Feel Good Story of the Day: Think Tank Ranks the Nation's Worst Governors, and the List Is Spot On

We’ve got some truly terrible governors in this country — trust me, I know. I live in California.

But who are the worst of the worst? Who has driven up the cost of living, prioritized woke over public safety, treated illegal immigrants far better than they treat their own citizens, and endlessly blamed Trump for their failures and declining communities?

The libertarian Cato Institute set out to answer that question with their 2026 Freedom in the 50 States report, which assigned states grades based on a variety of factors including their support for personal and economic liberties.

When I saw the news, I thought to myself, hoo boy, this is going to be fun. Should I start at the top and work my way down, I mused, or should I lead with the “winner” of the worst governor prize?

I decided on the latter option, and so now it is my great pleasure to introduce to you the single worst executive in the entire United States — in terms of freedom —according to Cato:

New York Governor Kathy Hochul ranks last among US governors, receiving an F grade and a score of 18.02%, according to the Cato Institute.

The report cites high taxes, government spending, restrictive regulations and limitations on personal freedoms.

Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/Uzb6OylEPA

— AF Post (@AFpost) October 26, 2026

It’s a solid choice: Hochul refuses to cooperate with ICE, oversees brutal taxes and runaway spending, is soft on crime, pushes pointless green policies that make everyday life more expensive for New Yorkers, and is in general just a walking disaster for the Empire State.

Well-earned, Ms. Hochul, well-earned.

Coming in at #2 is a lower-profile governor, Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, the state that gave us the clueless Sen. Mazie Hirono (D). But in news that’s really going to hurt Gov. Virtue Signal Gavin Newsom’s presidential hopes, he came in at #3. Oops.

California Gov Newsom Flunks Freedom Test: Ranks One of the Worst Governors in America.

The once Golden State receives “F” in CATO Institute State Rankings.@CaliforniaGlobe article link👇 pic.twitter.com/E6gkB0fPL2

— California Globe (@CaliforniaGlobe) October 26, 2026

Amazingly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who placed dead last in the report in 2024, came in at #40 (or tenth worst) this time around. Other than the massive fraud going down under his watch, the Somali gangs running around Minneapolis, and the fact that he allowed the state to almost burn to the ground during the George Floyd Riots, he’s doing a great job.

Coming in at #4 and #5, meanwhile, were Govs. Dan McKee (Rhode Island) and Maura Healey (Massachusetts). 

Notice anything about the bottom five governors? Every single one is a Democrat. And seven of the bottom ten are, too. Meanwhile, Republicans dominate the top 10 best governors list:

When it comes to overall freedom rankings for governors, only one Democrat makes the top ten list: Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, ranking second.

Montana’s governor leads the governor ranking, Republican Greg Gianforte. Other Republican governors joining him in the top 10 are Florida’s Ron DeSantis (3), Texas’ Greg Abbott (4), Iowa’s Kim Reynolds (5), Idaho’s Brad Little (6), Utah’s Spencer Cox (7), Nevada’s Joe Lombardo (8), Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt (9), and Ohio’s Mike DeWine (10).

Keep in mind that Cato is hardly a wild-eyed hard-core conservative outfit; they describe themselves as “assiduously nonpartisan and independent,” and they do not affiliate with any political party. Most bias raters put them slightly to the right or even in the middle.

Cato’s agenda is not to push the GOP or Trump’s agenda; it’s to tell the truth as they see it. And the truth is that a whole bunch of Democrat lawmakers truly suck and make our lives and states worse, not better. My only beef with the list is that I’d put Newsom firmly at the bottom, because he has been on an almost eight-year quest to destroy the most populous state in the union and has, in many ways, succeeded.

Although Newsom isn’t on the ballot (he’s termed out), many others with similar destructive views are. Remember that on November 3.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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