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Tomorrow’s conversation, tonight. Know where the news is going next. | | | | |  | | By Charlie Mahtesian | |  Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is joined by his wife, Britainy Beshear, and family at an election night event in Louisville, Kentucky. | Stephen Cohen/Getty Images | RED-STATE ROCKSTAR — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is justifiably celebrated across his party in the wake of his reelection Tuesday, hailed as the rare example of a red-state Democrat who was able to defy his state’s conservative orientation and win even in places where the Democratic Party brand is toxic. Naturally, amid the euphoria surrounding the Democratic election romp, there’s a burst of chatter about his prospects for national office. If only. In recent decades, Democrats have had a habit of falling in love with their red-state success stories, only to ditch them when they attempt to apply their experience in presidential primaries. The architecture of Beshear’s win is indeed something to marvel at, especially in a party that’s hemorrhaged the kinds of voters who boosted Beshear to victory. He managed to sidestep GOP efforts to nationalize the campaign by tying him to President Joe Biden without any major departures from the party line. And he did it in a state that anchors the northern end of the Trump Belt, a region of doom and Democratic desolation that stretches from Appalachia across the Upland South to Oklahoma. But you don’t have to look far to find another similarly situated governor whose success defied the odds and seemed to offer a Democratic blueprint for how to win in rural and red states — former Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock. Like Beshear, Bullock won two terms as governor in a red state where Democratic fortunes have flagged. His 2016 reelection win was a political masterclass. At the top of the Montana ticket, Donald Trump crushed Hillary Clinton by more than 20 percentage points. Republicans flipped three other statewide offices and expanded their legislative majorities. Yet Bullock held on despite the undertow, a rare bright spot on a grim evening for state and national Democrats. Yet when Bullock ran for president in 2020, he got nowhere. His message was straightforward enough. On the heels of Trump’s 25-point win over rural voters in 2016, he argued, his track record made him uniquely suited to take on Trump. “As the only Democrat to win statewide re-election in a Trump state in 2016, I know firsthand: we must reach out to rural voters,” he tweeted in 2019. That message didn’t seem to matter. Twenty Democratic candidates qualified for the first debate round in June 2019, but not Bullock. There were four little known House members, two mayors and several candidates who had never been elected to any office at all on stage, but not the governor who won three consecutive statewide races in a state that had voted Democratic for president just once since 1964. Bullock eventually appeared in one debate, but was forced to drop out of the race before the first primary votes were cast. It’s a familiar story as the party’s standing has deteriorated among rural and red state voters. There’s always interest in a red-state whisperer who can bridge the divide and erase the impression that Democrats are a “coastal party of elites,” to use Bernie Sanders’ description. Yet it never gets very far beyond the infatuation stage. Bullock’s predecessor as Montana governor, Democrat Brian Schweitzer, was another who drew mention as a national prospect, both as a potential veep to Barack Obama in 2008 and as a possible presidential contender in 2016. Missouri’s Jay Nixon was floated for a time. So was Beshear’s father, Steve Beshear, who served as Kentucky governor from 2007 to 2015. One drawback, of course, is that all of these red-state winners are white men — an increasingly awkward fit to lead a diverse, multiracial party with a base comprised of women and voters of color. But it’s also true that Democrats aren’t truly convinced that they need what Beshear is offering. After all, Biden actually ran worse among rural voters than Clinton — and still managed to capture the White House. In Beshear’s case, many aspects of his record will travel well — namely his focus on teacher salaries, infrastructure, pandemic leadership and his responsiveness during natural disasters. Yet there are elements of his tenure that may not survive deeper scrutiny by the national party. The political risks he took in supporting abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights and unions could be overshadowed by the things he didn’t talk about. As the governor of a coal-producing state, he took a pass on addressing climate change issues. The killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black EMT who was shot and killed during a botched police raid of her apartment, also didn’t receive much airing during his campaign. Both issues would receive far more scrutiny in a presidential primary. None of this diminishes Beshear’s victory — he ranks as one of the most popular governors in the nation for a reason. But it’s worth remembering where the party’s last four presidential nominees cut their political teeth — Boston, Chicago, New York and Wilmington. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at cmahtesian@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie.
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Abortion rights supporters celebrate winning the referendum on Issue 1, a measure to enshrine a right to abortion in Ohio's Constitution. | Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images | WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW — There were a lot of elections Tuesday night. If you missed anything, we understand — Nightly has you covered with a recap from our colleagues at POLITICO. On the issues, abortion rights backers extended their post-Dobbs winning streak in Ohio, as Ohio voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to enshrine protections for reproductive health services, including abortion, in the state constitution. Voters did so even after popular Gov. Mike DeWine cut ads for the “No” campaign, calling the ballot measure “extreme.” Ohio also became the 24th state to embrace weed legalization, after voters comfortably approved a marijuana legalization referendum on the ballot. The new law allows adults over 21 to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants. The measure creates a Division of Cannabis Control, which is responsible for setting up and regulating the adult-use cannabis market. In Virginia, Democrats swept control of the state legislature, holding the state Senate and picking up the House. Both parties thought control was in play, and Virginia going blue hurts Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s standing as a potential sleeper presidential candidate — and could give a political boost to President Joe Biden. It was a similar story in New Jersey, as Democrats surprisingly not only managed to hold onto their state legislative majorities Tuesday night but expand them. Republicans — benefiting from the unpopularity of Biden, the collapse of two major offshore wind projects and backlash to LGBTQ-friendly policies in public schools — had been hopeful at winning a majority in the state Senate or the Assembly for the first time in more than 20 years. New York state was a bit more of a mixed bag for each party, as voters mostly stuck with incumbents, though Republicans continued to make big gains in the politically crucial suburbs of Long Island. Republican Ed Romaine handily flipped the Suffolk County executive seat, becoming the first Republican to win the office since 1999. In New York City, the exonerated “Central Park Five” member Yusef Salaam won a seat on the City Council, completing a stunning reversal of fortune decades after he was wrongly imprisoned in an infamous rape case. Tuesday’s results were undeniably good for Democrats. But several strategists and officials who worked on this year’s successful campaigns said they fear there would now be a sense of complacency about November 2024 because of what happened in November 2023. Their victories, they warned, didn’t tell us much about the political future of the president, even if they turned on the same hot-button issues that might ultimately help him win again. Or, do you just want the biggest takeaways from a Democratic romp? Read them here.
| | — Feds charge three with running high-end brothels allegedly frequented by politicians: The Justice Department said today it is investigating politicians, military officers and government contractors for buying sex through a high-end brothel network operating in Massachusetts and the D.C. suburbs. Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts charged three people with running the network: Han Lee and Junmyung Lee of Massachusetts and James Lee of California. The two Massachusetts defendants were scheduled to have initial court appearances this afternoon. — Ivanka Trump testifies about loan negotiations that cast doubt on her father’s net worth: Ivanka Trump testified today about a 2011 loan negotiation for her father that suggested his true net worth was much lower than what he claimed on his financial statements at the time. On the witness stand in the $250 million civil fraud trial against Donald Trump and his real estate empire, the former president’s daughter said she had helped negotiate to lower the net worth her father was required to maintain in order to obtain a loan from Deutsche Bank for Trump National Doral, the golf resort in Miami. — Florida Supreme Court justices appear open to recreational pot legalization initiative: Justices on Florida’s conservative-leaning Supreme Court today appeared to favor a ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, pushing back against the state’s arguments that the initiative hides information from potential voters. During the hourlong arguments, the justices pointedly questioned attorneys representing Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who claims the language of the initiative fails to explain that marijuana is still prohibited under federal law.
| | | | KICK THE CAN — The Minnesota Supreme Court today punted on a decision that could keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 presidential ballot in that state, reports POLITICO. The court dismissed a lawsuit that would bar Trump from the primary ballot under a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars people from holding public office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” But the justices noted today that the decision applied only to the state’s primary, leaving open the possibility that the former president could be booted from the ballot in the general election in November. OLD FRIENDS — When he was in law school, Vivek Ramaswamy attended an event inside a refurbished Second Empire-style mansion in New Haven with a group called Shabtai, a Jewish intellectual society that’s become an elite ecumenical breeding ground, according to the Deseret News. After his first meeting, which he was brought to by a Jewish friend (the group accepts people of all faiths), Ramaswamy became increasingly involved in Shabtai, as he and his wife offered to host events in their Manhattan apartment. As he began his presidential bid, friends he met through Shabtai remained involved — and in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, Ramaswamy has had to defend a non-interventionist policy as Israel retaliates. He’s now leaning on his relationship with Shabtai, even as the conflict and his political beliefs scramble some of his connections there. SPOOKY SEASON — President Joe Biden’s envoy in Ottawa confided to a crowd of Canadians that fresh polling in key swing states is “sobering and scary,” reports POLITICO. “For people in Canada or the United States who are concerned or troubled by a prospective second term for Donald Trump, those polling results are sobering and scary,” U.S. Ambassador David Cohen told a conference of manufacturers and exporters in Canada’s capital on Tuesday. The comments represented an unusual swerve into domestic U.S. politics by a sitting ambassador and a striking admission of Biden’s vulnerability by one of his most loyal political allies. The White House and Biden campaign have spent much of the past few days working to calm the nerves of Democrats after the latest wave of grim polling on the 2024 election.
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The 'Panda Express' takes off as it transports giant pandas from the Smithsonian's National Zoo at Dulles International Airport. | Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images | PANDA PROBLEMS — Three of China’s cutest and most beloved diplomats left Washington today, marking a turning point in the struggling relationship between their home country and the United States, write Eric Bazail-Eimil and Andrew Zhang. The diplomats in question were a trio of giant pandas who came to represent China’s burgeoning global ambitions — as well as Washington’s most popular zoo attraction. The arrival and departure of the pandas, which spawned merch lines and a cult-like following, traces the half-century relationship trajectory between a longtime global power and an increasingly influential country that has grown to become its biggest competitor. “There’s no doubt that this is a reflection of the state of bilateral relations,” said Yun Sun, a China expert at the Stimson Center, a foreign affairs think tank. “The pandas are supposed to unify the relationship with the United States, and the relationship between the U.S. and China is so bad anyway, what’s the point of the panda being here?” Tian Tian and Mei Xiang arrived at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington in 2000, taking the place of a panda duo that had recently passed away after coming to the U.S. in 1972. (The third departed panda, Xiao Qi Ji, was born to Mei in 2020.) Although American zoos had giant pandas in the early parts of the 20th century, the arrival of the first duo, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, kicked off American panda fever. Former Chinese leader Mao Zedong had promised former President Richard Nixon those first pandas during the American leader’s groundbreaking visit to China. AGAINST THE TIDE — Indian authorities have barred any pro-Palestinian solidarity protest in Muslim-majority Kashmir and asked Muslim preachers not to mention the conflict in their sermons, residents and religious leaders told The Associated Press. The restrictions are part of India’s efforts to curb any form of protest that could turn into demands for ending New Delhi’s rule in the disputed region. They also reflect a shift in India’s foreign policy under populist Prime Minister Narendra Modi away from its long-held support for the Palestinians, analysts say. India has long walked a tightrope between the warring sides, with historically close ties to both. While India strongly condemned the Oct. 7 attack by the militant group Hamas and expressed solidarity with Israel, it urged that international humanitarian law be upheld in Gaza amid rising civilian deaths.
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| | | |  On this date in 1988: Then-Vice President and presidential candidate George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush wave as balloons are dropped during a welcome rally as they watch the 1988 presidential election returns in Houston; at left is George W. Bush. Bush won with 426 electoral votes to his opponent Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis' 111. | John Duricka/AP | | Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
