How much does your governor make?
We've been thinking a lot about battleground gubernatorial races and how they might change the landscape of trifectas. Between that and watching the debate between Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Ben Jealous (D) on Monday night (native Marylander here), I became more curious about the office itself. For example, we hear a lot about the salaries of members of Congress, but what about governors?
Gubernatorial salaries are typically determined by a state's constitution or statute. Most often, the salary portion of a governor's compensation is defined by law, but additional benefits may be established by state agencies, custom, or other factors. Such benefits can include insurance, official residence, and work-related equipment. For instance, 45 states subsidize the governor's travel, and 44 states have official gubernatorial residences. In some cases, salaries are automatically increased each year either at the rate of inflation or by some other percentage chosen by the legislature.
The highest-paid governor in 2017 was Gov. Jerry Brown (D) of California, who received a $195,803 salary. Not counting the six governors who denied themselves all or most of their salaries, the lowest-paid governor in 2017 was Gov. Paul LePage (R) of Maine, with a $70,000 salary.
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