The myth of Thad Cochran bringing home the bacon to Mississippi: In 2014 Mississippi ranks dead last in US states in avg. of 14 different factors incl. high school graduation rate, per capita income, life expectancy, and crime

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Jan. 24, 2014, “The States of Our Union … Are Not All Strong,” Politico Magazine, Margarest Slattery

“We ranked all 50, from fabulous to failed....
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Politico Magazine rounded up 14 different state rankings from reputable sources like the Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI, and on important factors such as high school graduation rates, per capita income, life expectancy and crime rate. Then we averaged out each state’s 14 rankings to come up with a master list—atop which sits none other than New Hampshire. The approach isn’t scientific or comprehensive…and not all states are created equal—California’s economy is the world’s eighth largest, for instance, and Texas’s population outranks that of most countries. We also hold no grudges against the State of Mississippi, which came in last not just overall but on four of the individual lists….


Overall rank (1 = best)

Rank	State	Governor
1	New Hampshire	Maggie Hassan (D)
2	Minnesota	Mark Dayton (D)
3	Vermont	Peter Shumlin (D)
4	Utah	Gary Herbert (R)
5	Massachusetts	Deval Patrick (D)
6	Wyoming	Matthew Mead (R)
7	Colorado	John Hickenlooper (D)
8	Iowa	Terry Branstand (R)
9	Washington	Jay Inslee (D)
10	Connecticut	Dannel Malloy (D)
11	Nebraska	Dave Heineman (R)
12	New Jersey	Chris Christie (R)
13	Montana	Steve Bullock (D)
14	Maine	Paul LePage (R)
15	Virginia	Terry McAuliffe (D)
16	North Dakota	Jack Dalrymple (R)
17	Hawaii	Neil Abercrombie (D)
18	South Dakota	Dennis Daugaard (R)
19	Wisconsin	Scott Walker (R)
20	Idaho	Butch Otter (R)
21	Maryland	Martin O’Malley (D)
22	Kansas	Sam Brownback (R)
23	Oregon	John Kitzhaber (D)
24	Delaware	Jack Markell (D)
25	Alaska	Sean Parnell (R)
26	Pennsylvania	Tom Corbett (R)
27	New York	Andrew Cuomo (D)
28	Rhode Island	Lincoln Chafee (I)
29	Illinois	Pat Quinn (D)
30	California	Jerry Brown (D)
31	Missouri	Jay Nixon (D)
32	Indiana	Mike Pence (R)
33	Arizona	Jan Brewer (R)
34	Ohio	John Kasich (R)
35	Texas	Rick Perry (R)
36	Michigan	Rick Snyder (R)
37	Florida	Rick Scott (R)
38	New Mexico	Susana Martinez (R)
39	North Carolina	Pat McCrory (R)
40	Nevada	Brian Sandoval (R)
41	Oklahoma	Mary Fallin (R)
42	Georgia	Nathan Deal (R)
43	West Virginia	Earl Ray Tomblin (D)
44	Kentucky	Steve Beshear (D)
45	South Carolina	Nikki Haley (R)
46	District of Columbia (tie)	Vincent Gray (D, mayor)
47	Alabama	Robert Bentley (R)
48	Tennessee	Bill Haslam (R)
49	Arkansas	Mike Beebe (D)
50	Louisiana	Bobby Jindal (R)
51	Mississippi	Phil Bryant (R)

map image from Politico

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