Montana Governor Tops Freedom List

A libertarian think tank just graded every governor in America on 97 different measures of freedom, and New York’s Kathy Hochul came out dead last.

Quick Take

The Cato Institute’s 2026 “Freedom in the 50 States” index scores governors on 97 policy variables across 10 categories, from taxes to gun laws to free speech.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte ranked first overall, earning a perfect 10 and an A grade in both economic and personal freedom.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s office pushed back hard after she landed at the bottom of the list.
Critics note the ranking reflects one think tank’s definition of freedom, not a universal or politically neutral standard.

How the Freedom Index Actually Works

The Cato Institute built its ranking from 97 separate policy variables, sorted into 10 categories like fiscal policy, housing, education, speech, guns, and policing. Each category gets a percentage score, which then converts to a 0-to-10 freedom score and a letter grade. Cato says the scale is curved, meaning a perfect 10 shows a governor beat everyone else, not that they hit every pro-freedom policy on the list.

Cato tries to separate a governor’s personal record from the state’s existing laws. Governors earn credit for bills they sign that expand freedom and lose points for vetoes or proposals that would shrink it. The index also counts only policies actually in force, so if a court strikes down a restrictive law, it generally does not count against the state anymore, even though it can still count against the governor who pushed for it.

Gianforte Tops the List, New Jersey Takes Heat

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte ranked first in the country, scoring a perfect 10 with an A grade in both economic and personal freedom categories, according to his own office’s announcement of the results. Cato’s breakdown on free speech and association also lists nine governors earning an A, including Gianforte, Kim Reynolds, Bill Lee, Spencer Cox, Larry Rhoden, Gretchen Whitmer, Mike DeWine, Tina Kotek, and Jeff Landry. New Jersey, meanwhile, drew its own headlines as one of the states branded “least free” in the rankings.

Hochul Lands at the Bottom, Her Office Fires Back

Kathy Hochul finished last among all 50 governors in Cato’s ranking. Her office did not accept the grade quietly. A spokesperson said Cato’s version of freedom “means lower wages for hard working Americans, carrying guns without permits, AI chatbots running unchecked and social media giants gaining unfettered access to our kids”. The office argued the index ignores worker protections, public safety rules, and efforts to regulate artificial intelligence and protect kids online.

That response points to the real tension buried in this story. Cato’s scorecard treats lower taxes, fewer regulations, and looser gun laws as wins for freedom. A governor focused on wage protections or tech regulation will score worse under that formula, even if voters in their state back those policies. The ranking measures one specific definition of liberty, not a universally agreed-upon one.

Why the Rankings Draw Scrutiny From Both Sides

Researchers who study how composite rankings get built have long flagged this exact problem. Groups that design these scoring systems, including the European Commission’s own guidance on building indexes, note there is “no uniformly agreed methodology” for deciding which measures matter most or how to weigh them. Cato weighs all 97 variables equally, meaning a restriction in one category can be offset by a gain in another, a choice that shapes the final grade as much as any single law does.

None of that changes the basic facts voters now have in front of them. Gianforte topped the list. Hochul landed at the bottom. New Jersey took its own hit. The real debate isn’t whether Cato ran the numbers correctly by its own rules, it’s whether its rules are the right ones to judge a governor’s job performance in the first place. That argument, like most fights over what “freedom” really means, is likely to keep running long after this year’s grades are final.