Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox Elected National Governors Association President, Launches « Disagree Better » Initiative
PRESS RELEASE
July 14, 2023
Contact:
Emma Williams
Governor’s office
(385) 303-4383, ewilliams@utah.gov
Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox Elected National Governors Association President, Launches « Disagree Better » Initiative
Colorado Governor Jared Polis was elected vice president
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (July 14, 2023) – Utah Governor Spencer Cox was elected president of the National Governors Association (NGA). For the next year, he will be the voice of leaders from 55 states, territories and commonwealths dedicated to driving bipartisan solutions.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis was elected NGA Vice Chair, overseeing the NGA Center for Best Practices, the only research and development office directly serving the nation
governors. The governors assumed their new roles at the NGA’s annual meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and will serve for one year.
Governor Cox announced his chairman’s initiative, Better Disagreement: Healthy Conflict for Better Politics, during the meeting’s closing session. The initiative is designed to help Americans close the partisan divide and take a more positive approach to political and social discourse. Through public discussions, service projects, public service announcements and a variety of other tools, governors are joining forces for the Disagree Better initiative.
« There is an ‘exhausted majority’ of Americans out there who are put off by the ugliness of
our policy today,” Governor Cox said. “Division undermines our success as a nation
and it hurts our relationships with friends and family. We don’t all have to agree on every issue,
but we need to find a way to better disagree. Governors work together across party lines each
day, and we have the unique opportunity and obligation to demonstrate how to find solutions and
solving problems instead of endlessly arguing. My fellow governors both red and blue
states are ready to lead to a more positive and optimistic way of working through ours
problems. »
“Elected officials and citizens all have a role to play in sharpening our political debates
civil and functional,” Governor Polis said. “We can disagree without attacking each other. With
the extreme partisanship blocking progress in Washington is more important than ever
that governors are the adults in the room and remind Americans that it is possible to work
together and achieve good results.”
In addition to Gov. Cox and Polis, the following governors were elected to the positions of the
The NGA Executive Committee, which guides the operations and priorities of the NGA:
- Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina
- Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico
- Governor Kathy Hochul, New York
- Governor Eric Holcomb, Indiana
- Governor Phil Murphy, New Jersey (immediate past president)
- Governor Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma
- Government Chris Sununu, New Hampshire
Learn more about the Disagree Better initiative and upcoming bipartisan events at WEB SITES.
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