Beshear: More states within ‘margin of error’ for Democratic gubernatorial candidates

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Sunday the party is looking to pick up multiple GOP-controlled governor’s mansions in November.

“If we went back a year ago, Democrats were trying to pick themselves off the floor,” Beshear told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “ State of the Union .”

But the chair of the Democratic Governors Association argued that New Jersey Gov. Mike Sherrill (D) and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) winning their races last year gave Democrats “some winds behind our sails.”

Beshear told host Jake Tapper, “Now, because Donald Trump’s agenda is hurting our American families so badly, we have even more states that are suddenly in the margin of error, Florida, Texas, Alaska, Nebraska. The map’s getting really big.”

Election handicapper Cook Political Report has shifted multiple governor’s races to the left in recent months.

That includes Florida , where former GOP Rep. David Jolly (Fla.), a converted Democrat, is taking on Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.). As of Friday, Decision Desk HQ , The Hill’s polling partner, gave Donalds a 67 percent chance to win, up 8 points from the day prior.

Another race Beshear mentioned was the Texas gubernatorial battle between state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D) and Gov. Greg Abbott (R). Recent polling forecasts a competitive race , although DDHQ still gave the incumbent a roughly 7 in 10 chance of securing a record fourth term.

“We’re talking every day with that campaign, and it’s just so exciting to see [Hinojosa] and James Talarico, me being a Southern Democrat, making a Southern state competitive again,” Beshear said Sunday, referring to Talarico’s Senate race against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

DDHQ also gives Democrats a 51 percent chance of flipping the House and Senate, which would give the party control of Congress for the final two years of President Trump’s term. If that occurs, Beshear said the party has to be “for something” and not just against Trump.

“Far too many people believe and feel the economy is rigged, it’s not working for them,” he told Tapper.

Beshear later said, “There is an opportunity here. But to take advantage of it, Democrats need to not just win in November. We’re going to have to govern well.”