Southern Republicans look to nationalize ’23 governors’ races
Candidates invoke president’s name on campaign trail
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — President Biden’s name won’t appear on the ballot anywhere in 2023, but you wouldn’t know it from the campaigns that Republican candidates for governor are running in Kentucky and Mississippi.
GOP nominees in both states — Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and first-term Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves — are just as likely to mention the Democratic president as they are to name the person they face in the Nov. 7 general election.
Tying candidates for governor to national political figures is a well-worn strategy but also reflects an era of deepening ideological divides, according to Carrie Archie Russell, a specialist on southern politics at Vanderbilt University. She says forging such links, even when there’s no evidence of a strong connection, allows candidates to create a “mental shortcut for identifying individuals as ‘us’ or ‘them.’”
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump won 62 percent of the vote in Kentucky and 58 percent in Mississippi in his loss to Biden.
“If you’re the Republican Party in these states and you’re hoping to generate large voter turnout for your Republican candidate, it makes sense to certainly vilify Joe Biden,” Russell said.
The Kentucky and Mississippi gubernatorial campaigns might well serve as messaging test drives for the 2024 presidential election year, when Biden is expected to be on the ballot. And while there’s a Republican incumbent in Mississippi and it’s a Democrat seeking a second term in Kentucky, the competitions bear striking similarities to each other.
In each state, the Democrat has a previously existing brand that could help distinguish them from the Republican effort to define them as Biden allies.
First-term Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is as apt to be referred to by his first name as his last. He’s a well-known figure in state politics who first appeared on the scene as the son of the last Democrat to win the governor’s office, Steve Beshear. He emerged from serving as the state’s attorney general to unseat the incumbent Republican governor, Matt Bevin, four years ago.
In Mississippi, it’s the opponent’s last name that carries additional weight. Democrat Brandon Presley is a cousin of rock ‘n’ roll legend Elvis Presley — which may explain why voters are just as likely to hear Biden’s name in attacks from Republicans. Rather than say Presley’s name during a recent appearance, Reeves referred to him as “that individual.”
Beshear has experience overcoming GOP efforts to nationalize a state campaign, narrowly defeating a Trump ally in 2019. Known as a disciplined campaigner who sticks closely to his script, he rarely mentions Biden or Trump and generally avoids wading into national politics, insisting there’s nothing partisan about a good job or new bridge.
Beshear has appeared with Biden during times of tragedy, consoling victims of tornadoes and flooding that hit Kentucky. In Mississippi, Reeves put aside anti-Biden rhetoric when he appeared with the president to survey tornado damage in March.
Cameron lumps Beshear with Biden on pocketbook issues. Beshear counters by touting his stewardship of the state during a period of record-setting growth in economic development.
Just as Reeves does in Mississippi, Cameron blames Biden’s economic policies for fueling sharply higher consumer prices that strain family budgets. Cameron wants voter dissatisfaction with Biden to extend to Beshear.
In Mississippi, Reeves says the state has momentum under his leadership, with education improvements, the state’s largest income-tax cut, and a low unemployment rate. And he warns the state is under threat from Presley and national Democrats.
Presley, a utility regulator, says little about Biden, and he chafes at Reeves’ effort to bring national politics into the Mississippi governor’s contest.