Beshear: Focusing on everyday concerns is key for Democrats vying for governorships

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Democrats looking to expand their hold on the nation's governorships should be focused on offering solutions for Americans feeling stressed by high costs for housing, health care and other essentials, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who is tasked with electing more Democratic governors, said Monday.

Three dozen races for governor are at stake in the November midterm elections as Democrats, looking to build on their 2025 victories in Virginia and New Jersey, try to gain ground in statehouses. While making their case on economic issues, Democrats should be more forthcoming in discussing how their values, including their faith, shape their policy proposals, Beshear said.

And they should go on offense against Republican President Donald Trump, who has “absolutely no solutions” for the challenges that families are facing, Beshear said during a sit-down interview with The Associated Press. Beshear is leading the Democratic Governors Association heading into the midterms.

“I believe that Americans are craving authenticity right now,” Beshear said. "They want to know you. They want to at least know what drives you. Because if they’re going to cast their vote for you, believing that you will make their life better, they want you to know that something is driving you to do that that is real and important to you.

“I call that the ‘why,’’' he said. ”Democrats are very good at the ‘what.’ We put out huge policy papers, but we don’t talk enough about the ‘why.’ And so if that’s somebody’s faith, then yes, they ought to be talking about it because that's intrinsically them."

The term-limited Beshear was noncommittal when asked whether he intends to enter the Democratic race for the White House in 2028. Beshear rose to prominence after winning three elections in Republican-trending Kentucky — once for attorney general and twice for governor. He defeated Trump-backed opponents both times he won the governorship. Beshear will travel the country this year campaigning for Democratic gubernatorial candidates, including the party's nominees in several presidential swing states.

Beshear predicted his party will pick up more governorships in 2026, with a strategy focused on such core issues as jobs, health care, housing, education, public safety and transportation.

That messaging includes portraying Democratic governors as a crucial line of defense in pushing back against Trump’s sweeping policies that are making life more difficult for Americans, the Kentucky governor said.

“When we elect Democratic governors, it helps the people of that state immensely,” Beshear said. “Democratic governors create good jobs with wages where you cannot only support your family, but you can afford to take that family vacation every once in a while. Democratic governors expand health care, they don’t contract it. And Democratic governors push back against the overreach of this Trump administration that is impacting people’s lives on a daily basis.”

In Kentucky, Beshear called for greater state investments in housing, education and health care in a speech last week that outlined his budget proposals to the Republican-supermajority legislature.

Pushing back against Trump

Democratic candidates should be on the offense pushing back against the GOP's big tax and spending bill championed by Trump last year, Beshear said. The measure delivered not just $4.5 trillion in tax breaks for Americans but substantial changes to safety net programs. The trade-off will cut more than $1 trillion over a decade from federal health care and food assistance, largely by imposing work requirements on those receiving aid and by shifting certain federal costs onto the states.

“I think that every Democratic candidate ought to be standing in front of the clinic that is closed because of these cuts,” Beshear said. "I think that every Democratic candidate needs to talk about how many more people are at a food bank because the food assistance is no longer there.

“It’s both an issue of the economy and affordability helping people get by,” he added. “But it’s also a case of just morality. Who cares about you and who is making it that much harder just to survive?”

The Democratic message will portray its candidates as being willing to stand up to Trump, Beshear said.

“We’re going to say where you have a governor that puts his state or her state above an allegiance to the president, you see services that aren’t in others,” he said.

The Kentucky governor also condemned the tactics used by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in carrying out Trump's immigration crackdown. The fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis sparked protests across the country.

“I believe the American people, by and large, believe that ICE is going too far,” Beshear said. “I think the American people rightfully believe that we need real border security, and the borders should matter and that we have to enforce our laws. But how we do it reflects our humanity. And what you see is a highly aggressive agency in ICE. ... And this level of aggressiveness is resulting in things like we saw in Minneapolis.”