RUN, ANDY! RUN! ... but not for President. What Gov. Beshear really needs to do | Opinion

Forty years ago, a young Kentucky lawyer and elected official (he was 42, so not all that young) ran for the United States Senate. The seat he wanted had long been held by the opposing party and no one gave him much chance to win. But win he did, and over the next four-and-a-half decades, this United States Senator completely redefined American politics. He rewrote the laws, reshaped the Supreme Court, remade the global free-trade economy, guided American foreign policy (for better and worse), and the effects of his power will determine the course of the country’s future for decades to come.

By any honest measure, Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr. has had more power, more say and more sway over the history and future of America than any of the eight presidents he has served “under.”

Whatever you think of Mitch doesn’t really matter, because Mitch understood one simple thing: Power. And the greatest power you can have is to control the course of history. And that is exactly what Mitch McConnell has done. He stole a seat from the opposing party and proceeded to open free trade with China, rewrite campaign finance laws so that unlimited dark money spending could control our elections, and set about a decades long project to reshape the Judiciary and the Supreme Court so that abortion could be made illegal, gun control could be rolled back and affirmative action and DEI could be brought to a screeching halt.

Love him or hate him — and most Kentuckians seem to hate him; he’s had the lowest approval rating of any Senator for at least a decade and yet we keep electing him – you cannot deny that Mitch has had ultimate power. Which was exactly his goal.

Forty years later, Mitch is stepping down. His seat is open. And the most obvious person who could take his seat is a young Kentucky lawyer and elected official (well, I mean, he’s 47, so by U.S. Senate standards, he’s a baby) has decided to sit this one out?

Andy Beshear is the Governor of Kentucky. Last year, he and his supporters tried desperately to get him on the Presidential ticket as Kamala Harris’s VP. Their argument was simple – in fact it was so simple, that his supporters do not seem to grasp what it really means.

Andy is the Governor of a “Red State.” The home of Hal Rogers and Jamie Comer and Thomas Massie and Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell. Some of the most powerful, most consequential, and most vocal Republicans in American politics. And Andy Beshear is the governor – elected twice!

But instead of announcing a run for Mitch’s open Senate seat in 2026, Andy and his supporters are now trying, thirstily, to position him for a run for President in 2028.

Here’s the problem. If Andy Beshear truly wants to serve his country, if he really wants to help people, if his actual dedication is to the cause of freedom and equality for all – then absolutely none of us need him in the White House. We need him in the United States Senate.

If you honestly care about women’s rights, immigrants’ rights, LGBTQ+ rights, or labor rights, or education or the economy… if you really and truly care about these issues, there is only one place we need Andy Beshear, and that is in the United States Senate. Not the White House.

An imaginary ‘Beshear for President’ campaign platform is based on a fantasy – that this Democrat can win in a deep red state and thus… what? He will win all the red states? This mythology is sadly divorced from reality. And it is self-destructive.

The potential Democratic field for 2028 includes Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, AOC, Mayor Pete, Gov. Shapiro and countless other firebrands, populists, centrists and weirdos. The chances of Andy surviving that field to win the nomination are not great. Is it possible? Dick Gephardt would say yes, but history would suggest otherwise.

And the greatest argument in Andy’s favor — the best reason any of his supporters can muster for why he should run for President — is also the most obvious and undeniable reason for why he must not run for President.

Andy Besehar is the term-limited Democratic governor of a red state. He has won the statewide vote TWICE. But if that is Andy’s greatest strength then the obvious question is why is he too scared to try to do it a third time?

The White House is important. But if Mitch McConnell has taught any of us anything, no matter what we think about him, the true power lies in the Senate.

And majority control of the Senate lies in the balance. Without the Senate, the next President — no matter which party they belong to — will struggle to enact their agenda. The Democrats lost two vitally important “red state” seats in the 2024 elections — Manchin in West Virginia and Tester in Montana. Losing Casey’s seat in Pennsylvania didn’t help, but it only underscores the countless reasons why if you really and truly believe Andy Beshear can win the state of Kentucky, then all you should be doing is begging him to run for Senate.

The ONLY way the Democratic Party can regain control of the Senate is if they can win a Senate seat in a red state.

And if the best argument for a ‘Beshear for President’ campaign is that he can win a statewide election in a red state, then Beshear should run for Senate, not President.

On top of everything else, Andy deciding NOW to enter the Senate race would immediately elevate his more-than-capable Lieutenant Governor, Jacqueline Coleman, to the Governor’s office, and help set her up for a successful 2027 gubernatorial campaign. Andy could literally swing control of the United States Senate and simultaneously help elect Kentucky’s 2nd ever female Governor and the first in over 40 years!

During the last Governor’s race, Andy said he was committed to serving his full second term as Governor, and that’s great. It’s admirable! But when Andy said that, Mitch McConnell hadn’t announced his retirement and Donald Trump hadn’t been re-elected. If Andy Beshear actually cares about helping this country, then the single, obvious and only thing any of us need from him… is for him to run for and win McConnnell’s seat.

And if Beshear is too afraid to do that — to do what is right and what is necessary — because he is afraid that he might lose a Senate race in the state of Kentucky… then, let’s be real: If Andy Beshear can’t win a Kentucky Senate race, he isn’t going to win the White House.

We need to drop the fantasy and get down to business. Run Andy, Run… but not for President.

David Schankula is a Lexington native who was an active member of the Henry Clay High School Young Democrats alongside Governor Andy in the late 1990s. Though not lifelong friends, they have traveled parallel-ish paths, with one’s father becoming governor and then becoming governor himself and the other working on Oscar-winning, Palme d’Or-winning and Emmy-winning documentary films and series. Everything said here was said with love.

This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 6:00 AM.