In honor of the late president’s 102nd birthday, 40 governors have declared Wednesday “Ronald Reagan Day” in their state, according to the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project.
The group, which has been focused on preserving Reagan’s legacy since 1997, says that 2013’s bipartisan 40-state recognition of the 40th president’s birthday represents a record number of participating governors.
The participants include all 30 Republican governors, nine Democratic governors, and one independent governor.
“Ronald Reagan led America forward to defeat the threats to our prosperity of high taxes, inflation, and recession at home and a surging Soviet Empire abroad,” said the Project’s founder and chairman, American’s for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist. “He left America stronger, freer, and safer than the day he became President,” said Grover Norquist, founder and chairman of the project.”
The Ronald Reagan Legacy Project annually sends requests to declare Feb. 6 “Ronald Reagan Day” to governors across the nation. This year just eight Democratic governors declined and another two have yet to commit either way.
The eight the Legacy Project said have refused are Arkansas Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, Delaware Democratic Gov. Jack Markell, Hawaii Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Kentucky Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, Minnesota Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, Oregon Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber and Vermont Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin.
The two who the Legacy Project said have yet to commit are Connecticut Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy and Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.
The 40 governors who have or are set to issue declarations recognizing Wednesday as “Ronald Reagan Day” are:
Alabama Republican Gov. Robert Bentley
Alaska Republican Gov. Sean Parnell
Arizona Republican Gov. Janice Brewer
California Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown
Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper
Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott
Georgia Republican Gov. Nathan Deal
Idaho Republican Gov. Butch Otter
Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn
Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence
Iowa Republican Gov. Terry Branstad
Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback
Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal
Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage
Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley
Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder
Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant
Missouri Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon
Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock
Nebraska Republican Gov. Dave Heineman
Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval
New Hampshire Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan
New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie
New Mexico Republican Gov. Susana Martinez
New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo
North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory
North Dakota Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple
Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich
Oklahoma Republican Gov. Mary Fallin
Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Corbett
Rhode Island Independent Gov. Lincoln Chafee
South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley
South Dakota Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard
Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam
Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry
Utah Republican Gov. Gary Herbert
Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell
West Virginia Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin
Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker
Wyoming Republican Gov. Matt Mead