AP: DGA Chair Gov. Andy Beshear Says “Focusing on Everyday Concerns is Key for Democrats Vying for Governorships”

AP: DGA Chair Gov. Andy Beshear Says “Focusing on Everyday Concerns is Key for Democrats Vying for Governorships”

New reporting from the AP highlights how DGA Chair Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear sees Democratic gubernatorial candidates building on their historic success in 2025 by focusing on “offering solutions for Americans feeling stressed by high costs for housing, health care and other essentials” as the DGA goes on offense this year.

Outlining how “core issues” like the economy, health care, public safety, and education will remain top of mind for voters who are facing rising costs, Gov. Beshear noted how Democratic candidates’ message on affordability will contrast with Republicans’ support for slashing health care and food assistance in order to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.

Check out more from the AP’s reporting here or read more below:

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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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