(WASHINGTON) -- It was Ronald Reagan Day on Wednesday.  Well, at least in four-fifths of the country.

Forty governors agreed to commemorate what would have been the 40th president's 102nd birthday, according to the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project.

In all, 30 Republican governors, nine Democratic governors and one independent marked the occasion of Reagan's birthday.  That left eight Democratic governors who didn't sign on and two others who were non-committal.

Celebrating the late president's legacy, Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist, who founded the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, remarked, "Ronald Reagan led America forward to defeat the threats to our prosperity of high taxes, inflation, and recession at home and a surging Soviet Empire abroad."

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Meanwhile in California, where Reagan served as governor for two terms, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown said Americans "will not forget Reagan's irresistible optimism, faith, and good humor."

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