Late last week, Maine Gov. Janet Mills made news after Donald Trump threatened the state with government retaliation during a National Governors Association event at the White House. At issue was Trump’s executive order targeting transgender students, who are protected from discrimination under Maine law.
Trump: “You better do it because you’re not going to get federal funding.”
Mills: “We’re going to follow the law sir. We’ll see you in court.”
In a statement later that day, Gov. Mills doubled down on standing up for the rule of law:
“The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the president’s threats. … If the president attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of federal funding, my administration and the attorney general will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides.”
She’s not the only governor playing hardball with Trump. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is using the special election to replace UN Ambassador nominee Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21) as political leverage to preserve New York City’s new congestion pricing law—which has already raised $48.7 million for the City’s public transit system.
These fights show how important it is to have strong Democratic governors in place over the next four years to fight Trump’s intimidation agenda. We can add women to governorships in 2025 and 2026.