterson (D-NY)
• Gov. Sonny Perdue (R-GA)
• Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)
• Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM)
• Gov. Mike Rounds (R-SD)
• Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)
• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA).

CREW’s report also includes the Worst Governors Index, a Harper’s Index-style compendium of statistics from the report. Highlights include Gov. Perdue’s $2,400 private plane ride to a NASCAR race 30 miles away, Gov. Gibbons’ 867 state-billed text messages sent to his "alleged" mistress over six weeks in 2007, and Gov. Perry’s minimum 17 former aides-turned-lobbyists.

CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan, said today, “From Gov. Jindal’s hundreds of campaign-contributing state appointees to Gov. Paterson’s efforts to pressure a domestic violence victim to stay silent – CREW’s Worst Governors report leaves you wondering if these really are the people best equipped to handle the complicated problems faced across the nation.”

Sloan continued, “There has been a great deal of focus on the ethics of Congress over the past few years, but CREW’s report shows that state governments are not immune to ethics problems. Too often -- whether in Washington, D.C. or in South Dakota -- our country’s political leaders are more focused on what’s best for the favored few, rather than on improving the lives of Americans.”

Read the full report here

Right click here to download CREW’s full Worst Governors report

Right click here to read CREW’s Worst Governors Index