From Robert Whitcomb's 'Digital Diary'' in GoLocal24.com:

The role of governors and  states’ dominant political philosophy  and policy in the economic success or lack thereof of these jurisdictions has always been exaggerated. Economies are very complicated.  You see this in the list of states that haven't regained the jobs lost in the Great Recession. In New England, those are Rhode Island and Connecticut – both states mostly run by liberal Democrats. But the other states on the list --- Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and Wyoming – are all run by Republicans.