Welcome to our second edition of The Blue Book, and happy 20 days until the 2025 election, John! We know you receive a lot of emails, but this one is different.

Can you believe we’re almost nine months into Donald Trump’s second term? It's never been more important to stay informed about current events – so we want this to be a source of news for the highlights of how Dem govs are delivering for their states.

• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a balanced, bipartisan budget into law that continues free school meals for all to lower costs for families! It also secures funds to fix Michigan’s roads, cuts taxes for seniors and working families, protects core health care services, delivers record per-pupil funding in schools, funds free pre-K and community college, makes commonsense changes to improve government efficiency, and invests in Michigan’s air, land, and water.
• Maryland Gov. Wes Moore – whose state is home to hundreds of thousands of federal employees – announced support and resources for federal workers in Maryland who are affected by the government shutdown.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed emergency legislation to protect access to food assistance and health care programs in her state that are impacted by federal cuts.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two election protection bills into state law aimed at curbing billionaire influence on elections.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced the People’s Budget tour, where she’ll be traveling around the state to speak directly with Kansans and hear their priorities for the state’s budget ahead of the 2026 legislative session.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to safeguard vaccine access for Pennsylvanians, protect children’s access to vaccines, ensure families’ freedom to make their own health care decisions, and strengthen public communication and combat misinformation.

• Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs launched her re-election campaign! From cutting taxes for middle-class families, small businesses, and veterans, to lowering childcare costs, to erasing medical debt for over 350,000 Arizonans, she’s been hard at work delivering results for the people of Arizona – and we’re ready to fight for four more years of her leadership.
• New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill demolished her opponent Jack Ciattarelli on the debate stage once again in their final debate – tackling issues like lowering costs, making government more accountable, protecting rights, standing up to the president, and putting working families first to show why she’s the clear choice this November.
• And Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger beat her opponent Winsome Earle-Sears on the debate stage too – promising to lower costs, protect reproductive rights, and fight against discrimination.

• Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and California Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated their wins against Donald Trump in court when a federal judge blocked Trump’s attempt to deploy California’s National Guard troops to Portland without Gov. Kotek’s or Newsom’s consent.
• Even in the face of Donald Trump’s threats to arrest him, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker stood strong in an interview with MSNBC, telling Trump: “If you come for my people, you come through me.”
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul shared a video on what she’s been up to in the Empire State – including calling on Washington Republicans to end the federal government shutdown, fighting to restore federal funding cuts to homeland security for her state, securing investments in infrastructure, and more.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker attended a panel on state leadership at the North Star Summit, and Gov. Pritzker gave a resounding call to action for grassroots Democrats: “When you’re fighting tyranny, and that’s what we’re talking about here, you have to stand up and speak out.”

Thanks for reading the Blue Book, John! We’d love to hear from you. If you have a minute, will you take our reader survey?

The DGA is the only organization dedicated to electing Democratic governors and candidates. We help our candidates run strong campaigns, from providing resources to fund operations to amplifying their messages to helping governors lead once they’re elected. This work isn’t possible without donations from grassroots supporters like you, so will you consider making a donation of $3 – or anything you can spare – today? You don’t have to donate to continue receiving this newsletter, but we can’t do this work without your support.

Thank you,
Team DGA