Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox elected chair of National Governors Association, launches ‘Disagree Better’ Initiative

NEWS RELEASE

July 14, 2023 

Contact:

Emma Williams 

Office of the Governor

(385) 303-4383, ewilliams@utah.gov

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.                                                                                      

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