Democratic governors quicker to issue stay-at-home orders in response to COVID-19

Abstract

Does U.S. governors’ political partisanship matter to their responses to the COVID-19 public health crisis? Drawing from upper echelons theory, we examined whether and when the governors’ political partisanship (Democratic versus Republican) mattered to the time they took to issue stay-at-home orders, which were advocated to be a strong defense to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings based on event history methodology reveal that Democratic governors took about 9 fewer days than Republican governors to issue statewide stay-at-home orders. In addition, governing discretion and governing demands exacerbated the relationship of governors’ political partisanship with the time to their issuance of stay-at-home orders. For instance, when governing discretion was high, Democratic governors took 18 fewer days than Republican governors to issue stay-at-home orders. Moreover, when governing demands were high, Democratic governors took 25 fewer days than Republican governors to declare stay-at-home orders. Our findings are robust to different sets of analyses and a comprehensive set of controls. Moreover, additional analyses suggest that governors' political partisanship was also related to the issuance of reopening plans and that governing discretion and governing demands moderated the relationship. This research provides theoretical and actionable practical implications for various stakeholders in the fight against COVID-19.