Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is planning a trip to neighboring Tennessee to speak out against that state’s broad abortion ban. This is the latest sign that the Democrat, who is known for beating opponents backed by Donald Trump, wants to boost his party’s chances in GOP areas and raise awareness of himself.
Beshear, who ran against his state’s almost complete ban on abortion and won reelection last year, will talk next month at an event called “Championing Reproductive Freedom.” A college student named Hadley Duvall was in a TV ad last year that linked Beshear’s GOP opponent to Kentucky’s strict abortion law, which says abortions are illegal unless they are done to save the mother’s life. She will be running with him.
In a state that has been moving towards the GOP, Beshear’s victory made him look like a rising national Democratic star. On Monday, the governor said that abortion could be a big problem for his party as long as “it is grounded in a rejection of extremism.”
“Like Kentucky, Tennessee has some of the most extreme laws in the country, where victims of rape and incest don’t have the necessary options,” Beshear said in a phone interview. “I think that the voters in Tennessee, just like in Kentucky, have enough basic empathy to believe that goes way too far.”
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Tennessee does not allow abortions at any point during pregnancy. Legally, there are a few exceptions to protect the mother’s life, but since the ban started in 2022, many advocates and medical professionals have said that the wording isn’t clear about what’s legal. Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the ban and has said it’s working as it should.
Out of the 14 states that don’t allow abortions at any point during pregnancy, six make exceptions for rape and five make exceptions for incest.
Since he was re-elected, Beshear has gotten a lot of requests to speak at Democratic events across the country. However, he has been focused on his job and has limited his political trips. As promised, Beshear will finish his second term, which ends in late 2027. He beat a Republican sitting governor backed by Trump to become governor in 2019. Overcame another Trump-backed candidate last year.
At a state party dinner in Montana in March, Beshear spoke to Democrats and made the case for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s return. This election, along with others in November, will decide which party controls the Senate.
Beginning in 2024, Beshear set up a government political action committee to help candidates all over the country. The main goal of the committee was to help elect more Democrats in swing states and Republican strongholds.
