WEST VIRGINIA: Restaurants back to 100% seating capacity; small business & retail store restrictions lifted; but mask mandate still in effect. Restrictions also lifted on gyms, fitness centers, museums, youth travel sports.

Related: Reopen America Now.

Texans and Mississippians might be forgiven for wondering why their governors did not earlier follow the courageous path of Governor Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), who has garnered national headlines for her stubborn refusal to enact various mask-wearing mandates and other lockdown orders. But still: Better late than never.

Abbott now joins Florida’s standout Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who recently finished second behind former President Donald Trump at the 2024 presidential straw poll conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference, as a fellow leader of a highly populous red/red-leaning state who has dared to defy the histrionic groupthink and draconian lifestyle restrictions that have far too often defined America’s COVID-19 response. DeSantis’ leadership on getting Florida back to seminormal again (the conference itself, normally held outside Washington, D.C., was held in Orlando, this year due to laxer COVID-19 restrictions) has dramatically elevated his national political profile. Abbott, a less surefire 2024 presidential contender, similarly stands to benefit politically, at least within the Lone Star State.

Joe Biden, never known for his eloquence, lambasted Abbott and Reeves for making a “big mistake” and succumbing to “Neanderthal thinking.” But federalism is a stubborn thing, and Uncle Joe has no say in how Texas and Mississippi exercise—or don’t exercise, as the case may be—their “police power” regulatory authority over their respective citizenries.

No word yet if Biden’s “neanderthal thinking” crack also applies to Ned Lamont’s Connecticut: Capacity Limits to Be Lifted at Restaurants, Gyms & More; Mask and Distancing Guidelines Maintained.