In his second inaugural address, Gov. Rick Scott lived up to expectations by focusing his vision for Florida’s future on jobs and economic issues. In fact, the governor mentioned “jobs” and “taxes” more than every other newly inaugurated American governor – combined.
Through Florida’s inauguration day January 6, a dozen states had sworn in new or re-elected governors. From Rhode Island to Hawaii, from Florida to Alaska, the chief executives identified what they see as the top priorities for their states.
A Sachs Media Group analysis identified what they had in common – and where priorities closer to home ruled the day.
Democrats are wordier than Republicans
The average length of inaugural addresses by the Democratic governors was 2,381, compared with 1,656 for Republicans. New York’s Andrew Cuomo was the most loquacious – his 3,859 words were almost three times as many as the most concise, Nevada’s Brian Sandoval. Florida’s Gov. Scott spoke 2,048 words, the most among GOP governors.
Jobs, jobs, jobs
Scott has made jobs the #1 priority of his administration, and it showed in his speech, which included 33 references to jobs. Inaugurated the same day as Gov. Scott, Rhode Island’s Gina Raimondo mentioned jobs 15 times in her address – more than all other Democratic governors combined.
Education tops ‘em all
Education was the most discussed policy area overall, with a total of 101 references across 12 speeches – an average of 15.5 references per speech.
Everyone likes to dream
Democrats and Republicans invoked the word “dreams” just as often, each with an average of 3.2 times per speech. Who wouldn’t dream big living in Hawaii? Aloha State Gov. David Ige led his colleagues with 11 references to dreams.
Up for a challenge?
Democrats spoke a lot more often about “challenges,” with an average of 5.6 references per speech, compared with just 1.4 references to challenges by Republicans.
Talking about government
Republicans like talking about government a lot more than Democrats do – undoubtedly in less-than-friendly ways. The average Republican speech mentioned government 6.4 times, about double the average in Democrats’ speeches. Gov. Scott led the way with 12 references to government, 50 percent more than his closest colleague.
Biggest Mentions by State
Florida – Gov. Rick Scott (R)
- Jobs: 33
- Government: 12
- Schools/Education: 10
- Taxes: 8
- Environment: 3
Alaska – Gov. Bill Walker (I)
- Children: 3
- Government: 2
- God: 2
- Schools/Education: 1
- Water: 1
Arizona – Gov. Doug Ducey (R)
- Government: 8
- Schools/Education: 6
- Jobs: 5
- Children: 3
- Taxes: 3
California – Gov. Jerry Brown (D)
- Health: 10
- Prison: 10
- Schools/Education: 8
- Water: 8
- Challenge: 6
Hawaii – Gov. David Ige (D)
- Dreams: 11
- Children: 7
- Government: 5
- Future: 5
- Schools/Education: 4
Minnesota – Gov. Mark Dayton (D)
- Schools/Education: 36
- Future: 9
- Children: 7
- Jobs: 4
- Health: 3
Nevada – Gov. Brian Sandoval (R)
- Future: 5
- Children: 3
- Government: 3
- God: 3
- Schools/Education: 3
New Mexico – Gov. Susana Martinez (R)
- Children: 13
- Dreams: 6
- Jobs: 5
- Schools/Education: 3
- Challenge: 3
New York – Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D)
- Challenge: 13
- Schools/Education: 9
- Law Enforcement: 5
- Dreams: 4
- Government: 4
Rhode Island – Gov. Gina Raimondo (D)
- Jobs: 15
- Schools/Education: 7
- Challenge: 7
- Government: 5
- God: 4
Wisconsin – Gov. Scott Walker (R)
- Schools/Education: 10
- Dreams: 7
- Government: 7
- Children: 4
- Future: 4