Newsweek: “For Democrats, Governors Have Provided (…) Sparks for Optimism During Trump’s Second Term”

Newsweek: “For Democrats, Governors Have Provided (…) Sparks for Optimism During Trump’s Second Term”

New reporting from Newsweek details the critical role Democratic governors are playing in leading the Democratic Party forward by standing up for the people of their states against the chaos in Washington and staying laser focused on the issues that matter most to the people they represent.

The piece highlighted how Democratic governors serve as “the party’s top messengers,” with Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger’s resounding victories in New Jersey and Virginia offering “a template” for how Democrats can win competitive elections nationwide by focusing on the issues that are top of mind for voters, like affordability.

Read more from Newsweek here, or check out some highlights below:

Newsweek: How Governors Became Voice for Voiceless Democratic Party

• For Democrats, governors have provided about the only sparks for optimism during Trump’s second term as they’ve trolled, sued and enforced state laws to stifle the administration while candidates like Sherrill and now-Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger of Virginia defeated Trump-aligned candidates on a message centered on affordability.

• As the nation heads toward the 2026 midterms, when several governorships and control of Congress will be at stake, voters can expect Democratic governors to once again take center stage as the party’s top messengers.

• “[Governors] can’t just make speeches, cast votes and go home—they have to deliver,” Meghan Meehan-Draper, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), told Newsweek in an exclusive interview. “[At the DGA] we’ve been working very, very hard to bring the Democratic ecosystem to be focused on the power of state races and governors.”

• Meehan-Draper has worked at the DGA for more than a decade—a rarity in the field of politics where people often jump from job to job. She started as the major donor director before working her way to national finance director, before taking her current position in 2023.

• When she started at the DGA in 2015, there were 18 Democratic governors. Today, there are 23. She said that they are among the most popular politicians in the country and have a proven track record of winning where other Democrats can’t. Governors Laura Kelly of Kansas and Andy Beshear of Kansas—the respective chair and vice chair of the DGA—hold office in states where Trump won by more than 5 percentage points in 2024. No incumbent senator can say the same.

• “In a moment where the country is hungry for change, people are going to listen to a message if it comes from people outside the beltway,” Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist and former spokesperson for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, told Newsweek. “In a world where people feel like it is Trump’s Washington versus middle-class America, governors are seen as less on the side of Washington and more on the side of Americans.”

• In contrast, Ferguson noted that Sherill and Spanberger have offered Democrats a template on how to win competitive races behind a message centered around lowering the cost of living. Newsom, a favorite for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination, has emerged as perhaps the most vocal online Trump troll while undertaking a successful campaign to alter California’s house districts in response to Texas gerrymandering its congressional map.

• Nonetheless, Democratic governors appear to believe they have a winning message, as they’ve demonstrated notable collectivism in highlighting similar accomplishments that could shape national messaging come 2026. Pritzker, Walz, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs have touted their victories in lowering taxes in recent reelection campaign videos while using the opportunity to knock Washington. Governors Kathy Hochul of New York, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan have also highlighted work cutting taxes.

• “Compared to eight years ago, during the first Trump term, there are many more prominent governors who have become household names,” Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist and former communications director for the DGA, told Newsweek.  “A lot of that has to do with the increasing role that governors have played in the party and also the expanding number of Democratic governors compared to where we were in 2017.”

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