Doug Ducey was one of the stars of the Republican Governor’s Association show last week at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. 

He kicked off the RGA’s annual conference with Mike Pence on November 16 at an event closed to the press, fielded the majority of questions at a November 17 news conference, and hosted a panel discussion on Nov. 18. A news release sent by the governor’s office said RGA governors “discussed policy wins and ideas, the strategies their states have taken to recover, and the importance of electing conservative leaders across the nation this coming election.”  

But attendees hoping for more than the usual talking points left disappointed. At least during the public portions of the event, the governors spent a lot of time asking and applauding each other’s answers to variations on the question: “How badly has Biden failed” in different areas.  

There were plenty of digs at the president and notably few references to Donald Trump. Ducey got plenty of compliments, direct and indirect. Pete Ricketts, the RGA’s co-chair with Ducey, hosted a panel on Wednesday and namedropped Ducey’s Border Strike Force during a discussion about Republican governors leading on border issues. And a group of six governors at the November 17 news conference largely deferred to Ducey when asked questions about RGA strategy in various races around the country.  

The event underscored Ducey’s continued high stature in the rarefied circles of Republican politicos, something that was clearly bolstered by Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia and Jack Ciatarelli’s stronger-than-expected showing in New Jersey earlier this month, two races that were frequently discussed at the Biltmore. Matt Benson, a GOP consultant working for gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson’s campaign, tweeted that Ducey “held court” at the conference. But the governor’s popularity among conference hob-nobbers won’t do much to change the sense that he’s not as well-liked by average Arizonans.  

Poll results released by Morning Consult on November 18 showed Ducey has the second-worst approval rating in his own state among all governors, besting only Kate Brown, the Democratic governor in Oregon. Comments from the governors during the event also seemed to confirm that the RGA is betting on the Youngkin formula for winning elections: don’t alienate the Trump base, but keep the former president at an arm’s length.