Free Republic

President Trump is in a whole lot of trouble. Andy Beshear, who has claimed victory in the Kentucky governor’s race, showed that Democrats prosper when they focus on what he called “kitchen-table issues.” In Virginia, voters demonstrated that support for gun control is now an asset, not a liability, in American politics. More broadly: Railing against impeachment and attacking Democrats as “socialists” won’t get the job done for Republicans when the GOP finds itself on the wrong end of questions such as health care and education.

The lesson Republicans and conservatives should take from the Kentucky gubernatorial race is not whether Trump showing up is a net positive or negative or whether the GOP put enough money or effort into the race or whether Bevin should have been the candidate in the first place or whether he was likable. The true lesson lies in the overwhelming success of Kentucky's down-ballot election results for attorney general, agriculture commissioner, auditor, secretary of state, and treasurer, where Republican candidates demolished Democrat candidates by margins of 221,125; 276,319; 204,960; 64,562; and 300,935 votes, respectively. (With the exception of the gubernatorial...

What I am sure of is that McConnell cemented a part of his legacy in the state -- and may have put in place his successor -- on Tuesday with the election of Daniel Cameron as the state's attorney general. Cameron is the first black candidate ever elected as attorney general in Kentucky and the first Republican to hold that office in seven decades. He is also a McConnell protege, having served as the senator's general counsel from 2015-2017. "Mitch McConnell did what no @KyDems was able to do, and that is get a non-white Kentuckian elected to statewide office,"...

There is no sugarcoating yesterday’s election results: Republicans had a bad day. Their losses especially in many suburban areas (such as around Philadelphia) are not a good omen for next year. They were trounced badly in Virginia, despite the supposed Republican-friendly gerrymander. (And let’s see how fast liberals forget about how gerrymandering is an “offense to democracy” when they are in charge of it in more states two years from now. Gerrymandering only became a “scandal” when Republicans got good at it.)There are still good reasons to think Trump will be re-elected next year, and I’ll return to that...

While incumbent Matt Bevin has not conceded the Kentucky governor's race, Democrat Andy Beshear declared ...

Kentucky voters had a clear choice in the gubernatorial race when it comes to abortion politics today. And in the end the pro-life governor who served women and unborn children so proudly went home in defeat to a Democrat who fundraised with an abortionist. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has a strong pro-life record by defending unborn babies and cracking down on abortion businesses for not following the law. His opponent, Democrat Andy Beshear, has a radical pro-abortion stance. As state attorney general, he refused to defend a Kentucky law that protects unborn babies from abortions after 20 weeks. Voters unfortunately...

ANALYSIS — Voters in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Virginia were gracious enough to go to the polls on Tuesday and give us some tangible results to chew over with 12 months to go before the 2020 elections. Here are some thoughts. Kentucky was not an upset. Inside Elections changed its rating on the governor’s race from Lean Republican to Toss-up in mid July after finding Gov. Matt Bevin very vulnerable. So those who were surprised by Democrat Andy Beshear’s declared victory weren’t paying close enough attention. Trump was an asset, not a liability. Without a last-minute push and visit from President...

Republican Daniel Cameron made history Tuesday with his victory over former Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo, becoming the first African-American to be elected the state's attorney general -- and offering a silver lining to the GOP amid drama over the state's gubernatorial race. Further, Cameron will be the first Republican attorney general in the state in more than 70 years, a significant achievement as GOP Gov. Matt Bevin trails Democrat Andy Beshear in a tight race in which Bevin has not conceded but Democrats have declared victory. The Trump campaign highlighted Cameron’s win, however, even as it appeared to write...

President Trump tried. And he warned Kentuckians at a huge rally a few days ago that the gubernatorial race was going to be viewed by all as a referendum on him.So the apparent loss of Republican Gov. Matt Bevin to Democrat Andy Beshear last night, is a stinger. A Trump endorsement is usually a surefire means of winning the election and it has been up until now for nearly all candidates in special elections, which is why so many candidates want them. Once Trump endorses, Republicans almost always win.  But apparently, not even a Trump endorsement was enough for Bevin, who had some popularity problems....

If you were on social media last night, you probably saw a lot of folks on the left celebrating that Kentucky, a deep red state, “had turned blue” because of the razor-thin victory of Democrat Andy Beshear over incumbent Republican Matt Bevin. Let me just get it out of the way right now and tell you that Kentucky isn’t turning blue. The state hasn’t been “flipped” or whatever else they’re saying. We’ve seen this narrative before. When Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated Republican Roy Moore in the special election for Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat in 2017, many on the...

President Trump’s reelection campaign manager, Brad Parscale, corrected the false notion that Gov. Matt Bevin’s defeat to Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear on Tuesday was somehow a referendum on President Trump. “President Trump’s rally helped five of six Kentucky Republicans win clear statewide victories, including Attorney General-elect Daniel Cameron, who will be the first black A.G. in Kentucky history and the first Republican to hold the office since 1948,” read a Trump campaign statement. “The President just about dragged Gov. Matt Bevin across the finish line, helping him run stronger than expected in what turned into a very close race...

Voter backlash against the Democrat impeachment inquiry of President Trump and strong support for the president in Kentucky appear to be key factors helping Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in his re-election battle against Democrat challenger Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear. Bevin, first elected governor in November 2015, is seeking a second four-year term as governor and faces Beshear in a November 5 general election. A poll released by Maxon-Dixon Polling & Strategy on Wednesday shows that Bevin has pulled into a tie with Beshear, a significant improvement from the eight point deficit he had in the race as measured in...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - After a heated few days in the race for Kentucky attorney general, President Donald Trump is now weighing in to back the Republican candidate. "The Republican Party has a new STAR, his name is Daniel Cameron," Trump tweeted Monday afternoon. Cameron, who is the former attorney for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, won the Republican nomination with 55 percent of the vote. President Trump also tweeted that he supports Cameron's positions on crime, borders and gun rights when endorsing him. Cameron is in a heated battle with Democratic nominee Greg Stumbo, who is the state's former...

Matt Bevin is Kentucky’s third Republican governor in the last half-century – and if he’s re-elected this year, he’d be the first in party history to win a second term to that office. It likely won’t be easy. Bevin gained national repute as a conservative reformer, but made an enemy of the state’s powerful teachers’ union. He’s the least popular governor in the United States, according to a Morning Consult poll in January. Also, the most recent head-to-head poll found Bevin trailing two Democrats vying for their party’s nomination in the May 21 primary. “Bevin’s trouble comes largely because he...

LEXINGTON-After months of speculation, Gov. Matt Bevin used the 2018 Republican Party of Kentucky Lincoln Dinner to announce he will be running for re-election in 2019. The first term governor ended his speech to the crowd of 500 with the announcement, drawing cheers. “You bet I’m running again. You bet I’m running again,” he told the crowd. “The work that is being done right now in our House and in our work that is being in our Senate is just getting warmed up. Buckle up because the next five years are going to be something to watch.” Bevin cited a...