loading . . . How Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Thinks Democrats Can Win Rural America President Donald Trump and Republican
governors are colluding to try to rig the 2026 midterm
elections in their favor through gerrymandering. Theyâre helped by the fact
that rural voters in large swaths of many states are largely abandoning the
Democrats, who already suffer from a rural skew in the Senate and Electoral
College. But these Democratic disadvantages donât have to be destiny. Last
week, in a Washington Post
op-ed titled, âThis slap
in the face to rural America is a chance to turn it blue,â Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear argued that Democrats canât just talk
about the challenges facing rural Americans now, but have to deliver on
promises on what rural America can be: âTackling affordability is not enough. To truly lead again, Democrats
must be the party of aspiration.⊠Democrats are good at explaining our
âwhat.â Letâs get good at explaining our âwhy.ââÂ
This weekend, Beshear is set to be sworn in as
the head of the Democratic Governors Association. His
elevation comes as no surprise, given that heâs a rarity in national politics:
a Democratic leader in an otherwise red state. He won the office in 2019 by
just over 5,000 votes, in a state Donald Trump won by 30 percentage points in 2016, and his time as
governor has made him even more popular in Kentucky (he handily won reelection in 2023). Whether or not he seeks
higher office after his second term ends in 2027, heâll help shape the party as
it seeks to recover voters it lost to Trump.
On Thursday, I asked Beshear about rural
America, Democratic messaging, and whether heâs running for president in 2028.
This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Monica Potts: When
I saw the headline, I thought you were going to write about farmers. I didnât
see that, and I was pleasantly surprised. What you did write about is the loss
of hospitals, where a lot of rural Americans work now. Iâm wondering if you feel
that thatâs something that people misunderstand about rural America. People
still tend to think of it as a largely farming area and largely affected by
agricultural policy. Do you think that this is something people miss about the
new reality of living in rural America?
Andy Beshear: I
think people miss that rural America is more complicated, and they might not
think that there are more industries, that there need to be more services, and
that there are serious implications of policies like the one that the Trump
administration has pushed forward. Our fastest growing industry in rural
Kentucky is health care. And so the idea that the âbig, ugly billâ would gut rural health care means itâs not only reducing
options to get health care in rural America, but itâs attacking a foundation of
the economy. Every rural hospital we have is the number one payroll in its
community and the number two employer behind the public school.
If you remove that business, if you remove
those employees who live and spend money in that community, you donât just close the
rural hospital. You may close the local bank, the local coffee shop, the local restaurant, the
local insurance company. Not thinking about health care as essential to rural
America is not understanding how the economy works.
M.P.: As an example
in your piece, you wrote about helping to bring a green paper plant into a
rural county in Kentucky. And I read that, and I thought, well, that sounds
nice, but we canât do that everywhere. What are some of the other kinds of
ideas about the real investment it would take to help sagging economies
in rural counties now?
A.B.: Well, first
off, I think we have to be intentional where we can be to locate new jobs in
rural Kentucky and in rural America, and I see a
greater hunger for it out of the private sector than at any point in my lifetime. We landed the Pratt paper mill, 300-plus new jobs at $40 an
hour outside of Henderson, Kentucky, former coal mining town. We put two giant battery plants, two of the biggest in the
world, next to a town called Glendale, a very small town in Hardin County, but
outside of Elizabethtown. So weâve created as many rural jobs as we have urban
jobs by making sure that weâre putting the opportunity in front of those
businesses.
But to make that possible everywhere in rural
America, it takes a real investment in infrastructure. It takes making the
upfront investment that says to rural Kentucky and rural Americans that we care
about you and we want you to be able to compete for those next great jobs. Look
at Appalachia, [where] the topography creates big challenges. We are four-laning
the Mountain Parkway, which is basically our own
interstate-like road to the heart of Appalachia. Why? Because if you want to put a new
manufacturing facility, theyâre going to want four lanes so that they can ship their products across
the United States. It means we also have to invest in water and wastewater,
which, you know, there are many parts of rural America that still donât have
clean drinking water, which should be a basic human right, but then you have to
have the amount of water necessary to bring in that next opportunity. So in
Kentucky, we have programs like what we call our Product
Development Initiative, where we put state dollars into improving
infrastructure at sites.
M.P.: The plant that
you wrote about is an environmentally conscious paper plant. When I see a lot
of people talking about Democrats winning back voters, theyâre talking about
moderating on some issues, including things like the environment, and some
cultural issues. Iâm wondering if you think that to win voters in rural
America, Democrats need to moderate on anything?
A.B.: I think when
it comes to jobs, theyâre not Democrat or Republican, theyâre not left or
right. A green job to someone is a job that pays them enough to support their
family. I remember that paper plant and the groundbreaking, and weâre in this
former coal town, and the owner comes on through a Zoom on a massive screen and
says, Weâre bringing 350âand then he said the phrase âgreen jobsââto Henderson.
And everyone stood up and applauded, because they are great jobs where you can
support a family. I believe that communities are ready.
And I also believe that sustainability isnât
primarily being driven by government policy. Itâs being driven by the demands
of the private sector. Every company that comes to Kentucky with their power
wants affordability, wants reliability, and then wants sustainability. And so
for me, being pragmatic, Iâve got to deliver all three, which means we need
greener, more sustainable power production. We need greener jobs, because
thatâs what the private sector and ultimately consumers are demanding. So no, I
donât think that we have to back away from beliefs about climate change, but I
do think within those beliefs, we have to deliver a better life for our people.
That means, if you can bring in good, paying green jobs, people of all
political ideologies will work in them because it makes life better and easier
for their family.
M.P.: One of the
things that I thought that President Joe Biden was underappreciated about was
that he did make a big effort to bring new plants, especially to red states,
and to reform American industrial policy through the Inflation Reduction Act.
He did talk a lot about the day-to-day economic concerns that people had. He
walked with unions, and he tried to reach out to workers. Why do you feel like
that message wasnât convincing, even when Vice President Kamala Harris took it
up in her race in 2024?
A.B.: Well, I think
two things. First, as Democrats, we got to get dirt on our boots, and weâve got
to show up in the areas where our policies are creating new jobs, new
opportunities, more accessible health care, safer infrastructure, better
schools. The signing in the Rose Garden isnât real anymore. A signing of a bill
in Frankfort [Kentuckyâs capital] doesnât directly impact people on that day.
So weâve got to be there at the announcement, at the groundbreaking. And you
know, people make fun of it, [but] the most important one is the ribbon cutting.
Why? Because the jobs are there, because the future is better for families.
Weâve got to make sure that people in rural America see Democrats and see the
results of the policies that weâre pushing for.
The second piece, though, is weâve got to do
things faster. The Biden administration passed a lot of good legislation that
has spurred a lot of economic development in my state, but the Democrats need
to admit that there are times when we are over-regulated, and weâve created so
many rules that some programs that we believe are essential for the American
people simply take too long. American people donât see and feel now the Internet for All program. Itâs been three
years, and we donât have a single inch of fiber in the ground. So if youâre a
Democrat or a Republican and you believe that the internet is essential, then
we should be able to develop a program that gets it out much, much faster.
M.P.: What are some
of the regulations that you feel like could be maybe waived or used to speed up the process?
A.B.: What weâve
seen in Kentucky is even a permitting process doesnât have to be adversarial.
If you were talking to the companies and groups that youâre working with, we
get most of our factories up and running three to six months faster than most
states, and we abide by every environmental and workplace safety rule. What we
do is work with and communicate with groups that are doing these projects. They
know the expectations. If there are ways to find a solution, move something one
direction or another, you impact fewer streams, you invoke fewer rules. In the
âInternet for All,â it wasnât that they were going to provide the money, set
the rules, and then audit us to make sure that we followed them. It was that we
had developed every piece of a plan we had to contract and subcontract before
we could even submit the plan to potentially be approved. It was set up as a
multiyear process before the construction ever started. And again, it was
meant to be transformational. But if you want to actually transform in a way
that helps peopleâs everyday lives, youâve got to be a little bit impatient.
Youâve got to understand that people are hurting now and need help now. But if
it takes five years to put a program in place, you may have lost an entire
generation that needed that help, that needed that assistance, or that deserves
that infrastructure.
M.P.: Speaking of
losing a generation, I know that in Kentucky there were some really bad river
floods a few years ago, and some early decisions made by the Trump
administration in a second term may have delayed some of the money going out
for recovering from those floods. There are other issues like that going on
now, where weâre losing funding for science, for education, for all kinds of
things. And Iâm wondering how people in the near term kind of survive, or think
about the future.
A.B.: Decisions by
the Trump administration are making life a lot harder for our American
families. Start with tariffs that are raising the price on everything. That
young couple in rural or urban America that canât buy their first house, even
though theyâre older than their parents were when they could buy it; itâs only
become harder for them with tariffs on lumber and upholstery and cabinets,
virtually everything that goes into a house has been made more expensive by the tariffs.
Then move to the big, ugly bill thatâs going
to make it harder to get health care in your own community. Many will lose coverage. People
have to drive two hours just to give birth. And what does that mean near the end of a
pregnancy? Does it mean staying in a hotel where your husband or spouse is hours away and might not
be there?
The Trump administration says itâs going to
[change how it assesses] natural disasters, saying large snowstorms might not
be included in the future. Well, those have significant costs, and peopleâs
lives are on the line every time that there is a large snowstorm. Look at the
amount thatâs being shifted in the SNAP program. You know, almost $66 million
of new administrative costs in Kentucky, and what thatâs going to mean to food
availability. All of these policy positions by the Trump administration make life harder for for Americans, but make life a lot harder for rural Americans.
Trump pushed for a tax cut for the wealthiest of Americans, who primarily live in
big urban cities, but wonât push for an extension of a tax credit to help people who
get health care through the ACA that primarily live in rural America.
M.P.: In some ways,
do you think that the actions the Trump administration has taken make the job
for Democrats easier in 2026 and 2028 because they can say, âLook what we can
offer as a change from this, if you donât like what heâs doneâ?
A.B.: I think it
puts Democrats in a better position if the Democratic Party remains
laser-focused on peopleâs everyday needs and then provides them the roadmap to
a better life. Thatâs why I talk about simply saying âaffordabilityâ isnât
enough. We need to be talking about it a lot. It needs to be talking about the
American dream, where itâs not just that you can pay your grocery bill at the
end of the month, but you can actually get ahead. The young couple can get that
new house. You can take your family on the same vacation you went on as a kid. You
believe if you show up and work hard at your job that you can be a little bit
better off, and that your kids can be much better off. Yes, I think thatâs a
compelling message for all of America, and itâs probably more compelling, sadly,
because of the pain that Trump is causing and will continue to cause.
M.P.: Weâve avoided
talking about agricultural policy a little bit, but it does shape
a lot of how rural America is funded. And Iâm wondering if thereâs anything you
think should be revised or reformed in agricultural policy.
A.B.: Well, you look
at what the tariff policy is doing to soybean farmers that may lose the Chinese
market, the largest market, potentially forever, to Brazil and Argentina, at a
time when the U.S. is trying to send billions of dollars to Argentina. These are
hard-working farmers that when theyâre not growing soybean, theyâre growing
corn, and Donald Trumpâs tariffs and his attacks on the sovereignty of Canada
have impacted our bourbon industry, which is a huge purchaser of the corn. You look at the
elimination of USAID; you look at the elimination of the Farm-to-Cafeteria programs, and our farmers
have been getting hit every way possible, losing multiple markets all at the same time. Now Iâm starting to see them speak out. Certainly, our cattle farmers are speaking out, and thatâs
important because we all care about our families more than we care about any political party,
and we need to make sure that simply being a Democrat or Republican isnât as
important as being an American with an economy that can work for all of us.
M.P.: Are you going
to run for president?
A.B.: Well, this
weekend, Iâm going to become head of the Democratic Governors Association. What
youâre going to see out of me in 2026 is working to elect Democrats all over
the country.
I think youâre going to see us win in rural
America. You know, weâve got a very strong candidate in Iowa, [gubernatorial candidate] Rob Sand; Iâm excited to see his campaign. And if we do our work, weâll change the map
for 2028, where Democrats wonât just be battling in five states with zero margin
of error. Weâll have an expanded map to where whoever our candidate is can
compete in more places and get their message out to more Americans. http://dlvr.it/TPfp5M
