Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear won reelection to a second term on Tuesday, securing another noteworthy statewide win that may serve as a blueprint for other Democrats hoping to prosper politically in the run-up to the pivotal presidential election of the following year.
“Tonight, Kentucky made a choice, a choice not to move to the right or to the left but to move forward for every single family,” Governor Beshear told a raucous crowd of supporters in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Kentucky governor resisted attempts to link him to Democratic President Joe Biden, citing the latter’s economic management in particular.
By concentrating on state-specific problems, such as advocating for exceptions to the state’s nearly complete abortion ban that he said would lessen its severity, Beshear shielded himself from the criticism. After Roe v. Wade was reversed by the US Supreme Court, his reelection provided pro-choice activists around the country with yet another win.
Beshear distanced himself from Biden throughout the campaign, but the federal pandemic and infrastructure funds that were poured into Kentucky helped him politically. Tuesday night, Biden called Beshear to congratulate him on winning reelection.
Beshear said his victory “sends a loud, clear message — a message that candidates should run for something and not against someone. That a candidate should show vision and not sow division. And a clear statement that anger politics should end right here and right now.”
With this triumph, the 45-year-old governor has established himself as a Democrat to watch—a candidate capable of winning handily in challenging political conditions.
Riding his leadership over unprecedented economic expansion and his management of several calamities, including tornadoes, floods, and the COVID-19 epidemic, Beshear defeated Cameron, the state’s attorney general and a close aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Beshear repeatedly attacked Cameron during the campaign for his support of the state’s comprehensive abortion prohibition, which does not include an exemption for rape or incest victims. This may have been a prelude to how Democrats would run in 2024.
In an attempt to become Kentucky’s first Black governor, Cameron contacted Beshear to congratulate him on winning the legal firm.
“We all want the same thing for our future generations,” Cameron said in his concession speech, according to AP.
“We want a better commonwealth, one in which it can ultimately be a shining city on a hill, a model and example for the rest of the nation to follow.”
