Serving as governor used to be a stepping stone to the Senate. These days, not so much.
Governors are refusing to run for open Senate seats — despite heavy lobbying from the national parties — and sitting senators are opting to run for governor rather than for re-election. The Senate’s current slate of governors-turned-senators say there’s a good reason why.
“They see the same thing that we see in terms of a dysfunctional operation in the Senate and the House,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, who served as South Dakota’s governor from 2003-2011. “We don’t even do appropriations. We do continuing resolutions. We’re not able to build consensus. Those are not good things.”