NGA “Common Ground” Town Hall in Partnership with NBC News at 2026 Summer Meeting in Oklahoma City

Governors engage in bipartisan dialogue with "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker about the issues that matter most to Americans

OKLAHOMA CITY - The National Governors Association (NGA), in partnership with NBC News, today hosted its first-ever governors' "Common Ground" town hall at the 2026 NGA Summer Meeting. The event brought together governors from both sides of the aisle for a national media event to discuss the issues that matter most to Americans.

Held as part of NBC News' "Common Ground" series, which brings "together leaders with different perspectives who agree on solutions to the issues that matter most to Americans," the program featured NBC News "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker in conversation with four bipartisan governor pairings.

"Today's 'Common Ground' town hall is especially meaningful because at NBC News and Meet the Press, we've made bipartisan conversations a priority," said NBC News "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker." We think that these conversations are core to solving the critical issues that we are facing as a country."

NGA Chair Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer kicked off the town hall with a conversation about keeping the American Dream strong through innovation, energy and permitting reform.

"I believe we have to keep the free market, make it easier to start businesses, make it easy for people to grab opportunities - and affordability is something we're all focused on across the country," said NGA Chair Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.

"What we're doing here is so critical. Sitting down, not as Democrats and Republicans, but as Americans, to say, 'How do we get this American Dream to truly work for everyone?'" said Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox spoke with Welker about supporting education, student achievement and opportunity.

"An education focus that's important but often goes underrated is recognizing that learning doesn't end at 3 p.m.," said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. "In Colorado, we are investing in afterschool programming for kids and helping kids afford summer programming."

"Let's not be afraid of AI. Let's use it in the right ways. Let's make sure all of our kids know how to use these tools because they're going to need to. But let's make sure that the computers are working for us and not the other way around," said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott came together to discuss federalism principles and the balance of power.

"When you have divided power between the federal and state governments, and then you separate the power at both levels among the legislative, judicial, and executive branches, what you've done is you've ensured that, to the best you can, that no one actor, whether it's a legislature or it's an executive official, can assume all power, because when they do, invariably it will be disconnected from the interests of the people," said North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein.

"It's really important for us to continue to remind people that the federalist approach adopted by our founders protects states, so that we can be the experiments; we can actually do the work," said Vermont Gov. Phil Scott. "I think it's really important that, especially in these times, that we provide everyone - not just one president, not just one congress, but everyone - with a reminder that we're not the junior partner here."

During the final segment of the town hall, incoming NGA Chair Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Gov. Stitt joined Welker and Tim Shriver, Co-Founder of UNITE.Us, Chairman of Special Olympics International, and Founding Chair of the Center for Dignity in Politics, for a conversation about restoring civility to political discourse and to announce the launch of NGA's Center for Dignity in Politics.

"We should keep modeling dignity and being willing to listen. Republican governor or Democrat governor, we're going to talk about our policies, but we can do it in a respectful way, and I think that's healthy for our country. It's healthy for people to see, and I think it's inspirational for people as well," said NGA Chair Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.

"We believe firmly that service will save us, and if you give people an opportunity to work on something big together, a big project, a big initiative, that service is sticky, and we want to be able to show dignity not just in word, but dignity in practice, because the ones who do it are generally the ones who now have developed a lifelong habit and lifelong connections that will guide you," said NGA Vice Chair Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

"What we're trying to do here with the National Governors Association is build an ongoing capability that channels the energy of governors, who are not elected as problem makers; they're elected to be problem solvers," said Tim Shriver, Co-Founder of UNITE.Us, Chairman of Special Olympics International, and Founding Chair of the Center for Dignity in Politics. "If you only focus on politics, you become a problem maker. If you actually figure out how to treat the other side of dignity, you become a problem solver, and we're going to try to build that into a capability that's sustainable."

The "Common Ground" town hall reflects NGA's commitment to fostering bipartisan collaboration and showcasing the leadership of governors as they work across party and state lines on the issues that matter to Americans and deliver results, bridge divides and chart a course for America's future.

Meet the Press will air segments of the town hall this Sunday, August 2, and the full videos of all four panels are available on NBC News' "Common Ground" website.