( CNN ) -- Virginia Gov . Bob McDonnell on Tuesday night tried to sell the American public on the virtues of having the GOP in charge of states . In a speech at the Republican National Convention , McDonnell said that unemployment was lower in states led by Republican governors than in those headed by Democrats . CNN Fact Check : Santorum misleads on 'dependence ' The statement : . `` In states with Republican governors , the average unemployment rate is a full point lower than in states with Democratic governors . It makes a difference . Republican governors lead seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates . And 12 of the 15 states that have been ranked 'best for business ' have Republican governors . '' The facts : . A quick check of the governors ' party affiliations shows 29 states with GOP governors , 20 states with Democratic governors , and one state headed by an independent . According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics ' preliminary , seasonally adjusted data for July 2012 , 7.84 % of the civilian labor in the 29 states with Republican governors were unemployed ( 6,680,400 out of 85,155,600 ) . The same data set shows that 8.77 % of the 20 states with Democratic governors were unemployed ( 6,032,500 out of 68,792,500 ) . The national unemployment rate was 8.3 % . CNN Fact Check : Obama and Romney 's energy policies . The difference between 7.84 % and 8.77 % is n't a full point , though it is close . However , there 's nothing in the data itself to show a causal relation . It 's also worth noting that in 11 of the Republican-led states , the party has had control of the governorship for less than 19 months . It is true that , according to the July 2012 BLS data , seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates have Republican governors , led by North Dakota , with 3.0 % . : . 1 ) North Dakota ( R ) 3 % . 2 ) Nebraska ( R ) 4 % . 3 ) South Dakota ( R ) 4.4 % . 4 ) Oklahoma ( R ) 4.9 % . 5 ) Vermont ( D ) 5 % . 6 ) Iowa ( R ) 5.3 % . 7 ) New Hampshire ( D ) 5.4 % . 8 ) Wyoming ( R ) 5.6 % . 9 ) Minnesota ( D ) 5.8 % . 10 ) Virginia ( R ) 5.9 % . In four of those Republican-led states ( including McDonnell 's Virginia ) , Republicans have held the governorship for less than 19 months . The same is true for two of the three Democrat-led states . As for the `` best for business '' claim , a McDonnell spokesman said the governor was referring to `` CNBC 's America 's Top States for Business 2012 '' list . The criteria include rankings for workforce , quality of life , economy , infrastructure and transportation , access to capital and cost of living . We 'll not go deeper into how CNBC arrived at its rankings , or how much governors ' actions affected those rankings , but McDonnell 's statement that 12 of the list 's top 15 states have Republican governors is correct . In five of those states , Republicans have held the governorship for less than two years . The same was true for Democrats in one state . Verdict : True , but incomplete . CNN Fact Check : Romney 's welfare claims wrong . CNN 's Jason Hanna , Julie In and Amy Roberts contributed to this report .
Virginia Gov . Bob McDonnell : Unemployment lower in states with GOP governors . Census data backs this up , but in many states , GOP is new to office . Seven of the states with lowest unemployment have Republican governors , but McDonnell is new to office in four .