Atlanta (AP) -Anderson Clayton wanted a headlining name in North Carolina Democrat’s summer gala -but the State Party Chair surrounded the familiar Capitol Hill figures and instead looked for Illinois governor JB Pritzker.
She described him as a “real fighter” against President Donald Trump, someone who does things because he controls the government levers – in contrast to every democrat in Washington.
“I wanted people to hear from one of the democratic governors who defended their state, who could see and say the president:” I’m in a position of power, just like her, and I do good things, “said Clayton.
In fact, some democratic activists see the 23 governors of the party as their best answer to Trump’s second Republican presidency. These state chiefs provide evidence that voters accept alternatives – and could give them a roadmap for the 2026 midterms if the Democrats hope to regain a majority of the US house. You will probably also be of central importance for the party’s hopes in the presidential race 2028.
There is no question that Democrats are at the federal level. The Republicans control the white house, the house and the Senate and allow Trump to pursue an aggressive agenda. The party lacks a unique leader, and the latest surveys show that Democrats are deeply cynical’s future.
Nevertheless, many governors reject the narrative that democrats rebel.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a 46-year-old first officer, indicates his work on economic development, employment growth and reducing crime.
“Who was the leader of the civil rights movement? I mean, there were several people who had leadership roles,” said Moore. “I mean if you want to see … show me a place that delivers results.”
“You have to deliver for people”
The US MP Mikie Sherrill, D-New Jersey, was in the majorities of the congress and in the minority. Now she is the governor’s democratic candidate in one of two races of the governor of 2025. Her former house colleague Abigail Spanberger is the democratic candidate in Virginia.
“I can tell you what made me run for the governor is that there is no ability to blame anyone,” said Sherrill. “You have a vision as a governor and have to deliver for people.”
Emily’s list, President Jessica Mackler, whose organization supports democratic women for the public office, praised Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a possible competitor of the President of 2028, and Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, who strives to re -election in 2026 to terminate some medical debt.
Pritzker secured a minimum wage of $ 15 per hour. In Kansas, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and the two -term governor Laura Kelly worked with Republican legislative majorities to reduce state sales taxes on food and finally eliminate. The governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear and the former governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, who runs for the Senate, expanded insurance protection for Medicaid in countries with a republican majorities.
“Governors are so important because they are at the forefront,” said Mackler.
The democratic governors, added them, had triggered access to abortion after the Dobbs decision of the Supreme Court ended a national right to the proceedings, and they also defended access to health care for transgender patients in conservative states. This includes Kentucky’s Beshear, who was chosen twice in a three -time state.
It’s more than Trump
Some governors stand out as an aggressive Trump critic, including some possible 2028 competitors.
“Our democracy is at stake,” said Pritzker at the North Carolina event. “Are you ready to fight?”
Gavin Newsom, governor of California, Jousts with the Trump administration on social media, and he has produced podcasts that are aimed at Trump voters. In the partisan battle for the redistribution of the limits of the congress district, Newsom and Pritzker asserted themselves a matter that Trump helps to keep the GOP more house seats in 2026.
But Sherrill and others say that it is not just about being Trump on a personal or partisan level.
“People are angry that a president who ran affordably actually increases the costs for everyone,” she said.
She quoted Trump’s trade wars and the tax cuts of the GOP, which are inclined for the affluent, while her safety network cuts reached the needy and the working class. The Democrats, she said, would have to carry out attacks on the basis of the effects on voters and offer plausible alternatives.
“I speak every day with thousands of New Jerseyans, and I hear:” I only need someone who goes to Trenton and delivers for me, “said Sherrill.
The Republicans defended their bill and said it was crucial because after December there would have been a massive tax raise than the tax benefits from Trump’s first term.
Blicks for Democrats
Bradley Beychok, a democratic consultant and co -founder of the American Bridge Super Political Action Committee, said the dynamics in Washington were frustrating.
“If you lose a presidential election and the house and the Senate, nobody is happy and you shouldn’t be,” he said.
But Beychok added: “The reality is that we have lost a close choice” and had crucial Down ballot victories.
At the beginning of Trump’s first term, the Republicans had the so -called Washington Trifecta, and the Democrats then came out with only 15 out of 50 governors. But in the following years they threw nine seats of the governors. Since then, only a democratic ambissoper has lost the incumbent, and her current 23 -year -old table comprises five out of seven presidents in Trump in 2024.
“People are ready to share their ballot papers because they combine the results they see on site with their governors,” said Clayton, who celebrated a victory in North Carolina by the democratic governor Josh Stein, although Trump was wearing the state. “Now we only have to do better work to localize the national elections in the same way.”
A Spanberg victory in Virginia would give the Democrats 24 governors in the amount of 2026 if 36 Executive seats will have winnings in the medium term. New Jersey currently has a democratic governor.
Governors can swing the presidential pendulum
The story indicates a basis of state powers that is good for opposition parties in Washington.
Bill Clinton was a long -time governor in 1992 when he ended the republicans’ winning streak with three landslides of the presidential election. His successor George W. Bush was one of the many Republicans who were chosen at the half -time Sweep of the GOP from 1994. The Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Jimmy Carter won the presidency as former governors in front of Clinton and Bush.
Many current democratic managers have visited early nomination states or, like Pritzker, for general choice. Most of them, including Maryland bogs, released speculation in 2028.
“We don’t have time,” he said. ___ Associated Press Writer Steve Peoples in Colorado Springs, Colorado, contributed to this report.
