Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is a rising star in the Democratic Party, and he has a new group to prove it.
Beshear plans to launch a federal political action committee (PAC) to support and raise funds for candidates across the country in the 2024 election cycle, USA TODAY/The Courier Journal reported.
The group’s creation comes as Mr. Beshear, who withstood attacks from former President Donald Trump and overcame President Joe Biden’s current unpopularity to win re-election in November, is a leader in the party outside the Bluegrass state. He has shown that he is ready to play a larger role in the
In an exclusive interview Sunday, Beshear said his campaign last year showed how Democrats can resist the recent ugly turn in American politics, and his new group wants to expand on that strategy. .
“This PAC supports candidates in especially tough states (red and purple states) who are running for the right reasons and bucking the national trend of anger politics and division,” he said. Ta.
Polls have consistently shown that voters do not like the idea of a rematch between Biden and Trump this fall, with some saying they would prefer to choose between younger leaders. It has been announced.
Beshear, who won conservative-heavy Kentucky by a margin of about 5 percentage points last year, emphasized the importance of “good people” running for office, both locally and nationally.
The group will not participate in the White House race, but will support Democratic candidates who “may be overlooked,” Beshear said. That includes those in close races for local, state-wide, and federal office.
“What we think this PAC can offer other Democrats is a roadmap and support in tough states for good people who are running for the right reasons,” he said.
Mr. Beshear joins a handful of governors across the country who are more popular than Mr. Biden and Congress and who are seen as the future of their respective parties.
Its central figures include Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, as well as fellow Democrats Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Gavin Newsom of California, who have started similar groups over the past year. I’m raising it.
Beshear’s rising Democratic star power
Beshear’s name quickly came up as a vice presidential or presidential candidate after defeating his Republican challenger, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, in the Republican-majority state that Trump won by about 24 points in 2020. emerged as.
“I think he’s the president,” Kentucky voter and hospital chaplain Dan Dykstra said in an interview at Beshear’s victory party in November.
Democratic lawmakers in the state and nationally hailed the win, pointing out how the Beshear campaign was able to successfully fend off attacks about Biden’s unpopularity in Kentucky.
Others focused on how the 46-year-old governor overcame sharp Republican attacks on culture war issues and larger economic concerns by focusing on table topics such as health care.
The Democratic incumbent’s team also ran one of the most effective ads of the 2023 cycle, political observers say, leveraging the Republican-controlled Kentucky General Assembly’s strict anti-abortion laws to his advantage. It is evaluated.
Mr. Beshear has sought to dampen speculation about his future, saying multiple times that after the election he is committed to fulfilling a second four-year term, ending in December 2027.
The governor said Sunday that the creation of In This Together “should not be taken as a signal that I will run for any other election” while in office.
But when asked if the group was a sign that he wanted a bigger national role within the party and its future, Beshear said he used his campaign last year to bring his and Kentucky’s message to the nation. He said he was in a position.
“Whether it’s in Washington or in the room where we discuss policy and politics, we want to make sure Kentucky has a front row seat at the table,” he said.
How did Beshear become so popular?
Part of his charm comes from his last name. His father, Steve Beshear, has held various state offices over the decades and was Kentucky’s governor from 2007 to 2015.
The younger Beshear, who previously served as attorney general, narrowly defeated incumbent Matt Bevin in 2019 by about 5,000 votes, but Republicans and most analysts say he has made polarizing comments during his tenure. This is believed to be due to Mr. Bevin’s slump in support.
But Mr. Beshear built his own following in his first term, largely through his humanistic teleconferences, which aired nearly every day in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Voters across party lines also praised the governor’s apparently empathetic responses to other crises.
For example, in 2021, Beshear was active in responding to disasters such as the tornadoes in western Kentucky that killed more than 80 people and the 2022 floods in eastern Kentucky that killed more than 40 people.
Last summer, Morning Consult ranked Mr. Beshear as the most popular Democratic governor in the nation, earning him high praise from both Republicans and Democrats.
Still, supporters and critics say he will need to broaden his message in domestic races.
He distanced himself from Biden during his 2023 re-election campaign, careful to avoid discussing ideas popular among more conservative progressive Democrats, such as climate change.
Beshear acknowledges that global warming is a legitimate threat, but he rarely discusses it, even in the aftermath of a serious national disaster.
The governor also slammed Trump, who remains highly popular among most voters in the Bluegrass state.
For example, when President Trump criticized him days before the election, Beshear was asked by a reporter to respond and moved on to talk about Kentucky’s economy and infrastructure.
If the group finds itself in a close race, especially if it faces more criticism from the left wing of the party, it could become more difficult for Mr. Beshear to avoid such issues.
Beshear admits that his PAC intends to support candidates with views different from his own, but that it leans more into personal character than an ideological litmus test.
“I am who I am and this PAC is not going to change that,” he said. “I’m a pragmatic governor…I think I’ve shown that pressure from the right and the left won’t move me.”
PAC launch could have major impact in 2028
Mr. Beshear is not alone in increasing his presence domestically.
Governors from both parties, who are said to have higher aspirations, have launched PACs as a way to boost their companies’ stock.
Doing so will establish a national donor network and provide needed allies outside the state.
Youngkin’s PAC (Spirit of Virginia) raised $30 million to support Republicans at the state and federal level from March 2021 to October 2023.
Late last year, Mr. Youngkin received a flood of invitations from conservative donors to participate in the 2024 Republican primary, but ultimately declined after his party failed to win a majority in the state Legislature.
Other governors have also invested outside the state, indicating a desire to gain greater stature on the national stage.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been named as the party’s next standard-bearer, has formed the Democracy Movement PAC, a group that promotes Democratic candidacies in Republican-led states. It has raised at least $8.7 million so far this cycle.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is co-chairing Biden’s re-election campaign, along with other prominent Democrats and fundraisers.
She launched the Fight Like Hell PAC last June and announced its first round of endorsements in December, funneling money to Democratic candidates running in battleground districts in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Asked whether Whitmer’s PAC’s efforts were a factor in her presidential bid, a PAC spokesperson said, “No.”
“Governor Whitmer is committed to serving the people of Michigan and reelecting President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats who move forward with our shared values,” the spokesperson said.
But as voters express concerns about the age of the 81-year-old presidential front-runner, these young leaders also enjoy something the party’s standard bearers aren’t: popularity.
Newsom, Whitmer and Beshear have all announced their support for the president’s re-election bid, but all have higher approval ratings than Biden, whose approval ratings have been stagnant since the summer of 2021.
Mr. Youngkin is also rated as more popular than Mr. Trump, 78, who holds a commanding lead heading into his return as the Republican presidential nominee.
“As governors, we are closer to our federal counterparts and have a stronger role in getting things done, taking ideas, turning them into action, and ultimately delivering results. I believe that,” Beshear said.
