Republican Governors Association (RGA)

As of October 2024, Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) is the chairman of the RGA. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) is the RGA’s vice chairman. ^{3 4}

As of October 2024, the RGA has received $54.8 million in contributions and reported $39.8 million in expenditures for the 2024 calendar year. ⁵

History and Leadership

The Republican Governors Association was founded in 1963 as a political organization to support the campaigns and efforts of state governors and gubernatorial candidates of the Republican Party. ⁶ The group’s membership includes Republican state and territorial governors. As of October 2024, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) is the chairman of the RGA. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) is the organization’s vice chairman. ^{3 4}

Sara Craig Gongol has been the executive director of the RGA since January 2023. Her term will conclude in January of 2027. ⁷

Prior to joining the RGA, Gongol was the chief-of-staff to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R). She also helped lead Governor Reynolds’ campaign operations in 2018 and 2022 and worked on the 2012 presidential campaign of former Massachusetts governor and later U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT). ^{7 8 9}

Then-California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) was the chairman of the RGA from 1968 to 1969. ¹⁰

Activities and Funding

The Republican Governors Association is a political organization that supports the election of Republicans to governorships across the United States. The organization provides resources to support Republican governors’ efforts and campaigns. ^{1 2}

The RGA is not affiliated with non-partisan National Governors Association (NGA) or the Council of State Governments (CSG). ¹¹ Its Democratic Party equivalent is the Democratic Governors Association (DGA). ¹²

Political Activities

The Republican Governors Association is a registered 527 political organization. ¹³ As of October 2024, the organization has given $5,950,00 to its affiliated political action committee (PAC), RGA Right Direction, to support Republicans seeking gubernatorial roles across the United States in the 2024 election cycle. ¹⁴

The RGA is affiliated with several other nonprofit organizations and political action committees that support similar, state-level objectives. These PACs include the American Comeback Committee, RGA Right Direction PAC, State Solutions, the Republican Governors Public Policy Committee, and the RGA Freedom PAC. ¹⁵

Funding

The Republican Governors Association receives funding from individual contributions. ¹⁶ In 2023, the RGA received $59.9 million in contributions and reported $34.1 million in expenditures. ⁵

As of October 2024, the RGA has received $54.8 million in contributions and reported $39.8 million in expenditures. ⁵ During the 2024 election cycle, the organization received $3 million from the Citadel Corporation and $1 million from Molina Healthcare. ¹⁷

The RGA raised $187,793,859 and spent $209,741,310 during the 2022 campaign cycle. ¹⁸ According to OpenSecrets, top contributors or top employers reported by contributors in that cycle included the Judicial Crisis Network, Las Vegas Sands, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Sedona Magnet, and the Marcus Foundation. ¹⁹ In 2020, RGA raised $103,843,820 and spent $83,999,468. ²⁰ Its top contributors or top employers reported by contributors in the 2020 election cycle included the Marcus Foundation, the Centene Corporation, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the UnitedHealth Group, and Franklin Mountain Management. ²¹