Steve Beshear | Steve Beshear Bio | Steve Beshear Wiki | Steve Beshear Biography
Steven Beshear (Full name: Steven Lynn Beshear) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1980, was the state’s 44th Attorney General from 1980 to 1983, and was the 49th lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1987.
After graduating from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1968, he briefly practiced law in New York before returning to Kentucky and being elected to the state legislature, where he gained a reputation as a consumer advocate.
He parlayed that reputation into a term as attorney general, serving under Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. As attorney general, Beshear issued an opinion that copies of the Ten Commandments would have to be removed from the walls of the state’s classrooms in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Stone v. Graham.
He also clashed with first lady Phyllis George Brown when he opposed the practice of charging an admission fee for visitors to view the renovated governor’s mansion. In 1983, Beshear was elected lieutenant governor in the administration of Governor Martha Layne Collins. His most significant action in this capacity was the formation of the Kentucky Tomorrow Commission, a panel charged with making recommendations for the future of the state.
His’s initial rise to political prominence was interrupted in 1987 when he finished third in a five-candidate Democratic gubernatorial primary election. The Beshear campaign’s sparring with that of former Governor Brown, the second-place finisher in the primary, opened the door for political novice Wallace Wilkinson’s well-financed campaign to achieve a come-from-behind upset in the race.
For the next 20 years, Beshear practiced law at a Lexington law firm. His only foray into politics during this period was an unsuccessful challenge to Senator Mitch McConnell in 1996. In 2007, however, Beshear was drawn back into politics by the vulnerability of incumbent Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher, whose administration was under extended investigation by then-Attorney General Greg Stumbo, over violations of the state’s merit system.
In the 2007 gubernatorial election, Beshear emerged from a six-candidate Democratic primary – largely on the strength of his pledge to expand casino gambling as a means of further funding social programs like education – and defeated Fletcher in the general election. Beshear won re-election in 2011, defeating Republican David L. Williams and Independent Gatewood Galbraith. He was ineligible for re-election in 2015 due to term limits imposed by the Kentucky Constitution and was succeeded by Republican Matt Bevin.
In 1973, Beshear began his political career by being elected to represent the 76th District (Fayette County) in the Kentucky House of Representatives. During his first term, his colleagues named him the most outstanding freshman legislator. He was re-elected in 1975 and 1977; both campaigns featured close Democratic primaries between Beshear and Jerry Lundergan.
As a legislator, Beshear gained a reputation as a consumer advocate and sponsored bills to increase environmental protection and end the practice of commercial bail bonding. In 1974, Beshear voted against a resolution condemning the practice of desegregation busing because it called for changes to the federal constitution.
One of his major accomplishments in the House was spearheading legislation to improve neonatal care at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. Although he considered a 1978 bill requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in Kentucky classrooms to be unconstitutional, he abstained from voting on it rather than voting against it, a move he later claimed he regretted.
Steve Beshear Age
Steven Lynn Beshear is an American attorney and politician who served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He was born on September 21. 1944 in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, United States. Thus as of 2019, Steven Beshear is 75 years old.
Steve Beshear Family | Steve Beshear Father | Where Is Steve Beshear From
Steve was born on September 21. 1944 in Hopkins County, Kentucky. He is the third of five children born to Orlando Russell and Mary Elizabeth (Joiner) Beshear. He was raised in the small town of Dawson Springs, where his father owned a furniture store, operated funeral home, and served as mayor.
His father, grandfather, and uncle were all Primitive Baptist lay ministers, and in his childhood years, Beshear attended both his father’s church and the Christian Church where his mother was a member. Beshear also accompanied his uncle, Fred Beshear, as he traveled around the county during several races for a seat in the state House of Representatives.
He graduated as valedictorian in a class of 28 at Dawson Springs High School in 1962. He then attended the University of Kentucky where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1966. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta social fraternity and the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
He was also elected student body treasurer and from 1964 to 1965 served as student body president. While in college, he attended Lexington Primitive Baptist Church and often had lunch at the home of Harold and Marie Fletcher, whose son Ernie he would eventually challenge for the governorship of Kentucky. In 1968, Beshear graduated with honors from the University of Kentucky College of Law.
The next year, he married Jane Klingner. After the marriage, Beshear joined the Crestwood Christian Church which his wife attended. The couple has two sons, Jeffery Scott Beshear and Andrew Graham Beshear (who is the current Attorney General and Governor-elect of Kentucky), two grandsons, and one granddaughter.
Following their marriage, the Beshears moved to New York City, where Steve worked for the Wall Street law firm of White & Case. He also served as an intelligence specialist in the United States Army Reserve, performing some of the duties of a Judge Advocate General.
Steve Beshear Wife | Steve Beshear Son
He is married to his wife Jane Beshear. The wedding took place the year after Steve earned his law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law.
Steve and Jane have two children: Jeffery Scott Beshear and Andrew Graham Beshear. Andrew is the current attorney general of Kentucky, having begun his term in January 2016, one month after his father ended his time as governor.
Before her husband was elected governor and before she became the first lady of Kentucky, Jane Beshear had a background in education.
He used to teach at Woodford County High School, which is located in Versailles, Kentucky. While she was the first lady, Beshear was an active part of the governor’s education initiative, Transforming Education in Kentucky.
She Fought to Raise the High School Dropout Age in Kentucky From 16 to 18
Jane Beshear was an active first lady of Kentucky, fighting for a number of issues that she was passionate about. One of those was the idea of raising the high school dropout age in Kentucky to 18 from 16.
She lobbied the state legislature for five years and was able to get a compromise bill in which the new dropout age is optional until over half of the state’s public schools agree to the new policy, according to Kentucky Educational Television.
“It was amazing how many school districts immediately passed it,” Beshear told Kentucky Educational Television. “It surprised the commissioner of education, it surprised the governor, it surprised me, but I think it told that people were ready for this.”
She Founded Beshear’s Horses and Hope, a Breast Cancer Awareness Program
In 2008, Jane Beshear partnered with the Kentucky Cancer Program to found Horses and Hope, an organization meant to increase breast cancer awareness and provide screenings.
In 2015, during Governor Beshear’s last month in office, Horses and Hope launched a mobile breast cancer screening van, which provides screenings either for free or for a significantly reduced cost.
“For the last 7 years, Horses and Hope have been a leader in educating Kentuckians about breast cancer awareness and providing free screenings to horse industry employees and their families,” Jane Beshear said in a statement at the time.
“With this new unit, we now have the ability to travel throughout the state offering even more cancer screening opportunities to individuals who would otherwise not get tested. Thank you to the many partners and sponsors that have donated to this important cause –your contributions will help save lives in Kentucky.”
Her Husband Named Her to the Kentucky Horse Park Commission During His Last Month in Office, But His Successor Removed Her Months Later
On his way out of office, Steve Beshear gave his wife an unpaid position on the Kentucky Horse Park Commission. This was a controversial move, and it was criticized by the new governor, Republican Matt Bevin. Five months into office, Bevin removed Beshear from the commission by abolishing it entirely and creating a new one without Beshear on it, according to the Courier-Journal.
Beshear also in his last month in the office named an education center after his wife. Governor Matt Bevin later removed her name from the building.
Steve Beshear Net Worth
Steven Lynn Beshear is an American attorney and politician who served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He has an estimated Net Worth of $5 Million dollars as of 2019.
Beshears’ income swelled to $580,547 in 2014
Thanks to big capital gains from the sale of stock, the annual income of Gov. Steve Beshear and his wife Jane swelled to $580,547 in 2014, according to their tax returns.
The couple’s income included Steve Beshear’s $138,375 salary as governor, but also nearly $340,000 in capital gains. The Beshears also reported about $62,000 in dividends, $40,000 in taxable social security benefits, and $2,000 in interest income for the year.
Beshear has kept his 2007 campaign promise to release his personal income tax returns each year as governor and released his 2014 returns late Wednesday in response to a request from The Courier-Journal.
The 2014 returns show significantly higher income for the Beshears than the previous years he served as governor. In 2013, for instance, the Beshears reported an adjusted gross income of $337,276. (And that was much higher than his earlier years as governor.)
The main reason the couple’s big income for last year was capital gains – particularly a long-term capital gain of $218,036 on the sale of U.S. Bancorp stock bought in 2006 for $1,950. The Beshears also reported a capital gain of $68,874 on sale of shares of American Mutual Fund and $67,317 in capital gains distributions.
The returns show the Beshears reported a total federal income tax liability of $114,645 and a total state income tax liability of $29,642 for 2014. After accounting for tax withheld and prior payments on their 2014 taxes, the Beshears owed $60,890 with their federal return, and $14,677 with their state return filed this spring.
The Beshears claimed $53,318 in itemized deductions on their federal return: $25,637 in state, local and property taxes; $16,273 in deductible interest payments (including $11,626 in investment interest); and $19,673 in cash gifts to charity.
The charitable gifts are not specified in the returns.
Steve and Jane Beshear each checked on their federal return for $3 to go to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. They each designated on their state return for $2 to go to the Kentucky Democratic Party.
Because they did not get any state refund, they were unable to designate part of their refund to go to any of the five charities listed on the state tax return. On their state tax return, they also paid $17 in Kentucky Use Tax for Internet or mail order purchases where the Kentucky sales tax was not collected.
During his 2007 campaign for governor Beshear initially promised to release only a financial summary of where his 2006 income came from, but not his tax returns showing the amount of income.
But his opponent, then-Gov. Ernie Fletcher had released his tax returns. Beshear, under pressure from the Fletcher campaign and newspaper editorials, eventually released his 2006 tax returns during that campaign and promised to release his returns each year as governor.
Steve Beshear Governor | Gov. Steve Beshear | Gov Steve Beshear Kentucky
Lieutenant Governor
Limited to one term as attorney general by the state constitution, Beshear declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 1983. In a seven-candidate Democratic primary in May, Beshear captured 183,662 of the 575,022 votes cast to defeat a field that included former state Auditor George L. Atkins, Jefferson County judge-executive Todd Hollenbach, Agriculture Commissioner Alben Barkley II, and former Kentucky Wildcats basketball star, Bill Spivey.
In the general election, Beshear faced Republican Eugene Stuart and Don Wiggins, who became the nominee of the newly formed Consumers Lobby Party after losing in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Stuart categorized Beshear as being too liberal for Kentucky, citing his opinion in the Ten Commandments case, as well as his support for abortion rights and gun control.
Beshear denied advocating for gun control and charged that Stuart, a state senator from Jefferson County, had not shown any leadership worthy of election to the lieutenant governor’s office. Beshear easily defeated Stuart by a vote of 568,869 to 321,352; Wiggins captured just 7,728 votes.
Several changes were proposed to the office of lieutenant governor during Beshear’s tenure. In 1984, state representative Bobby Richardson proposed a constitutional amendment to abolish the office. When that effort failed, Richardson introduced a bill in the 1986 General Assembly that would have revoked the lieutenant governor’s right to live rent-free in the state’s Old Governor’s Mansion, eliminated his or her police protection, and restricted his or her use of the state’s two executive helicopters.
The measure would also have eliminated the lieutenant governor’s salary, paying him or her per diem for days served as acting governor or president of the state senate instead. The measure would further have lifted the ban on the lieutenant governor holding other employment. Although the bill would have exempted Beshear from its provisions, Beshear still opposed it and charged that it was politically motivated.
Richardson had expressed interest in running for lieutenant governor in the past, and Beshear claimed that because he was never elected to the office, he “doesn’t want anybody else to have it.” Richardson denied that his efforts were a political ploy; he claimed the office was largely ceremonial and served only as a stepping stone to the governorship. Three of the previous four lieutenant governors had subsequently been elected governor, including sitting governor Martha Layne Collins.
Despite opposing Richardson’s changes to the office, Beshear conceded that the provision of the state constitution that made him acting governor every time Governor Collins left the state was “archaic”.
During its 1987 organizational session, the General Assembly relieved the lieutenant governor of his membership on the committees that assigned bills to other committees and that managed the flow of legislation on the Senate floor. Later that year, a subcommittee of the Commission on Constitutional Review proposed requiring the governor and lieutenant governor to run as a ticket and combining the office with that of the secretary of state. These recommendations were not acted on during Beshear’s term.
During his service as lieutenant governor, Beshear formed and chaired the Kentucky Tomorrow Commission, a privately financed group assembled to make recommendations for the state’s future growth and development. The 30-person commission was formed in July 1984 and presented its report – containing more than 100 recommendations – in September 1986.
Among the recommendations in the commission’s report were several changes to the state constitution, adopted in 1891. The recommended changes included eliminating the offices of state treasurer, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction, holding elections only in odd-numbered years instead of every year, and raising the term limit for the state’s constitutional officers from one term to two consecutive terms.
The state legislature showed little interest in calling a constitutional convention, however, and the commission’s recommendations were not immediately adopted, though several have since been implemented.
Other recommendations in the commission’s report included the creation of lifelong learning programs, implementation of criminal justice reforms, and improvements in worker training. The commission was hailed by some as the most substantial undertaking by a lieutenant governor to date but was panned by others as a move by Beshear to better position himself for a run for governor in 1987.
Among Beshear’s other activities as lieutenant governor was his participation in an investigation of Kentucky Utilities’ coal-buying practices. At issue was whether it was legal and ethical for the company’s coal buyer to accept gifts and other perks from coal suppliers. Beshear had clashed with the company over similar issues during his term as attorney general.
The company attempted to block Beshear’s participation in the investigation, but the Kentucky Public Service Commission rejected the attempt. Due to the length of the investigation and the number of appeals filed, the matter was not fully adjudicated until 1992, well past the end of Beshear’s term. The Kentucky Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of Kentucky Utilities.
In 1987, Beshear entered a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary that included former governor Julian Carroll, millionaire bookstore magnate Wallace Wilkinson, and Eastern Kentucky physician Grady Stumbo. Beshear had the backing of the Collins administration and the endorsement of several labor leaders and the state teachers’ association; he appeared to be the front-runner in the race until former governor John Y. Brown Jr. entered late and became the instant favorite.
Beshear spent much of the campaign running ads that blasted Brown for his jet-setting lifestyle including, the ads claimed, his “wild nights in Vegas”. Brown countered with ads claiming that Beshear was distorting the facts and could not be trusted. Both Beshear and Brown claimed the other would raise taxes if he were elected.
The feud between Beshear and Brown allowed Wilkinson, who was last among the candidates according to polls as late as February 1987, to launch his own blitz of ads claiming both Beshear and Brown would raise taxes and proposing a state lottery as an alternative means of raising funds for the state.
In the final days of the campaign, Wilkinson surged past both Brown and Beshear and captured 221,138 votes to win the primary; Beshear finished third with 114,439, trailing Brown (163,204 votes) but leading Stumbo (84,613 votes), Carroll (42,137 votes), and three minor candidates.
Steve Beshear Response | Steve Beshear Ky Governor
KY’s Steve Beshear’s ‘diner’ response to Trump gets panned and roasted
Kentucky’s Steve Beshear gave the Democratic response to President Trump’s speech to Congress Tuesday night.
Judging from the response from Twitter and TV pundits, it did not go well.
For those who didn’t see it, Beshear appeared in a Lexington diner, but with his fellow “diners” sitting stiffly at tables around him. At 72, Beshear was an odd choice for Democrats to feature – a former governor (as opposed to a rising star) whose state has since come under total Republican control, and whose voters overwhelmingly picked Trump.
Beshear was picked partly for his folksy manner and because his state won plaudits for his implementation of Obamacare. He accused Trump of being “Wall Street’s champion” and of wanting to “rip” away health care from millions.
Some of the comments:
Stephen Colbert riffed on the appearance, noting that Beshear was speaking from your “normal, relatable everyday dinner where everyone faces the same direction in terrified silence.” (Go to the 1:20 mark.)
MSNBC’s Steve Schmidt: “And the Democratic response was made by a 72-year-old, retired, two-term governor from Kentucky….. Not by anyone who has a future in the actual Democratic Party. Just amazing ineptitude. … And on a personal, I do wish the hostages behind him well.”
Steve Beshear Approval Rating
Bluegrass Poll | Ky. voters give Beshear high approval, but not President Obama
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – In his final months in the state’s highest office, Gov. Steve Beshear appears set to end on a high note as the majority of Kentuckians approve of the job he’s done but they aren’t so complimentary of the President.
A new Bluegrass Poll – conducted for WKYT-TV, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Louisville Courier-Journal, and WHAS-TV – found 50 percent of voters approve of the way the two-term Democratic governor has handled his job while 32 percent disapprove.
“Gov. Beshear is leaving office on a high note,” said WKYT political editor Bill Bryant. “He’s run the table as a popular governor having been elected and re-elected by wide margins. He has enjoyed majority approval during most of his eight years in office.”
President Barack Obama didn’t carry Kentucky in either of his elections and remains just as unpopular among voters in the state, according to the poll.
With another year left in his final term, just 31 percent of Kentuckians polled approve of the job he’s doing in the White House while 61 percent disapprove. The remaining eight percent were unsure.
“I think President Obama would ask Gov. Beshear, ‘What’s your secret?’ Here he is in his eighth year in office and half of the voters approve of the job he’s doing. Only 32 percent disapprove of the job he’s doing which is a plus 18 favorable rating which is really remarkable considering many of the controversial things Gov. Beshear has done in the state,” said Herald-Leader political writer Sam Youngman.
Beshear was elected governor in 2007 ousting incumbent and scandal-plagued Gov. Ernie Fletcher. In 2011, Beshear easily beat then state Senate-President David Williams and Independent Gatewood Galbraith to win a second term.
Because of term limits, Beshear isn’t eligible to run for re-election. Democrat Attorney General Jack Conway, Republican businessman Matt Bevin, and independent Drew Curtis are battling to replace Beshear.
Before being elected governor, Beshear spent more than three decades on Kentucky’s political scene. He was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1973. In the 1980s, he served as attorney general and lieutenant governor.
Steve Beshear Book
Includes a 32-page, full-color photo insert
Before the eight-year administration of Governor Steve Beshear, many people associated Kentucky with Hollywood’s hillbilly stereotype or perhaps with fried chicken, bourbon, college basketball, or the Kentucky Derby.
But suddenly, national headlines started touting the Bluegrass State as one of the most progressive in the country. Kentucky became the national model for how well the Affordable Care Act could work. The state was the first to adopt the Common Core education standards and achieved huge increases in high school graduation rates. Kentucky filed a strategic appeal that sent the bitter fight over same-sex marriage to its last legal battleground. And the state finished No. 1 in large-scale economic development per capita two years in a row, thanks to a governor who said he would go “anywhere, anyplace, anytime” to attract jobs and new business investment.
These events not only changed Kentucky’s image but also attacked fundamental weaknesses that were dragging down the state. And they occurred despite a state budget crippled by a global recession, a state legislature split by partisan differences, and a national political climate that had soured society’s respect for the government at all levels.
With candor and sincerity—and with the help of Dan Hassert, who wrote his speeches for eight years—Governor Beshear shares the inside story of how Kentucky made democracy work and how the nation can do the same.
People over Politics provides a rare glimpse into how one elected leader, fiercely determined to change the course of Kentucky’s future, fought to overcome political partisanship, forge pragmatic partnerships, and improve the lives of his state’s families.
Steve Beshear Attorney General
Beshear was the first candidate to announce his bid for the post of Attorney General of Kentucky in the 1979 election. Shortly after declaring his candidacy, he was endorsed by outgoing Attorney General Robert F. Stephens. The central issue of Beshear’s campaign was his pledge to be an advocate of the consumer in cases of proposed utility rate hikes. After winning the Democratic primary, he defeated Republican nominee Ron Snyder by a vote of 471,177 to 302,951.
When incumbent Attorney General Stephens resigned in December 1979 to accept an appointment to the Kentucky Supreme Court, Beshear was appointed to fill the vacancy until his term officially began in January. As attorney general, Beshear created the state’s first Medicaid fraud division and his office took a leading role in the Leviticus Project, an eight-state coalition committed to prosecuting organized crime in the country’s coalfields.
Two minor controversies marked Beshear’s tenure as attorney general. The first came in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the 1980 case of Stone v. Graham. The ruling struck down the state law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in all of the state’s classrooms on grounds that it violated the Establishment Clause of the federal constitution.
State Superintendent Raymond Barber asked the Supreme Court to clarify whether its ruling meant that all of the copies of the Commandments already posted had to be taken down or whether it simply invalidated the Kentucky requirement for them to be posted; the Court refused the request for clarification. Beshear then issued an advisory opinion that displaying the Commandments in classrooms under any circumstances was banned by the Court’s ruling.
The second controversy arose as a result of the renovation of the governor’s mansion. Kentucky first lady Phyllis George Brown created the Save the Mansion Fund to help cover the costs of the renovation. When the renovation was complete, she planned a nine-day showcase of the mansion for the general public. Guests were charged $10 to take a tour of the mansion.
Legislator Eugene P. Stuart objected to taxpayers being charged a fee to view a mansion their tax dollars supported. He asked Beshear to protest the charge, and Beshear requested an injunction against the Save the Mansion Fund. A Lexington judge refused to grant the injunction, and Beshear appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court’s decision. Beshear’s actions caused a rift between him and Governor John Y. Brown, Jr.
Steve Beshear Senate 2020 | Steve Beshear For Senate | Steve Beshear Senate
(CNN) – Democrat Andy Beshear claimed victory Tuesday night in the Kentucky governor’s race, but Republican Gov. Matt Bevin said he is not conceding.
A Democratic victory in the governor’s race in Kentucky, a state President Donald Trump won by 30 percentage points in 2016, showed partisanship alone isn’t enough to overcome a candidate’s unpopularity — and that Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and the national Republican infrastructure were unable to provide the last-minute boost that Bevin needed.
Bevin aligned himself with Trump and has been a vocal opponent of the impeachment inquiry into the President. Bevin had the strong backing of the President, and Trump held a rally in Lexington, Kentucky, the night before the election. With 99% of precincts reporting, Beshear currently has 709,697 votes to Bevin’s 703,899.
Democrats also won big in Virginia, where CNN projects the party will flip both chambers of the Virginia legislature, taking control of the state Senate and the House of Delegates. Meanwhile, in Mississippi, CNN projected a win for Republicans, with Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves defeating Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, in the race for governor.
Beshear vs. Bevin
In Kentucky, Beshear told supporters that his victory sent a message: “That our values, and how we treat each other is still more important than our party. That what unites us as Kentuckians is still stronger than any national divisions.”
Beshear was elected attorney general of Kentucky in 2015 and is the son of Steve Beshear, Bevin’s predecessor.
At his own election party on Tuesday night, Bevin, told supporters in Louisville: “Would it be a Bevin race if it wasn’t a squeaker? I mean, come on. I mean, really and truly, this is a close, close race. We are not conceding this race by any stretch.”
Bevin, elected governor in 2015, is a deeply unpopular figure in Kentucky. He has faced backlash for seeking to undercut the state’s Medicaid expansion and calling teachers “selfish” and accusing them of a “thug mentality” when they protested after he threatened to cut their pensions.
Still, Democrats’ victory in a state that Trump carried by 30 percentage points in the 2016 election could be seen as an ominous sign for the President heading into his 2020 reelection bid. The result showed that Trump wasn’t able to carry his preferred candidate over the finish line. It was also a potential sign that Democrats’ start of impeachment proceedings against Trump has not yet triggered enough anger within the GOP base, or backlash among independents and moderates, to benefit Republicans.
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said Tuesday that Trump “just about dragged Gov. Matt Bevin across the finish line.” In a statement, Parscale said the President helped Bevin “run stronger than expected in what turned into a very close race at the end.”
As the projections in Beshear’s favor began, Kentucky Republicans rushed to distance themselves from Bevin, pointing to the governor’s high disapproval ratings and general dislike to put this night on Bevin alone.
One GOP Kentucky adviser said of Bevin: “Turns out it’s not too popular to cut teacher pensions — among other fights he picked.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who also appeared with Trump at his Kentucky rally this week, told aides earlier on Tuesday he expected Bevin to pull this race out. It’s far too soon to say whether this spells trouble for McConnell, who faces reelection next year.
Democrats take Virginia legislature while Republicans hold on in Mississippi
In Virginia, Democrats taking control of the House and Senate has huge implications. It opens the door for state lawmakers to pass measures Republicans have long opposed, including gun legislation reform and raising the minimum wage. It also positions the party to control the next round of redistricting ahead of the 2020 census.
The result on Tuesday night was a continuation of the years-long collapse of the GOP in what until recently had been a swing state. Virginia voted for George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and elected Republican Bob McDonnell governor in 2009, but the state has backed Democratic presidential and gubernatorial candidates since those elections.
The victories completed a Democratic comeback in the state Legislature that began in 2017, when Democrats made major gains, largely through suburban districts, and Northam won handily in an early sign of backlash over Trump’s presidency.
That election left the GOP with a 51-49 House majority and a 21-19 advantage in the Senate, and Democrats immediately began targeting legislative seats in hopes of winning control this year.
Democrats poured a record-breaking amount of money into Virginia, which has long been a bellwether for national wins and has drifted left in recent years. Meanwhile, in Mississippi, Reeves, the Republican lieutenant governor, defeated Hood, the Democratic state attorney general.
Trump tweeted Tuesday his congratulations to Reeves. “Our big Rally on Friday night moved the numbers from a tie to a big WIN. Great reaction under pressure Tate!” Trump won Mississippi by about 18 points in 2016.
Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Mississippi in recent days to campaign for Reeves, who has served as the state’s lieutenant governor since 2011. With Reeves’ win, the Republican Party will continue to control the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers in Mississippi.
Hood spoke at his election watch party on Tuesday, congratulating Reeves on his victory.
“Looks like the next governor will be Tate Reeves, I just called Tate and congratulate him on a good race,” Hood told supporters at his headquarters. “I’ll be praying for him and his administration and I intend to work with them in the transition.”
Steve Beshear Twitter
Twitter weighs in on Beshear’s (maybe) win over Bevin in Kentucky governor’s race
With the news that a Democratic challenger appears to have toppled an incumbent Republican governor in Trump-loving Kentucky, Twitter users did what they do best: offered their hottest hot takes.
Andy Beshear, a Democrat, and son of former Gov. Steve Beshear claimed victory in a close race with Gov. Matt Bevin, just one day after President Donald Trump came to Kentucky to stump for the governor. Bevin, however, refused to concede Tuesday night, citing unspecified “irregularities” in voting.
Kentucky election results in 2019: See all the statewide results
Twitterati from the Beltway, New York City, and Hollywood wondered: What does the race say about the popularity of Trump’s impeachment? And what does this mean for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s bid for reelection in 2020?
The race is very close. So it makes sense that Bevin wants to make sure he clearly lost. On the other hand, unspecified “irregularities” is very Bevin/Trump-like. Is there a process/timetable by which he will concede? https://t.co/tHbG1B29JE
— Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) November 6, 2019