Potential Harris VP demonstrates 'rising popularity' after rally in red state: analysis

01 August 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris has likely narrowed down her running mate shortlist to a small handful of finalists, given her campaign's recent suggestion that her pick for vice president will be a sitting governor. And according to one recent analysis, one of those finalists has a knack for wooing red state audiences.

In a Thursday article for Axios Nashville, reporter Nate Rau wrote about a recent campaign rally that Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear held in Tennessee's capital city. Beshear — who was elected to a second term last year in the ruby-red commonwealth — stumped for Harris at an event hosted by the Tennessee Freedom Circle (a pro-abortion group formed after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022). According to Rau, Beshear's speech was "a demonstration of his rising popularity outside the Bluegrass State."

"Beshear, a Vanderbilt graduate, received a standing ovation from the Nashville crowd before he took the podium to deliver his speech," Rau wrote, noting that Beshear was "a bit of a unicorn" given that he's a "popular Democratic governor in a solidly conservative state."

In his speech, Beshear said his back-to-back victories as a Democrat in a state that has voted for Republican presidential candidates in every election since 2000 were due to meeting constituents' "basic needs" and by leading "with empathy" and "compassion."

"I believe when we lead from empathy and we start talking about these issues from a place of empathy, not from a political position, but from a place of human decency, when we talk about why we believe it — it could be your faith, your values, it could be any of that — then we connect with people," Beshear said.

Of course, Beshear — the son of two-term Kentucky Democratic Governor Steve Beshear — has also shown an ability to playfully taunt his political opponents. He recently mocked Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) for drinking Diet Mountain Dew, which came after his viral "he ain't from here" comment regarding Vance's claim of having an Appalachian upbringing (Vance's hometown of Middletown, Ohio is a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio).

"I don't believe the government should be making your decisions! So if you enjoy Diet Mountain Dew, uh, you do you." Beshear said in July. "And to Diet Mountain Dew, uh, very sorry. Didn't mean to say negative things about you. Just remember, I am from here, just like everybody else that's speaking out."

Harris has not yet announced a running mate, but Beshear's status as a term-limited Democratic governor with appeal to red state voters gives him a unique appeal that other potential running mates lack. Other possible contenders include Governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota.

The off-year Kentucky gubernatorial election has proven to be a bellwether to predict presidential elections the following year in every election since 2003. That year, Republican Ernie Fletcher was sent to the state capital of Frankfort, and former President George W. Bush was elected to a second term in 2004. Democrat Steve Beshear won in 2007 and was reelected in 2011, just as former President Barack Obama was elected in 2008 and again in 2012.

Republican Governor Matt Bevin was elected in 2015, which preceded former President Donald Trump's 2016 victory. And after Andy Beshear defeated Bevin to win Kentucky's 2019 gubernatorial election, President Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020. Last year, Beshear defeated Republican challenger Daniel Cameron by a five-point margin, despite Cameron having Trump's endorsement.

Click here to read Axios' report in full.

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