ATLANTA (AP) — Anderson Clayton wanted a headline to speak at the North Carolina Democrats’ summer gala, but the party chairperson has bypassed the familiar Capitol Hill figure and instead searched for Illinois Gov. JB Pretzker.
She explained to him “Real Fighter” Unlike the Democrats in Washington, to President Donald Trump, who gets things done because he actually manages the levers of government.
“I want people to hear from one of the Democratic governors who defended the nation, who can see the president and say, ‘I’m in the same position of power as you, and I’m doing good things,'” Clayton said.
Certainly, some democratic activists see the party’s 23 governors as their best answer Trump’s Second Republican President. The chiefs of these state lawmakers can prove that voters will embrace alternatives and give a roadmap for mid-2026 when Democrats at least want to. Reclaiming the majority of US homes. They will also likely be the centre of the party’s hopes Presidential race of 2028.
There is no doubt that Democrats are down at the federal level. Republicans control the White House, House and Senate, allowing Trump to pursue A proactive agenda. The party does not have a unique leader Recent polls It shows that Democrat voters are deeply pessimistic about the party’s future.
But many governors reject the narrative that Democrats are involved.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a 46-year-old first-term executive, points to his work on economic development, employment growth and crime reduction.
“Who was the leader of the civil rights movement? So there were multiple people who had leadership roles,” Moore said. “I mean, if you want to see… show us where people are delivering results in the direction they should go.”
“You have to deliver for people.”
Rep. Mikie Sherrill from D-New Jersey is taking part. The majority of parliament And in the minority. Currently, she is a Democratic candidate for governor in one of the two governor races in 2025. Her former home co-worker Abigail Spanberger He is a Democratic candidate in Virginia.
“What attracted me to run for governor was that I had no ability to blame others for anything,” Sheryl said. “You have a vision as governor, and you have to deliver for the people.”
Emily’s List President Jessica McCller praised the Michigan government for supporting Democratic women for office. Gretchen Whitmerpossible 2028 presidential candidates, and the Arizona government. Katie Hobbsseeking re-election to cancel some medical debts in 2026.
Pritzker has been secured $15 per hour State minimum wage. In Kansas, Democratic Governors Association chairman and second term governor Laura Kelly worked with the Republican legislative majority to help cut and eliminate them. Grocery State Sales Tax. Kentucky Governor Andy Besher and former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper Running for the Senate, Medicaid expansion Insurance coverage for states with a Republican legislative majority.
“The governor is on the front line so it’s very important,” McCller said.
She added that the Democratic governor has strengthened abortion access. Supreme Court’s 2022 DOBBS decision Even in conservative states, they ended the state’s rights to this procedure and defended access to health care for transgender patients. It includes Kentucky’s BeshearTrump, who was elected twice in the state, carried three times.
It’s more than a Trump
Some governors stand out as offensive Trump critics, including some of the 2028 candidates.
“Our democracy is in the line,” Pretzker said at an event in North Carolina. “Are you ready to fight?”
California Government Gavin Newsom He joked with the Trump administration on social media, Produced podcasts I’m aiming to become a Trump voter. But Cheryl and others say being a Democratic governor doesn’t just oppose Trump on an individual level.
“People are furious that a president who ran at an affordable price is actually increasing costs for everyone,” she said.
She cited Trump’s trade war GOP tax reduction It leaned towards the wealthy among them Reducing safety net programs Hitting the poor Working class. She said Democrats must level off attacks based on how policies affect voters and offer plausible alternatives.
“I talk to thousands of New Jerseys every day, and all I’m hearing is, ‘I need someone to go to Trenton and save for me,” Cheryl said.
Republicans defended the bill and said it was important since December, as tax credits from Trump’s first term rose significantly as they expired.
A bright spot for Democrats
Bradley Beicchok, a Democratic consultant and co-founder of the American Bridge Super Political Action Committee, said Washington’s dynamics are frustrating.
“When we lose the presidential election and the House and Senate, no one is happy and they shouldn’t,” he said.
But Beychok added, “The reality is that we lost a close election,” and earned a crucial downborot victory.
Republicans had the so-called Washington trilogy at the start of Trump’s first term, but Democrats ran out of 15 of the 50 governors at the time. But for the next few years, they overturned nine governor seats. Since then, only one incumbent Democratic governor has lost, and the current 23 slate includes five of the seven presidential battlefields that Trump swept in 2024.
“People are willing to split the vote because they connect the outcomes they see on earth with the governor,” said Clayton, who celebrated the victory in North Carolina by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein despite Trump’s carrying the nation. “Now we have to do a better job of localizing federal elections the same way.”
The victory at Spanburger in Virginia gives Democrats 24 governors heading into 2026. New Jersey now has a Democratic governor.
Governor can swing the president’s pendulum
History suggests that the foundation of national power will work well for Washington’s opposition parties.
Bill Clinton He was longtime governor when he finished a streak of three Republican presidential landslides in 1992. His successor, George W. Bushwas one of many Republican governors elected in the GOP’s 1994 medium sweep. Republicans before Clinton and Bush Ronald Reagan And Democrats Jimmy Carter He won the presidency as former governor.
Many current Democratic leaders are visiting the battlefields of the general election, like early nomination states, or Pretzkers. Most of them include Moore of Maryland, Dismissing 2028 speculation.
“I don’t have time,” he said. ___ Associated Press Writer Steve Peoples in Colorado Springs, Colorado, contributed to this report.
