State Credit Ratings Benefit GOP Prez Candidates

Good news for the potential Republican presidential candidates with gubernatorial experience: almost all can boast that their state’s credit rating rose while they were in office, The Hill reports.

That includes former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Utah's credit rating was unchanged during Jon Huntsman's tenure as governor, and Minnesota’s credit rating was left unchanged by Standard and Poor’s and cut by Moody’s Investors Service while Tom Pawlenty was in office.

Daniels can boast that S&P lifted his state to the highest rating, triple-A, from double-A when he took office in 2005. Massachusetts saw its S&P rating rise to double-A from double-A-minus under Romney.