Trump-supporting Kentucky governor Matt Bevin lost re-election, we love to see it

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I’m a Virginia resident and I vote in every election, even on the depressing off-years. For some reason, Virginia really tries to make it difficult for people to care about local and state-wide races, which is why they do everything on the off-years. I voted for the state senate and House of Delegates, plus the local treasurer and sheriff. I was depressed afterwards because I felt like the turnout wasn’t going to be very good and that Republicans would retain their slender majority in both chambers. Not so! Virginians flipped both chambers and we now have Democratic control across the board in the commonwealth. Yes, our Democratic governor did blackface A LOT, but he’s also going to protect the Medicare expansion, protect a woman’s right to choose and continue to be generally anti-Trump.

Virginia wasn’t the only good news from the off-year elections: Democrats flipped the Kentucky governor! The incumbent Republican governor Matt Bevin lost re-election to Democrat Andy Beshear. Bevin was a big Trump supporter, and Trump just made a visit to Kentucky this week to help stump for Bevin. And Kentuckians were like “Nah bitch.”

It’s not Election Day 2020 yet, but on Tuesday we got the next best thing. Voters all over the country headed to polls to decide local and state elections. The headline-grabbing contest was Democrat Andy Beshear beating Republican incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin in the Kentucky governor’s race — a state President Donald Trump won by a whopping 30 percent in 2016. Some caveats: Bevin was among the most unpopular governors in the country, and other Republican leaders in the state outperformed him on Tuesday.

But Beshear’s win was still a big loss for Trump, who campaigned in Kentucky just a day before the election, explicitly tying Bevin’s race to his own reputation. The results also showed that Democrats in Kentucky were fired up — Beshear outperformed the 2015 Democratic gubernatorial candidate in many areas of the state.

The other huge story was Virginia’s state legislature elections, where Democrats flipped both the state House and Senate, ensuring a trifecta with Gov. Ralph Northam (D) already in the governor’s mansion. Virginia has been trending blue for years, but the fact that Democrats generated so much enthusiasm in an off-year where state legislature elections were the biggest thing on the ballot means the party is organized and enthusiastic, even for traditionally sleepier races.

[From Vox]

On Monday, Trump told a Kentucky rally for Bevin: “If you lose, they’re going to say Trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world. You can’t let that happen to me!” LMAO. Anyway, all of this is good news. Truly, Virginia is a blue state, or solidly purple-blue, but we still have to shake out some of these idiot Republicans in the local and state-wide offices, and this was an excellent start. And I’m happy for Kentucky too. Let’s take all of this energy into the next year.

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86 Responses to “Trump-supporting Kentucky governor Matt Bevin lost re-election, we love to see it”

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  1. Sayrah says:

    Trump is going to the LSU/Bama football game this weekend. I’m curious to see if he gets booed again.

    • Lizzie says:

      he is so pathetic. is he going to keep going to sports events until he gets one person to clap for him? guarantee they start paying people to cheer.

      the truth is – sports events are hard for lots of politicians. all of fenway park booed robert j kenney at a red socks game. i mean – that is crazy to think. if beloved politicians can’t catch a break in their own home town – what does trump think is going to happen?!

      • whatWHAT? says:

        “is he going to keep going to sports events until he gets one person to clap for him?”

        yes, that is what I suspect. he has to, so he can convince himself it’s not just the paid audiences that love him. it’s in his pathology…it’s psychologically painful for him to know that people don’t worship him everywhere.

    • Tanguerita says:

      as much as I wish for it to happen there is no way they would allow it to happen for the third time in a row. Not in Alabama anyway. The audience will be vetted, they will plant people to cheer and hold make america great again signs… you name it.

    • Lightpurple says:

      I really need him to drop a puck at a Philadelphia Flyers game. They have a reputation to uphold. He would be doused in beer before he even stepped on the ice.

      • Kate says:

        Lol yes!!! Philly pride!!! I’d love to see him get boo shredded by a philly crowd😂

      • Jenns says:

        This pains me to say this, but I have a feeling he would get more cheers than boos at a Flyers game.

        And I say this as a Flyers fan.

    • Jane'sWastedTalent says:

      Where’s Jerusha? (I think she lives in one of those states.) We need to crowd fund seats so she can bring a huge contingent of booers. 😀

      ETA- The Flyers would be amazing, but that coward’s probably afraid of hockey matches.

      • Jerusha says:

        Here I am🙋🏻‍♀️. I attended both UA and LSU, so hard to know who to cheer for, but I know who to BOOOOOOO! I hope there are a lot of audible boos, but I don’t know. But, please god, no grinning pics with Saban or Tua or any of the other guys.
        As for attending, Dump has brought his ass to Mobile where I live a couple of times and I still haven’t gotten the stench out of my nostrils.

      • TeamAwesome says:

        Ya’ll, I assure you these tickets have been bought for a while. I hope someone mentions how mad it makes Saban when people don’t stay for the whole game, lol.
        My Facebook has been full of memes that have variations on a picture of Nick Saban and Trump with the words: The most powerful man in the country will be in Tuscaloosa Saturday. So will Donald Trump.

    • WTF says:

      You won’t believe this crap!
      The SGA at University of Alabama has threatened to ban anyone that boos for the rest of the season.
      I don’t even like football, but I’m pissed.
      https://www.al.com/news/2019/11/alabama-sga-warns-groups-protest-trump-during-lsu-game-risk-losing-reserved-seating.html

      • Joanna says:

        Yeah that sounds about right. I live in Destin Fl and there are hard core trump supporters here. That’s the Panhandle of Florida. I can be in Alabama in about an hour if I wanted. Unfortunately

  2. Lexilla says:

    I was just in DC, and I came away with the sinking feeling that Trump will win again. Most of the souvenirs were pro-Trump, and I was listening to tourists gush about him and Melania left and right. I hope I’m wrong, but it just hit me how many people still buy into this travesty.

    • Busyann says:

      I live in DC and I can tell you the majority of people here do not like him. Maybe some of the tourist are fans, but, I doubt it’s a huge chunk. And the touristy souvenirs always depict the current president BUT there are still an ton of tourist carts selling Obama items. I think its healthy to prepare mentally for a Trump reelection but what the wins in Virginia and Kentucky last night should tell us is people are fed up with the GOP bs and are showing up to get them out of office. I love it.

      Another thing I realized last night is how huge that win in Kentucky is. Mitch McConnell should be shaking in his turtle shell. Does anyone know the name of the lady campaigning against McConnell? I’d love to donate to her campaign.

      • The Other Katherine says:

        It’s Amy McGrath who is running against Moscow Mitch.

      • Jane'sWastedTalent says:

        For some reason I thought this was Moscow Mitch’s last term- is he running again?

      • BayTampaBay says:

        Amy McGrath could win as she is retired military and a conservative democrat which fits the Kentucky electorate perfectly.

        Matt Bevin lost by less than 1% of the vote so there will be a re-count but I think Andy Beshear’s win will holdout and he will become the Governor of Kentucky.

        I have relatives in Kentucky and spent much time there so I sorta understand Kentucky better than the average non-resident.

      • lucy2 says:

        Amy McGrath – I donated to her again last night as soon as I saw the results.

        According to the news I saw last night, there’s no automatic recount in Kentucky, Bevin would have to take it to court. I’ll be curious to see if he goes that far with it, or concedes.

      • delphi says:

        And y’all are welcome. 🙂

        @lucy2: The Secretary of State’s office and Board of Elections (both of whom this asswipe has openly and publicly defamed) will do an automatic recanvassing. You are correct, though, that it would have to go through the court system for an official recount, and the local judge who would have to authorize that (Phil Shepard) is no friend of Bevin. (See the legal fight over the public pension bill.)

        Someone put a “moving sale” yard sign in the front lawn of the Governor’s Mansion this morning…I damn near drove off of the road on my way to work laughing this morning. It was glorious.

    • The Other Katherine says:

      I wouldn’t read too much into it, as tourists are a self-selected group. There are going to be quite a few MAGAs motivated to visit DC because of Individual-1, and quite a few non-Republicans who are less keen to visit right now. The souvenir selection is always going to relate heavily to the current administration, and not too much of it is going to be overtly negative as that has a higher likelihood of provoking an angry reaction than something that is blandly (insofar as that’s possible these days) supportive of whoever the current Prez is.

      • Busyann says:

        Thank you! I couldn’t remember her name. Found her and donated through Act Blue. It was super easy!

    • Isabelle says:

      Ha DC residents in no way like Trump, spoken as a former resident. He is no doubt a joke with many stories about his dumb ass at the lunch Costner’s in the afternoon.

  3. mellie says:

    I heard a soundbite of this d-bag on the news this morning, a reporter asked him why he was talking so much about the impeachment since he was running for GOVERNOR and not the senate/house. He was such a d— to that reporter I wanted to smack him myself. Such an a-hole. Keep turning states blue people, it’s making me hopeful!

    • Esmom says:

      I heard that, too. It’s easy to see why Trump likes him. And what a shocker that he’s refusing to concede. Beshear seems like a good guy, so fingers crossed he keeps his win.

  4. Lucy2 says:

    You’re next to lose, Moscow Mitch!

    I was happy but not surprised about Virginia, but Kentucky was a shock.
    Voter turnout is CRUCIAL. Vote in every election.

    • Lizzie says:

      i’ve never been to kentucky – never plan to – but i have donated to amy mcgrath twice already.

    • Jerusha says:

      And Rand, don’t forget that dick.

    • tegteg says:

      I was on the edge of my seat ALL NIGHT! Beshear won by something like 5,000 votes, so it just goes to show you that every vote DOES count!

      Bevin is the absolute worst. When teachers were on strike, he said something to the effect of it was irresponsible and now kids having to stay home from school could get molested because of teachers. Not joking.

      Lizzie, I hope you’ll change your mind! Louisville, Kentucky is a fantastic city.

      • TeamAwesome says:

        I have a friend who teaches at U of L who canceled her classes so her students could vote. They were all registered, and all ready to make their voice be heard.

  5. Lena says:

    I heard the Kentucky incumbent was refusing to concede because the win was narrow. Makes me worry about how Trump probably will refuse to leave unless he’s completely trounced. I still remember the nightmare when the Supreme Court decided the winner.

    • Isabelle says:

      He won’t but let him dig his heels in. The one thing we can get from it, the Republican Party will back him and continue looking like chumps. isolating future generations even farther.

  6. Becks1 says:

    I kept reading these headlines last night thinking they were a joke. But nope. The democrat beat the Republican incumbent. Popularity aside, that is a huge win for the democratic party, and I’m hoping McConnell is a little nervous about it this morning.

  7. CER says:

    Kentucky may end up with a Dem governor again but the legislature is solidly GOP.

    • Isabelle says:

      Appalachian region is a bag of mix and always has been. It’s maybe one of the more complicated regions election wise. Honestly if Dems took Appalachia more serious they would pull off more wins.

    • lucy2 says:

      True, but even without the legislature, the new governor can do a lot of good things for the people of the state. The Medicaid stuff alone will help a lot.

  8. minx says:

    It was a very sweet night.

  9. Prettykrazee says:

    Bevin was a POS governor. He tore down so much good the previous governor, a democrat, put in place. Bevin gutted the Obamacare there. He also did typical republican things like made Kentucky a right to work state. He also got rid of prevailing wage in Kentucky. My in laws live in Kentucky. They were pumped to go to the polls yesterday to get rid of Bevin. They hated him.

  10. Jenns says:

    I’m not in KY, but I am in PA and the Dems had a **HUGE** victory last night. The GOP held power in my county since the civil war. But now the Dems have taken control. I’ve lived in this area for 40 years and I’m euphoric this morning. This is big news here today.

    • Jane'sWastedTalent says:

      That’s lovely news, thank you for sharing it.

    • Esmom says:

      That’s so great! I feel maybe a slight glimmer of hope for 2020 as a result of these wins.

    • Becks1 says:

      That is good news! Thanks for sharing.

      Local races are so important, but this also brings to light the importance of the electoral college, yet again. He won PA, MI and WI by such slim margins, that it is entirely reasonable to think the Dems would take those back in 2020

    • lucy2 says:

      Wow, that’s great!
      Vote in EVERY election. I was guilty of skipping some little ones in the past, but no more.

      • Jenns says:

        I was guilty of the same thing. I rarely voted in small elections. But I went yesterday and there was a line. Voter turnout was high.

        And I know anything can happen in 2020. But I cannot state enough how huge this is. This area of PA was deep red, so for it to swing blue is very encouraging. I know a lot is being made of KY, but the GOP is losing suburban support.

        So as it turns out, it looks like impeachment or Democrats going too liberal did not hurt the party. Nor did it energize the Republican party. And I’m sure the NYT and CNN will happily report on this new wave of blue voters and not continue to cover Trump supporters…(:eye roll:)

    • GreenBunny says:

      I live in PA too and was so thrilled to see the results, especially in Chester County, where I live. They use some schools as polling places, so my kids never have school on election day. They come with me every single election to see me vote so that they know how very important it is, even when it’s on a local level.

    • Guest2.0 says:

      That’s awesome news. What Pennsylvania county do you live in?

      • GreenBunny says:

        Chester county, which was a republican stronghold so the fact that a blue wave came to it is a HUGE deal, and I’m proud to say I did my part in getting it there by voting!

    • What. . .now? says:

      I just read about PA’s big Dem wins! GOOOOOOOO Pennsylvania! You guys flipped counties that have been red since BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR!!!

      Well done and big cheers to all of you!! Amazing!!!

      Let’s do this thing USA!

  11. La says:

    I was surprised and excited to see Bevin voted out. I wouldn’t hold my breath though for a tide shift in Kentucky. The biggest reason Beshear won was Bevin massively pissed off teachers and other public servants (including firefighters) by screwing around with their benefits and pensions. A ton of people voted Dem for governor and red the rest of the ballot.

    • Deedee says:

      I agree. I’m here in Kentucky and Matt Bevin’s insults to teachers were remembered in November. The rest of the big races went to the GOP, which does not bode well for 2020. Cities voted Beshear, while the rural, less poplulated (and in many cases, impoverished) areas voted Bevin. How tightly we clutch the chains that bind us.

      • nab says:

        Your last sentence rings so true. I have a cousin that routinely votes against herself. I just can’t.

      • Deedee says:

        I’m paraphrasing Margaret Mitchell (Gone With the Wind author). Margaret Mitchell — ‘How closely women clutch the very chains that bind them!’

      • La says:

        I love that last sentence! I’m not in Kentucky but live very close to the border and saw so many posts and comments with people twisting themselves in knots trying to justify voting Bevin even though they know he sucks. Thank goodness for everyone who came out and voted blue!

      • Christin says:

        One thing I heard about KY was that the far eastern (rural coal country) still vote Dem. Given how neighboring southwest VA seems to vote for anyone who has an “R” next to their name, I assumed all rural areas in KY would as well.

        Voting against their own interests is exactly what it is for most of these folks to vote R.

  12. Lightpurple says:

    The Trumps invested a lot in Bevin. Not only did Trump do his recent visit but Nagini has been going to Kentucky quite frequently to promote her “pledge” nonsense and pose with Bevin. We probably have spent millions on Nagini’s trips to Kentucky over the past year. Such a joy to watch it all fall apart. Well done, Kentucky. Now do Moscow Mitch.

    • Esmom says:

      This morning I allowed myself a brief fantasy that McConnell would see the writing on the wall and decide to retire. I’m sure there’s zero chance of that, though. Sigh.

    • lucy2 says:

      It definitely puts a ding in his political capital. A lot of GOP politicians are clinging to him for being re-elected, maybe this will shift that a bit.

  13. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    Congratulations! Let’s all join cyber hands and pray for Texas. 🙏🙄

    • BayTampaBay says:

      Get Beto to run for the Senate!

      • just a small town girl says:

        sadly he’s burned that bridge here…any good will he had with centrists or swing voters from his last senate run burned away during the presidential run and nobody not already blue will vote for the guy who wants to take away guns.

    • Raina says:

      I did lol in my way
      Maybe I cursed too much but one out of every 4 times they’ll let my post appear.
      Like a dentist.

  14. nab says:

    Kentuckian here! We are all rejoicing. Bevin came after teachers’ pensions the last couple of years and thought he could get re-elected. LOL. Let the tides continue to turn!

  15. susiecue says:

    South Carolinian here; I got fired up by this and donated to Jaime Harrison’s campaign! He is running to unseat goblin Lindsey Graham.

  16. Froggy says:

    We got our new rescue dog in April. She came from a kill shelter in Kentucky. She’s the smartest dog I’ve ever had. Today she’s proud to be from Kentucky.

  17. Sarah says:

    Kentucky rarely elects a Republican governor- and only one has ever won a re-election bid in the history of the state, I believe. Can’t hinge too much on Bevin’s loss, sadly…he kicked the hornet’s nest of the teacher’s union and the FOP, and his loss seems more of a reflection on that issue.

  18. Who ARE These People? says:

    Great news, great work everyone.

    One wee thing Kaiser: the insurance program expansion is for Medicaid, not Medicare.

    This distinction is going to get even more important if Democrats continue to gain in 2020 and public insurance gets on the table. All the media attention to ‘how to pay for it’ seems premature to me because Democrats have to take the Senate to make anything happen, and because the media really should be asking instead, “How do we pay for the Pentagon and billionaire tax cuts,” but voters kinda have to know the basics.

    Medicaid is public insurance for people with low incomes and for people with disabilities, who can’t get covered any other way. Medicaid is also the single largest payer of nursing home bills, a fact of great importance to even middle-income families.

    Medicare is public insurance for people age 65 and older. It includes several parts, the latest of which is prescription coverage, and there are premiums, deductibles and co-pays. Medicare comes in a variety of plans, both public and private (private plans were added at the same time as prescription coverage). If you’re 65 or older, or help parents on Medicare, review every year what would work best for their needs. Generally, traditional Medicare, a public plan, works better for higher-needs people (which means people who are old-old, not young-old, plus the young-old with greater needs).

    Medicaid is overseen at the state level, which is why these expansions are so important state by state. More Virginians will now be able to go to the doctor.

    Medicare is overseen at the federal level.

  19. Lowercaselila says:

    Bevin thought he was a. mini-Trump. He was correct and he got beat because of that.

  20. Jerusha says:

    I love this! Cyclist who was fired after flipping off Dump wins office in Virginia! https://twitter.com/fox61news/status/1192070483790958592?s=21

    • heygingersnaps says:

      That was wonderful to hear! I hope the tides keep on turning towards the democrats.
      I know of someone who lives in Virginia but is so pro dump and she’s not even an American citizen yet and keeps complaining about illegal immigrants, I wonder what she thinks about this now.

  21. Insomniac says:

    So proud of Virginia! You could usually fire a couple of cannons through my polling place and not hit anyone during off-year elections, but that place was BUSY last night; I was hoping that was a good sign.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      as a general rule, when turnout is high, blue wins.

      it’s why the GOP tries so hard to suppress voters and voter turnout. the only way they win is by cheating.

  22. Vaya says:

    I live in a crimson red district of Virginia. It’s going to be so hard not to smile or smirk at work today. 😊 Pray for me. 🙏 LOL.

  23. LP says:

    Cincinnatian here- very happy to see Beshear win, and I’m cautiously optimistic for next year! While Bevin was very unpopular, it’s worth noting 1. McConnell isn’t popular either 2. Bevin came HARD with a Trumpy word salad ad campaign, basically just throwing around ‘ BESHEAR SOCIALISM ABORTION PEOLSIIIIII’ in a blender. That’s usually the kind of thing that works around here; Cincinnati is usually more liberal but I canvassed for Aftab Pureval in 2018 and that messaging sunk him. On top of the news out of Virginia and Pennsylvania it’s good motivation for 2020!

  24. Summer says:

    Trump is less popular than he or his minions would have us believe. Most Americans loathe him and those who adore him really just love an excuse to behave badly.

    They like that …
    1) He has no filter (because they have no filter).
    2) He‘s a narcissist (because they are narcissists).
    3) He is racist/sexist (because they are racist/sexist and fear equality).
    4) He slams the devil’s Democrats (because they are party-first Republicans).
    5) He supports their issue (guns, anti-abortion, religious rights, anti-vax, tax breaks, etc).
    6) He’s rich, or a successful scammer (because they desperately want to be rich or are scammers, too).

    It’s less about loving Trump and more about who they hate. Bigly sad!

  25. Liz version 700 says:

    I was so excited lSt night I could not even sleep just love love love it. Way to go Kentucky and Virginia. The lady who flipped off Trump’s motorcade and got fired just won a seat on the Loudon County Board of Supervisors. Karma is slow but it’s coming for some red hat a$$holes

  26. stormyshay says:

    I live in Kentucky. Sadly, the rest of the state went red but I was so pleased to see Bevin out. It was an especially wonderful feeling knowing Trump came here the night prior to the election. Gives me hope Trump can be voted out next year.

  27. JanetFerber says:

    Hot damn! Let’s oust every one of these MAGA traitors and cowards!

  28. Wow, what a wonderful night for us! I don’t care what they say, this was a profound win for us in three states. YAY! We just have to keep going, and oh yeah, we will! Just watch us…

  29. Queen Meghan’s Hand says:

    “Yes, our Democratic governor did blackface A LOT, but he’s also going to protect the Medicare expansion, protect a woman’s right to choose and continue to be generally anti-Trump.”
    Lmao! If this is not a summary of Democratic Party politics, I don’t know what is.
    Finally, Virginia is blue!