Michigan Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer (D) speaks at the Detroit Economic Club on Oct. 31. She is not joining a Wednesday protest against the GOP's lame-duck power grab. (Photo: Carlos Osorio/Associated Press)
Among those not expected to attend? Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s most prominent Democrat and arguably the person with the most at stake in Republican deliberations.
Whitmer has denounced Republican lawmakers’ attempts at a lame-duck power grab and warned of the political consequences for Republicans.
But as Wednesday’s rally reflects, she and other party leaders have been content to let rank-and-file activists ― from organized labor as well as from Indivisible and other Resistance groups ― do the heavy lifting.
Asked about Whitmer’s plan of action against the lame-duck GOP lawmakers, Whitmer spokeswoman Clare Liening referred HuffPost to Whitmer’s Dec. 4 statement blasting Republican lawmakers’ “incivility and discord.” Whitmer is in regular contact with a “broad array of stakeholders” in the lame-duck fight, Liening added in a follow-up exchange.
Whitmer’s posture mirrors the approach top Democrats have taken in Wisconsin. Gov.-elect Tony Evers has condemned Republican bills undercutting his power that sailed through the Legislature in a special session last week. He expressed openness to legal challenges but has not played a major role in coordinating grassroots pressure, let alone rile up demonstrators from behind a megaphone. A spokeswoman for his campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Whitmer’s and Evers’ approaches have at least some detractors. These critics believe the two chief executives are acting cautiously in the interest of building Republican goodwill that won’t be forthcoming anyway.
“From the point of view of public leadership, it’s a mistake,” said a Michigan Democratic strategist who requested anonymity for professional reasons.
For the most part, though, progressive activists in Michigan and Wisconsin were sympathetic to the difficult choices facing Democratic leaders who have decided against more hands-on involvement.
They see their role as providing boots on the ground so newly elected executive officers have a chance to plan for the transition to governing in January.
“I know that the transition people are really busy,” said Larry Lipton, a retiree from Bloomfield Township, who is active in Indivisible Fighting #9, a group in Michigan’s 9th Congressional District. Lipton has been at two previous anti-Republican protests at the Capitol in recent weeks and plans to return Wednesday.
Mike Browne, the deputy director of One Wisconsin Now, a Madison-based liberal activism group, had a similarly accommodating analysis of Evers’ calculus.
Wisconsin’s incoming governor and attorney general are “moving forward with the mechanics of actually being in a position to take over and govern as effectively as Republicans will let them once the administration changes on Jan. 2,” Browne said.
In Michigan, where organized labor remains formidable, unions are content to play a quieter organizing game. The Michigan AFL-CIO has rallied its members to make calls to lawmakers asking them to vote against the raft of lame-duck bills. It brought about 200 union members to lobby against the bills in person at the state Capitol in Lansing.
Ron Bieber, a former union autoworker who runs the state labor federation, is “optimistic” that the legislation will fail, making an effort to pressure Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to veto it premature at this stage.
Wisconsin and Michigan have mobilized mass civil disobedience to confront Republican assertions of power in the not-so-distant past. When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) gutted public-sector collective bargaining rights in February 2011, Democratic lawmakers initially fled the state to deny the Republican majority a quorum while thousands of protesters occupied the Capitol. And when Republicans tried to pass legislation making Michigan a right-to-work state in December 2012, thousands of protesters also came out in force.
But the Republican victories in both cases, which allowed them to further undermine Democrats by weakening their union backers, have devastated progressive morale in the two states and sapped Democrats’ appetite for similar showdowns.
Wisconsin Gov.-elect Tony Evers (D) speaks at a campaign rally on Oct. 26. Like Whitmer, he has not taken part in public demonstrations against Republican power grabs. (Photo: Morry Gash/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
To make matters worse, Wisconsin Republicans have argued, somewhat convincingly, that protests just embolden them and give them material for propaganda to rail against “Madison liberals,” according to Dana Schultz, executive director of the Milwaukee-based democracy reform nonprofit Wisconsin Voices.
“We need to stop the bleeding,” she said. “People are so thirsty for some kind of positive direction that it can stifle creativity and courageousness in terms of tactics.”
National groups have taken their leads from state-level activists and Democratic leaders, which is one reason why there have not been high-profile visits from the likes of Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.
Wisconsin activists, in particular, thought they could have more success pressuring individual Republican state senators without national interference, according to Rebecca Lynch, political director of the Wisconsin Working Families Party, a progressive group that has played a lead role in organizing during the lame-duck legislative session. Their efforts bore at least some fruit: One Republican senator voted against a bill curtailing early voting.
Lynch and other activists believe the defection helped spook Republican leaders out of ramming through a measure that would have moved up the state’s presidential primary from April to March 2020. The date change would have separated the primary from a state Supreme Court election in April, likely depressing Democratic turnout for the court vote when a conservative judge is up for re-election.
The next step in Wisconsin is pressuring Walker to veto the Republicans’ bills, though Walker indicated Tuesday that he planned to sign them.
Once the various bills become law, the legislation restricting early voting would likely be ripe for a challenge in federal court. One Wisconsin Now successfully sued to strike down a previous iteration of the restrictions in 2016.
In Michigan, if the legislation reaches Snyder’s desk, activists are somewhat more optimistic about the chances of prevailing.
Due to terms limits, Snyder, unlike Walker, is leaving the governor’s mansion voluntarily. In the run-up to the midterm election, Snyder declined to endorse his party’s nominee to succeed him, and back in September 2013, in another contrast with Walker, he signed Michigan’s Medicaid expansion into law.
“He has shown that he can be fair and independent-minded when he wants to be,” said Bieber, the Michigan AFL-CIO president.
In an interview last week at the Harvard conference for new members of Congress, Rep.-elect Andy Levin (D-Mich.) called the fight to stop the GOP legislation “an existential question for Gov. Snyder about what his legacy is going to be.”
A Michigan politics watcher familiar with Democratic thinking in the state believes those sorts of appeals are more likely to work on the image-conscious Snyder than will mass protests.
“If that strategy goes bad, they can throw down the gauntlet,” said the politics watcher, who asked to remain anonymous to address sensitive party matters.
Even if Snyder signs the bills repealing minimum wage and paid sick leave laws, Democrats think they have a solid chance of defeating the repeals in the state Supreme Court because of the way Republicans preempted a referendum on the two policies.
A spokesman for Snyder said the governor would not comment on the various bills until they have made their way through both legislative chambers. That is likely to occur in the coming weeks.
Without legislative majorities, however, there are simply limits to what Democrats can do in Republican-dominated states. And given the extreme gerrymandering that protects those Republican majorities, it could take until 2022 to retake both legislative chambers in the two states. Despite winning a solid majority in November’s popular vote, Wisconsin Democrats flipped just one seat in the state Assembly.
Retaking the governor’s mansion in Wisconsin was one step in a multi-year organizing strategy, Lynch said.
Now the WFP is pivoting to turn out progressive voices in Evers’ town halls on the budget, as well as channel the energy provoked by the GOP-controlled Legislature’s power grab into more electoral progress. Democrats have the chance to defend a liberal seat on the state Supreme Court in April and in 2020 flip the state Senate, where Republicans will have a smaller, five-vote advantage.
Lynch credits voter registration during the Democratic gubernatorial primary for helping propel Evers’ victory and hopes to get a similarly early start on state Senate races.
“State Senate recapture has to start now,” she said.
One thing no Democrat who spoke with HuffPost endorsed was inflicting a comparable fate on Republicans if they had the power to do so.
Abdul El-Sayed, a former progressive gubernatorial candidate whose PAC, Southpaw Michigan, has encouraged its members to call Michigan lawmakers and join Capitol protests, said a vindictive approach would feed the cycle of polarization.
“I would hate to see the tit-for-tat game destroy our entire approach to governing,” he said.
ALABAMA STATE CAPITOL Montgomery, Alabama Year completed: 1851 Architectural style: Greek Revival FYI: A bronze star marks the spot where Jefferson Davis, newly named president of the Confederate States of America, gave his inaugural address. Visit: Guided tours are offered on Saturdays at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 pm.
ALASKA STATE CAPITOL Juneau, Alaska Year completed: 1931 Architectural style: Art Deco FYI: The limestone and marble used to construct the building’s facade is also native to Alaska—it hails from the Prince of Wales Island. Visit: Guided tours are available from mid-May to mid-September, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
MASSACHUSETTS STATE HOUSE Boston, Massachusetts Year completed: 1798 Architectural style: Federal FYI: The gleaming dome of the Massachusetts State House was not always metal. The original wooden topper leaked, so it was remodeled and covered in copper by a noteworthy company: Paul Revere and Sons. Visit: Guided tours are offered Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Reservations are required.
ARIZONA STATE CAPITOL MUSEUM Phoenix, Arizona Year completed: 1900 Architectural style: Classical Revival FYI: The building, once home to the territorial government, is now a museum dedicated to the history of Arizona. The governor’s office and state House and Senate floors are located in other buildings in the same complex off Wesley Bolin Plaza. Visit: The museum exhibits are open from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with staff available to answer questions from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Or, reserve a guided tour (from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)
ARKANSAS STATE CAPITOL Little Rock, Arkansas Year completed: 1915 Architectural style: Neo-Classical FYI: Don’t forget to look up. The rotunda of the capitol is a 17-foot-tall, 12-foot-wide brass chandelier made by Mitchell Vance and Company. Keep an eye out for decorative elements, such as an eagle perched on top of the Liberty Bell. Visit: Guided tours are offered Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reservations are encouraged.
CALIFORNIA STATE CAPITOL AND CAPITOL MUSEUM Sacramento, California Year completed: 1874 Architectural style: Neo-Classical FYI: Look for Minerva. You’ll find the Roman goddess pictured in the Great Seal, on tile groupings on the floor, peering down from arches leading to the second-floor rotunda walkway, and the pediment in the building’s exterior. According to myth, Minerva was born fully grown, the way California became a state without first being a territory. Visit: Public tours leave on the hour daily, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
COLORADO STATE CAPITOL Denver, Colorado Year completed: 1893 Architectural style: Neo-Classical FYI: In the capitol’s rotunda, 16 stained glass windows depict the state’s “Hall of Fame,” which includes figures such as frontiersman Kit Carson and Alexander Majors, co-founder of the firm that established the Pony Express. Visit: Historical tours leave hourly Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The House and Senate chambers open for tours mid-January to mid-May (from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) Gallery guides are on hand to answer any questions.
CONNECTICUT STATE CAPITOL Hartford, Connecticut Year completed: 1879 Architectural style: Eastlake FYI: An 18-foot bronze statue of a winged woman, titled The Genius of Connecticut, resides in the capitol rotunda. It’s a replacement for the statue that once sat at the top of the capitol dome, but was destroyed by a hurricane in 1938. Lasers scanned the original plaster model to make a mold for the new version. Visit: Weekday tours leave hourly from 9:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. In July and August, a 2:15 p.m. slot opens up.
DELAWARE LEGISLATIVE HALL Dover, Delaware Year completed: 1933 Architectural style: Georgian Revival FYI: In addition to the current government building, you can visit The Old State House in Delaware. The Georgian-style building was the seat of government from 1791 until 1933, when operations moved to their current digs. Visit: Make reservations for guided tours (non-session weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in-session weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.). Additional tours are available the first Saturday of each month and on some holidays.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE Columbia, South Carolina Year completed: 1903 Architectural style: Greek Revival FYI: On the outside of the capitol, six bronze, star-shaped markers denote the spots where the building was hit with artillery during General Sherman’s Civil War march. Visit: Guided tours are offered weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reservations are recommended for groups.
FLORIDA STATE CAPITOL Tallahassee, Florida Year completed: 1977 Architectural style: New Classicism FYI: The current 22-story state capitol towers over its predecessor, a Classical Revival building completed in 1845 that is now the Florida Historic Capitol Museum. Try to spot it from the new capitol’s observation deck, located on the 22nd floor, 307 feet in the air. Visit: Self-guided tours are available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for weekday holidays. Groups of 15 people or more can arrange a guided tour during the week.
GEORGIA STATE CAPITOL Atlanta, Georgia Year completed: 1889 Architectural style: Neo-Classical/Renaissance Revival FYI: The Georgia Capitol Museum, the on-site museum dedicated to the history of the state, has existed within the Capitol walls for just about as long as the building has been around. It moved into its fourth-floor headquarters in 1890. Visit: Reservations are usually required for the weekday guided tours. January through April, they leave at 9:30 a.m, 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. From May to December, there are three tours each weekday: 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. No reservations are required for the day’s last tour, but each time slot has a slightly different focus, so check the website for details.
HAWAI'I STATE CAPITOL Honolulu, Hawaii Year completed: 1969 Architectural style: Hawaiian International FYI: The eight columns in the front and back of the building are supposed to represent the eight islands of Hawaii, and the curved walls of the legislative houses recall the state’s volcanoes. Visit: Scope out the capital on your own on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (except for holidays), or arrange a guided tour through the Governor’s Office of Constituent Services.
IDAHO STATE CAPITOL Boise, Idaho Year completed: 1912 Architectural style: Neo-Classical FYI: The Idaho State Capitol has the nickname “The Capitol of Light” for the way architect John E. Tourtellotte used shafts, skylights, and reflective marble to illuminate the interior of the building. Today, it’s the only capitol building heated by geothermal water. Visit: During legislative sessions, you can visit on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Visiting hours during the interim are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Guided tours are available from groups of 10 to 100.
ILLINOIS STATE CAPITOL Springfield, Illinois Year completed: 1889 Architectural style: French Renaissance FYI: Before it became the site of the capitol, the location—the highest in Springfield—was proposed as a burial place for Abraham Lincoln. Mary Todd Lincoln wanted him buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery instead. Visit: The capitol is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Coordinate group tours through the Physical Services department.
INDIANA STATEHOUSE Indianapolis, Indiana Year Completed: 1888 Architectural style: Renaissance Revival FYI: Many capitol buildings feature a dome or rotunda, but the Indiana Statehouse has three: a rotunda, topped by a smaller dome, with an even smaller sphere at the very top. The room inside the middle dome is painted white so the colors of the stained glass windows reflect on the walls. Visit: Guided tours leave the rotunda on Saturdays at 10:15 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 p.m., and 1 p.m.
IOWA STATE CAPITOL Des Moines, Iowa Year completed: 1886 Architectural style: Renaissance FYI: The Iowa State Capitol has something for fashion lovers as well as history buffs: glass cases inside the first floor of the capitol building display 42 dolls—one for each governor’s wife—wearing a replica of the dress she wore to the inaugural ball. Visit: Guided tours leave Monday through Friday at various times. On Saturdays, tours depart every hour from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
KANSAS STATE CAPITOL Topeka, Kansas Year completed: 1903 Architectural style: French Renaissance FYI: In 1901, sculptor J.H. Mahoney won a design contest for his 16-foot statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, to be placed on top of the capitol dome. People balked at both the price and the idea of a pagan goddess topping the capitol, so the dome went unadorned until 2002. After a new competition was held, Richard Bergen's bronze Ad Astra—a sculpture of a Kansa warrior—was installed. Visit: Guided tours depart on weekdays: January through May, 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m.; June through August, 10 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2 p.m.; September through December, 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.
KENTUCKY STATE CAPITOL Frankfort, Kentucky Year completed: 1910 Architectural style: Beaux-Arts FYI: Inside the building, two oil murals by artist T. Gilbert White depict Kentucky’s most famous frontiersman, Daniel Boone. One shows Boone and his party as they first discover the area; the second shows him at the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, purchasing the land that eventually became the state. Visit: The capitol is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call the office for information on guided tours.
LOUISIANA STATE CAPITOL Baton Rouge, Louisiana Year completed: 1932 Architectural style: Art Deco FYI: You approach the capitol via a grand, 48-step staircase—one stair for every state in the union (with an amendment for Alaska and Hawaii). But don’t let that be the highest you get on your visit. The Louisiana State Capitol has an observation deck on its 27th floor, 350 feet above ground. (It is the tallest state capitol building, after all.) Visit: The building is open from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. daily, except for major holidays.
MAINE STATE HOUSE Augusta, Maine Year completed: 1832 Architectural style: Greek Revival FYI: The portico and front and rear walls are all that remain of the original, 1832 structure (designed by architect Charles Bullfinch). A major remodel in 1909–1910 enlarged the wings of the building and replaced the building’s original dome with a more elongated one. Visit: Arrange a guided tour through the Maine State Museum, or check it out yourself Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
MARYLAND STATE HOUSE Annapolis, Maryland Year Completed: 1797 Architectural Style: Georgian FYI: The Maryland State House has been holding government meetings for more than two centuries. The Continental Congress actually met in the building’s Old Senate Chambers in 1783 and 1784. Visit: The capitol is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except for Christmas and New Year's Day. The Office of Interpretation will arrange specialized, curatorial tours of the building and its artwork.
MICHIGAN STATE HOUSE Lansing, Michigan Year completed: 1879 Architectural style: Neo-Classical FYI: Don’t let the faux marble pillars and walnut wainscoting trick your eyes—decorative painting techniques cover up the fact that the capitol building was made with more inexpensive materials, such as cast iron and pine. Visit: Guided tours are offered Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tour times vary.
MINNESOTA STATE CAPITOL St. Paul, Minnesota Year completed: 1905 Architectural style: Beaux-Arts FYI: Famed architect (and Minnesotan) Cass Gilbert designed the capitol—before he blueprinted the United States Supreme Court building. Visit: Hourly guided tours are available Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 pm; and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE Columbia, South Carolina Year completed: 1903 Architectural style: Greek Revival FYI: On the outside of the capitol, six bronze, star-shaped markers denote the spots where the building was hit with artillery during General Sherman’s Civil War march. Visit: Guided tours are offered weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reservations are recommended for groups.
MISSISSIPPI STATE CAPITOL Jackson, Mississippi Year completed: 1903 Architectural style: Beaux-Arts FYI: There are 750 lights in the capitol's rotunda alone. That makes it easy to see the figure of Blind Justice, as well as scenes of two Indians, a Spanish explorer, and a Confederate general. Visit: Guided tours depart Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
MISSOURI STATE CAPITOL Jefferson City, Missouri Year completed: 1917 Architectural style: Classical Revival FYI: The first floor of the capitol houses the Missouri State Museum, with exhibits detailing the state’s cultural and natural history. But that's not the only place to find interesting artifacts. In the buildings and around the grounds, look for James Earle Fraser’s 13-foot statue of Thomas Jefferson, Karl Bitter's bronze relief of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, a frieze by Alexander Stirling Calder (father of th famed mobile-maker of the same name), and Thomas Hart Benton’s murals of everyday Missouri life. Visit: The Missouri State Museum offers free guided tours every 20 minutes, beginning at the top of the hour, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (except for noon). June through February, tours leave every half hour, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (excluding a 12 p.m. lunch break).
MONTANA STATE CAPITOL Helena, Montana Year completed: 1902 Architectural style: Neo-Classical FYI: When the Capitol underwent an expansion in 1909, a conscious decision was made to feature art by Montana-based artists, including Charles M. Russell (his Piegans sold at auction for $5.6 million in 2005) and Edgar S. Paxson (known for painting Custer's Last Stand), among others. Visit: The Montana Historical Society offers guided tours. From May through September, tours leave on the hour (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) Monday through Saturday, and from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. From October through April, tours are only on Saturdays and leave on the hour from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. When the legislature is in session (odd numbered years), hourly tours are also offered from January through April, Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
NEBRASKA STATE CAPITOL Lincoln, Nebraska Year completed: 1932 Architectural style: Streamline Moderne FYI: Don’t forget to look down. Hildreth Meire’s mosaics decorate both the ceiling and the floor of the building. Although Meire worked on the National Academy of Science in Washington D.C. and St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, she called the Nebraska capitol her crowning achievement. Visit: Guided tours are available every hour on the hour (except noon): Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and holidays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
NEVADA STATE CAPITOL Carson City, Nevada Year completed: 1871 Architectural style: Neo-Classical Italianate FYI: After Nevada became a state, the constitutional convention made a provision that no state capitol would be built until after three legislative sessions, in case future leaders wanted to move the center of government away from Carson City. A ten-acre site set aside for the building remained empty. In his book Roughing It, Mark Twain describes the empty plaza as a useful spot for “public auctions, horse trades, mass meetings, and likewise for teamsters to camp in.” Visit: The capitol is open Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (it is closed on weekends). Call the Education Program at the Nevada State Museum to arrange guided tours.
NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE HOUSE Concord, New Hampshire Year completed: 1819 Architectural style: Greek Revival FYI: The stately eagle installed on top of the New Hampshire State House’s dome may look gold, but it’s actually painted wood. The original was removed for preservation and is on display at the New Hampshire Historical Society. A new, gold-leafed eagle was put in its place in the 1950s. Visit: Self-guided tours are available Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Arrange guided tours through the Visitors’ Center.
NEW JERSEY STATE HOUSE Trenton, New Jersey Year completed: 1792 (original structure) Architectural style: Various FYI: The New Jersey State House has always been a work in progress. The original building was first completed in 1792, and a few extensions were added shortly after. In 1885, a fire destroyed a portion of the State House, which was rebuilt in the Second Empire style with a new rotunda and dome. In the 1890s, a Victorian-style addition was made to the Assembly wing. Then in 1903, the Senate wing was renovated in the American Renaissance style. A four-story office was added three years later; it finally reached its present size in 1911, and so on... Visit: Guided tours leave hourly Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., as well as the first and third Saturday of each month (12 p.m. to 3 p.m.) The State House is closed Sundays and on state holidays.
NEW MEXICO STATE CAPITOL Santa Fe, New Mexico Year completed: 1966 Architectural style: New Mexico Territorial/Greek Revival FYI: New Mexico’s Capitol is the only one housed in a completely round building, earning it the nickname “The Roundhouse.” When seen from above, the shape is meant to evoke the Zia sun symbol. Visit: Tour the capital on your own Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Guided tours are available by appointment.
NEW YORK STATE CAPITOL Albany, New York Year completed: 1899 Architectural style: Italian Renaissance/French Renaissance/Romanesque FYI: The Western staircase inside New York’s capitol has been dubbed the “Million Dollar Staircase,” because it cost more than a million dollars to build—in the late-1800s, no less. The 444 steps took 14 years to complete, and more than 500 stonecutters and carvers earned $5 a day to work on the project. The staircase’s main feature is 77 carvings of faces, which include prominent Americans such as Abraham Lincoln and Susan B. Anthony, as well as images of the carvers’ friends and relatives. Visit: Guided tours are available Monday to Friday (excluding holidays). Tour times vary; call the Office of General Services—Visitor Assistance for more information.
NORTH CAROLINA STATE CAPITOL Raleigh, North Carolina Year completed: 1840 Architectural style: Greek Revival FYI: The North Carolina State Capitol boasts two impressive statues of George Washington. Outside on the grounds sits a bronze statue cast from a mold of Jean-Antoine Houdon's statue of George Washington in Richmond, Virginia. At the focal point in the rotunda, there's a copy of a statute that stood at North Carolina’s previous state capitol until 1831. The Italian sculptor, Antionio Canova, carved George with a Roman general’s uniform and haircut—and he’s writing in Italian. Visit: Self-guided tours are available Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 pm; and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Guided tours for groups of 10 can be scheduled through Capital Area Visitor Services.
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