Best/Worst governors in your state since 1900?

[Lothal1]

For Maryland I'd say:
Top 3 Best:
1. William Donald Schaeffer: For a while he made Baltimore one of the best cities in America, and began Maryland's cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay and having the best schools in the country.
2. Theodore McKeldin: Almost all of Maryland's infrastructure comes from his (Beltway, BWI, etc). He practically made Maryland the state it is now and brought to the modern age.
3. Albert Ritchie: Another transformer of the state, he ran a very effective government that carried the state throughout many of it's problems from 1919-1935.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Really dont know much before mid 1930s so Ill do since then

Best

1. Victor Atiyeh
2. Mark Hatfield
3. Tom McCall

Worst

1. Kate Brown
2. Charles Martin
3. Douglas Holmes

[Miles]

Best:

1) Huey Long
2) Earl Long
3) Edwin Edwards (first two terms)

Worst:

1) Bobby Jindal
2) Jimmie Davis
3) Sam Jones

[Kingpoleon]

For Maryland I'd say:
Top 3 Best:
1. William Donald Schaeffer: For a while he made Baltimore one of the best cities in America, and began Maryland's cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay and having the best schools in the country.
2. Theodore McKeldin: Almost all of Maryland's infrastructure comes from his (Beltway, BWI, etc). He practically made Maryland the state it is now and brought to the modern age.
3. Albert Ritchie: Another transformer of the state, he ran a very effective government that carried the state throughout many of it's problems from 1919-1935.

I was a big fan of McKeldin on AH.com. Anyway:

Best:
1. Winthrop Rockefeller
2. Mike Beebe
3. Dale Bumpers

Worst:
1. Jim Guy Tucker
2. Bill Clinton
3. Frank White
(4. Mike Huckabee)

[VPH]

Best
1. Kathleen Sebelius
2. Alf Landon
3. Payne Ratner

Worst
1. Sam Brownback
2. Mike Hayden
3. Jonathan Davis

[Illiniwek]

Trying to be objective:

Best: The ones who didn't go to jail

Worst: The ones that did

[Zioneer]

Best

1. Simon Bamberger (progressive reformist, also first Jewish governor, whose WW1-era policies were like a mini-New Deal)
2. George Dern (progressive reformist, helped keep the state afloat during the Depression)
3. Cal Rampton (strong moderate, helped modernize the state and kept the Utah GOP out of the governor's mansion for three terms)

Worst
1. J Bracken Lee (see below)
2. Gary Herbert (see below)
3. ? (nobody's really ridiculously bad; Lee was a Bircher and Herbert's corrupt, but nobody else is actually that bad)

I am indeed a partisan hack.

[RFayette]

In California:

Best:
1. Ronald Reagan   'Nuff said.
2. Earl Warren - built some good highways and did a lot of good, though too liberal for my tastes
3. Pete Wilson or Jerry Brown's 2010-present term

Worst:
1. Jerry Brown's one term in the 1970's - policies helped lead to current water shortage and excessive traffic by refusing to upgrade infrastructure with his "small is beautiful" policy
2. Arnold Schwarzenagger - incompetent all-around
3. No clue

[tmthforu94]

Best
1. Arthur Capper (1915-1919)
2. Bill Graves (1995-2003)
3. John Martin (1885-1889)

I'm a homer so won't do worst. We've been pretty fortunate in Kansas over the years.

[Mr. Smith]

In CA:

Best
1. Jerry Brown
2.  Hiram Johnson
3.  Pat Brown
4.  Earl Warren
5.  J. Goodwin Knight

Worst

1. George Deukmijian
2. Frank Merriam
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Gray Davis
5. Pete Wilson

[White Trash]

Best

1. Huey Long
2. Edwin Edwards
3. Dave Treen

Worst

1. Kathleen Blanco
2. Thomas O. Moore
3. Bobby Jindal

[Boston Bread]

Best: Ernest C. Drury
Worst: Mike Harris

Hard to rank most of Ontario's premiers since most are just meh.

[Mr. Reactionary]

In Virginia we pretty much always have 3 types of governors, at least since I've been alive:

1.) Lackluster governors who are hard to like or remember
2.) Governors who are fairly competent but who also have terrible personal qualities.
3.) Mark Warner


Best
M. Warner

Worst
B. McDonnell [Good management by a filthy crook who absolutely deserves jail]
T. McAuliffe [Not as good on management but not AS crooked (yet)]


Forgettables with negatives
D. Wilder [Jerk with a bad temperament]
J. Gilmore [Annoying loser whose main accomplishment hurt the budget]
C. Robb [Cokehead]
G. Allen [Good management as Governor, but a racist big government liberal after]
T. Kaine [Captain Coattails, did nothing, no personality]

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Best
1. Chase Osborn (progressive reformist; eliminated budged deficit, adopted presidential primary, and signed workmen's compensation)
2. William G. Milliken (moderate, bipartisan Republican who fought for civil rights and led the charge to repeal the sales tax on food and prescriptions)
3. George Romney (Fought for civil rights, presided over constitutional convention, worked to stabilize Detroit during the 1967 riots, and improved Michigan's business climate)
4. G. Mennen Williams (Fought for civil rights and was instrumental in approving construction of the Mackinac Bridge)
5. Woodbridge N. Ferris (another progressive governor; created Michigan's initiative and referendum process)

Worst
1. Jennifer Granholm (2003-2011) (destroyed Michigan's economy with high taxes and made us the only state to lose population between 2000 and 2010, as well as one of the nation's highest unemployment rates)
2. Can't think of anyone else

Most of Michigan's governors, thankfully, have been pretty good.  Based on that, I would say Granholm is a contender for worst ever.

In California:
1. Jerry Brown's one term in the 1970's - policies helped lead to current water shortage and excessive traffic by refusing to upgrade infrastructure with his "small is beautiful" policy

Brown served two terms at that time.

[Mr. Illini]

Blagojevich and Ryan are obviously two of the worst. Blago was such a fool, even outside of his scandal.

Edgar and Stevenson would be two of the best. Edgar has continued his legacy of FF-ness by publicly criticizing Rauner.

[VPH]

Best
1. Arthur Capper (1915-1919)
2. Bill Graves (1995-2003)
3. John Martin (1885-1889)

I'm a homer so won't do worst. We've been pretty fortunate in Kansas over the years.

Past Brownback I kinda struggled to find the 'worst'

[Blue3]

I'm not sure if RI has had any Governors of consequence since then. Maybe TF Greene?

[Pyro]

Best: FDR or Dewey
Worst: Probably Spitzer by default. Otherwise Pataki or Cuomo.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Worst: Arnold and Reagan were pretty bad, but Frank Merriam might be the worst
Best: Perhaps Hiram Johnson. As flawed as Jerry Brown is, he's still one of the best.

[Maxwell]

I think the best Governors of Oklahoma were:

1. George Nigh
2. Brad Henry
3. David Boren (he spent only a short time as Governor, was among the best Senators we've had though)

Worst:

1. Mary F'in Fallin
2. David Walters (fraudster)
3. David Hall (Fraudster)

[LLR]

Best
1. Mario Cuomo
2. Franklin Roosevelt
3. Thomas Dewey

Worst
3. Malcolm Wilson
2. Andrew Cuomo
1. Eliot Spitzer

[MadmanMotley]

Best:
1. Mitch Daniels
2. Robert Orr
3. Otis Bowen

Worst:
1. Edward Jackson
2. Samuel Ralston
3. Matthew Welsh

[progressive85]

Best:

1. William Weld
2. Deval Patrick
3. Leverett "Salty" Saltonstall

Worst:

1. Mitt Romney

[Illiniwek]

Trying to be objective:

Best: The ones who didn't go to jail

Worst: The ones that did

Blagojevich and Ryan are obviously two of the worst. Blago was such a fool, even outside of his scandal.

Edgar and Stevenson would be two of the best. Edgar has continued his legacy of FF-ness by publicly criticizing Rauner.

This agrees with pretty much with what I said above, although I am a bit less critical of pre-scandal Blago. Definitely agree with Edgar being a anti-Rauner FF!