Governor

Steve Bullock

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Governor Steve Bullock

Politician, attorney, 24th Governor of Montana

Governor Steve Bullock is a politician, attorney, and former professor. He was elected Montana’s 24th Governor in 2012 and reelected in 2016. Throughout his career Bullock has emphasizes his desire to bring people together and bridge partisan divides.

As Governor, he has fought on behalf of workers, students, and families, working with a Republican legislature to expand Medicaid, pass an Earned Income Tax Credit, and establish the state’s first public pre-K. He was also the first governor in the country to protect net neutrality through Executive Order.

Prior to his governorship, Bullock acted as the Attorney General of Montana, winning the election in 2008. While in this role he pushed for tougher drunken driving laws, a crackdown on prescription drug abuse, tackled the misclassification of employees as independent contractors by FedEx, and pursued the railroad industry for monopolistic business practices.

On May 14th, 2019 Bullock announced his candidacy for the 2020 Presidential Election, running on the Democratic ticket. Bullock made campaign finance reform a central cause of his campaign, continuing his political legacy to fight corruption in politics. As Attorney General he had taken this fight to the Supreme Court in the first challenge to Citizens United, and later passed one of the strongest campaign disclosure laws in the country. During his candidacy, Bullock has simultaneously been suing the Trump Administration to ensure that wealthy donors can’t hide their influence.

The Common Good hosted Bullock on July 17th, 2019, presenting 2020 Presidential Candidates: Governor Steve Bullock as part of the 2020 Presidential Candidates Series.

Twitter: @GovernorBullock

David A. Paterson

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Governor David A. Paterson

55th Governor of New York

David Paterson served as New York’s 55th Governor from 2008 to 2010 following the resignation of former Governor Eliot Spitzer. During his tenure as Governor, Paterson is credited for drawing attention to New York’s fiscal woes, stretching the budget-drafting powers of his office, and enacting sweeping reforms on a wide range of issues facing New Yorkers. 

In 1985, at the age of 31, David A. Paterson was elected to represent Harlem in the New York State Senate, becoming the youngest Senator in Albany at the time. In 2003, he became the first non-white legislative leader in New York’s history when he was elevated to Minority Leader of the Senate. The former Governor, who is legally blind, made history again in 2004 when he became the first visually impaired person to address the Democratic National Convention, and again in 2007 when he became New York’s first African-American Lieutenant Governor. As Lieutenant Governor, he led the charge on several crucial issues for New York’s future including achieving legislation for stem cell research, working to prevent domestic violence, putting forth a statewide renewable energy strategy and championing the expansion of minority and women owned businesses in New York. The former Governor led the movement to create permanent reforms to health care in New York State, successfully negotiated an MTA bailout plan, and introduced landmark legislation to end legal discrimination against same-sex couples in New York.

Paterson was hosted by The Common Good in 2010: Leadership Series: David Paterson on New York Past and Present.

Twitter: @NYGovPaterson55

Brian Schweitzer

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governor Brian Schweitzer

23rd Governor of Montana

Brian David Schweitzer is an American politician who was the 23rd Governor of Montana between January 2005 and 2013. Schweitzer had one of the highest approval ratings among governors in the nation, with polls regularly showing a rating of above 60 percent. Schweitzer also chaired the Western Governors Association, chaired the Democratic Governors Association, and served as President of the Council of State Governments in 2011.

The same year Schweitzer completed his term as Montana Governor he was named to the board of directors of Stillwater Mining Company on May 2, and was subsequently chosen as non-executive Chairman on May 17, 2013.

Schweitzer was hosted by The Common Good in 2006 for a Meet & Greet.

Twitter: @brianschweitzer

Martin O’Malley

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Martin O’Malley

Attorney, 61st Governor of Maryland

Martin O’Malley has served as the Governor of Maryland, Mayor of Baltimore, and a city councilor.

In 1999, O’Malley ran for Mayor of Baltimore. Widely considered an underdog candidate, O’Malley campaigned on the promise of reducing crime, improving schools, and rebuilding broken communities. He went on to earn 90 percent of the vote. In 2007, O’Malley was elected as Governor of Maryland. Under his leadership, Maryland made sweeping investments in public safety, college education, affordable healthcare, and economic growth. The state recovered 100 percent of the jobs lost during the national recession, and was one of only seven states to maintain a AAA bond rating. Recognizing the threat that climate change posed to Maryland’s coastal communities, O’Malley took action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest in renewable energy, and grow green jobs. He signed marriage equality into law, abolished the death penalty, and passed the DREAM Act to expand the opportunity of a college education to more local students.

In 2015, O’Malley left office. In 2016, he ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

Twitter: @MartinOMalley

Governor John Lynch

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Governor John Lynch

Businessman, politician

Governor John Lynch is a strong proponent of improving the quality of education, promoting job creation and economic development, reducing health care costs, ensuring public safety, and protecting New Hampshire’s environment and natural resources.

Governor Lynch has worked with Democrats and Republicans to make kindergarten available to every child, to cut New Hampshire’s high school dropout rate in half, pass the toughest laws in the nation to protect children from sexual predators, to reduce spending by making government more efficient and build the economy by making it easier for companies to retain and hire new workers, increasing job training and providing tax credits for research and development.

Twitter: @GovJohnLynch

Governor Eliot Spitzer

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Eliot Spitzer

Lawyer and Politician

Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, political commentator, and former Democratic Party politician. Currently, he is the host of Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer, a nightly news and commentary program on Current TV. Prior to that, he was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN from October 2010 to July 2011. He served as the 54th Governor of New York.

Prior to being elected governor, Spitzer had served as New York State Attorney General. Spitzer was born and raised in New York, by real estate tycoon Bernard Spitzer. He attended Princeton University for undergraduate studies and then Harvard Law School for his Juris Doctor. It was there that he met his future wife, Silda Wall. He went on to work for the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and subsequently the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to pursue organized crime. He launched the investigation that brought down the Gambino family’s control over Manhattan’s garment and trucking industries.

In the 1998 election, Spitzer defeated incumbent Republican Dennis Vacco by a slim margin to become New York State Attorney General. His campaign was financed by a controversial multi-million dollar loan from his father. As attorney general, Spitzer prosecuted cases relating to corporate white collar crime, securities fraud, internet fraud and environmental protection.

He most notably pursued cases against computer chip price fixing, investment bank stock price inflation, predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders, fraud at American International Group, and the 2003 mutual fund scandal. He also sued Richard Grasso, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange over a compensation package perceived to be excessive.

Twitter: @EliotSpitzer

Read more:

Tim Mullaney, ‘Related Cos., Eliot Spitzer Propose Senior Living for Highrise Near Hudson Yards’, Senior Housing News, 12 June 2019

Errol Louis, ‘Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer Weighs in on the Mueller Report’, Spectrum News NY 1, 18 April 2019

Richard Bockman, ‘The Closing: Eliot Spitzer’, The Real Deal, 1 January 2019

Ted Strickland

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Ted Strickland

Psychologist, religious leader, politician

Ted Strickland is a former minister, psychologist, congressman and governor of Ohio. Strickland created one of the nation’s leading advanced energy laws, preventing runaway electricity rate hikes and making Ohio a national leader in green energy jobs. Strickland held tuition increases to the lowest rate in the nation and made Ohio the first state to offer free tuition to veterans from across the country. Under Strickland’s leadership, Ohio’s primary and secondary schools won the nation’s top prize for education innovation from the Education Commission of the States.

In Congress, Ted was instrumental in passing the Children’s Health Insurance Program that provides health coverage to millions of children nationwide. He was a leading advocate for funding the Appalachian Regional Commission and he voiced opposition to the Iraq War.

After serving as governor, Ted was nominated by President Barack Obama to be a public delegate to the 68th U.N. General Assembly. He also served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York. Most recently, Ted ran the Center for American Progress Action Fund where he spoke out on behalf of policies to strengthen America’s working families.

Strickland spoke at The Common Good in 2015 for a Meet & Greet.

Twitter: @Ted_Strickland

The Honorable Bob Kerrey

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the honorable Bob Kerrey

American politician

Bob Kerrey is a former member of the elite Navy SEAL Team and a highly decorated Vietnam veteran who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor, America’s highest military honor. Kerrey served one four-year term as Governor of the State of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987, then won election to the Senate in 1988, defeating an incumbent senator. He ended his congressional tenure in 2001.

Kerrey is a self-made businessman who, upon returning from the war and starting from scratch in 1972, built a chain of highly successful restaurants and health clubs that now employ more than 900 people.

Twitter: @KerreyBob