WASHINGTON — Andy Beshear does not care if Democratic governors fight Donald Trump or cut deals with him. He just wants them to win.
“Each of our governors is in a different position,” the Kentucky governor and head of the Democratic Governors Association told MS NOW in an exclusive interview Wednesday, making the case for a big-tent approach in 2026 — even as he keeps an eye on a potential 2028 presidential bid.
Democratic governors have been thrust into the spotlight repeatedly over the past year, sparring with the White House over National Guard deployments, fighting the president’s push for midcycle redistricting and scrambling to cushion their states from the economic whiplash of an escalating trade war.
Some, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, have responded with blistering broadsides. Others, like Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, have extended a hand to the White House in hopes of getting things done — drawing sharp criticism from some base Democrats who want nothing less than all-out resistance.
“They may want you to push back against the president,” Beshear said when asked what he would tell those voters who are angry about a more conciliatory approach. “But what they want even more is a job where they can pay the grocery bill at the end of the week or the mortgage at the end of the month.”
It is a focus on those issues — and “receipts” from a job well done — that Beshear hopes will propel his slate of gubernatorial candidates to victory across the country in November, when 36 gubernatorial races will be on ballots.
It is no surprise that a man who himself won statewide twice in a Trump +30 state has an expansive view of where Democrats can compete in 2026. He is particularly bullish on Iowa and Ohio — two onetime battlegrounds that have shifted ruby red in recent cycles but that polls suggest are in play this year.
In Iowa, an open seat in a heavily agricultural state gives Democrats an opening, as the collision of Trump’s tariffs and the ongoing Iran war has sent prices spiking. Vice President JD Vance was in the Des Moines area this week attempting to blunt the political damage as the administration’s approval ratings on the economy continue to slide.
In Ohio, Trump-aligned Vivek Ramaswamy is set to take on Dr. Amy Acton, a public health official who served under GOP Gov. Mike DeWine during the Covid-19 pandemic. “They saw her work across the aisle with a Republican governor, and she’s running against someone who is totally out of touch,” Beshear said.
Acton’s candidacy, drawing on her experience working across the aisle, feels emblematic of the way Beshear has positioned himself — and the message he has been road-testing since his own back-to-back gubernatorial wins in deep-red Kentucky. On working with Republicans, he is philosophical but pragmatic: “You have to have a relationship,” Beshear said. “That doesn’t mean that it’s always good, and certainly with this administration, it’s really hard to have a good relationship, but the way I’ve always gone about it is you can’t let what’s happening today prevent you from possibly getting something important done tomorrow. It’s that idea that my job is to be the best governor of Kentucky I can be, not the best Democratic governor of Kentucky that I can be.”
Whether that message resonates in a Democratic Party still searching for a North Star — both ideologically and organizationally — remains an open question.
Beshear is candid that he is thinking about a presidential run. “I haven’t made any decisions, ultimately, about my future,” he told MS NOW. “But I do want to be a voice of reason in the chaos that encourages us that we can get beyond these crazy divisions that we have in the country right now.”
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But before 2028 comes 2026. And before heading into the midterms this fall, some Democrats believe the party needs to reckon honestly with 2024. After that election, the Democratic National Committee commissioned a so-called autopsy to diagnose what went wrong with the party’s platform, national message and presidential campaign. DNC Chair Ken Martin has declined to release it.
Beshear, asked whether seeing the report would help inform his midterm strategy, first touted Democratic wins before saying, “I’d read the autopsy,” Beshear said. “You’re always better with more information.”
Asked by MS NOW if he would ask the DNC for it, he said simply, “I’ll take it and I’ll read it.”
As for his plans to ensure 2028 is better for his party than 2024, Beshear’s travel tells the story of a man considering his own path. He is set to travel to New Hampshire and South Carolina later this month — two early-primary states that anchor the presidential nominating calendar.
Asked whether he is comfortable being talked about as a potential 2028 candidate, he was clear: “I’m comfortable in that.”
Beshear said he will not make any formal decisions until after his DGA tenure ends following the November elections. But his message — whether as party strategist or presidential aspirant — remains the same: Elevate Democrats who can win.
“I want that conversation that’s out there to be one that’s focused on where whoever is the nominee can win this next election for Democrats,” he said. “It isn’t a need to win. It’s an absolute have to win.”
Emily Gold contributed to this article.
Ali Vitali is MS NOW's senior congressional correspondent and the host of "Way Too Early." She is the author of "Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House … Yet."