Democratic Govs. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Jared Polis of Colorado will be the co-chairs of a new “non-partisan” coalition of the nation’s governors committed to protecting the “state-level institutions of democracy” ahead of Donald Trump’s incoming presidency.
Governors Safeguarding Democracy, or GSD, will be overseen by governors and supported by a network of senior staff designated by each leader while being supported by GovAct, an organization “championing fundamental freedoms.”
GovAct is advised by a bipartisan board that includes former Republican and Democratic governors and senior officials like former GOP Gov. Arne Carlson of Minnesota, former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and former GOP Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts.
GSD will “implement affirmative strategies to protect the rule of law,” and bolster key state institutions to protect executive agencies, elections, state courts and other core democratic bodies. It will establish playbooks to “enable Governors and their teams to anticipate and swiftly respond to emerging threats.”
“How will this work? Well, at its core, GSD will catalyze collaboration across state lines,” Pritzker said during a call announcing the initiative on Tuesday.
He added, “GSD will leverage our collective strength, experience and institutional knowledge to drive policies that protect the rule of law and serve the people of all of our states. We’ll also leverage governor’s unique legislative and budgetary and executive and administrative powers to deliver results.”
Polis said the organization was founded because “we know that simple hope alone won’t save our democracy.” The initiative is not funded by Pritzker, the billionaire governor confirmed on Tuesday, but rather is paid for by other “philanthropic dollars.”
Pritzker and Polis would not confirm on Tuesday which other governors had agreed to be part of this alliance, but that both were “talking to governors across the country” and that “there’s been outreach to Republican governors.”
Pritzker said the group is built off a model initiative, the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, that Democratic governors formed in February 2023, after the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the right to abortion. That initiative was spearheaded by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is not confirmed to be in this new alliance.
In their launch call, Pritzker and Polis were specifically asked about incoming deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller’s recent comments that he’d accomplish mass deportations by potentially using National Guard units from red states within the borders of blue states.
“I’ll begin by saying that that’s unacceptable,” Pritzker said. “That’s not something that within Title 32 anybody would anticipate would be allowed and we would not — certainly not — cooperate with that. You know, beyond that, I can’t speak to you know, how they would intend to get that accomplished.”