Ferguson and Dem governors hope to win on affordabilityFree

LOUISVILLE — Ahead of elections that could determine control of Congress and states for the rest of President Donald Trump’s second term, Democratic governors say they are happy to talk to voters about the president’s policies.

During the Democratic Governors Association’s fall policy conference in Louisville, a few governors said Thursday that their party’s candidates will win voters on affordability. They took aim at Trump’s policies on foreign tariffs and the war in Iran, boosting prices on groceries and gas at home.

The prediction came a day after Trump and Republicans rallied in Texas for a midterm convention. There, the president said he’d send American adults a $5,000 check if the GOP retains control of the House and Senate and “pretend that I’m on the ballot.”

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, the Democratic Governors Association chair, said he supports Trump “saying this election is fully about him.”

“He’s telling people to pretend that he’s on the ballot. I want people to pretend that he’s on the ballot,” Beshear said. “If you are for tariffs, vote for Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. If you are for gas being higher, vote for Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. Otherwise, vote for the Democrat.”

Trump’s approval rating nationwide has been trending downward for weeks. A poll from Focaldata/Financial Times released over Labor Day weekend said 32 percent of Americans approved of the president’s job performance. A YouGov/Economist projection released Aug. 21 showed the president’s job approval rating negative in all but three states.

Beshear told reporters and online content creators that on Monday, the Democratic Governors Association will launch an “Expand the Map” fund, a “solely dedicated fund to changing the playing field and changing the states that we’re competing in.” Wins this year create “a bigger path and a bigger map in 2028,” he added.

The Kentucky governor was joined by Govs. Laura Kelly of Kansas, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Bob Ferguson of Washington and Matt Meyer of Delaware. The governors said Canada is an important trading partner for their states and criticized Trump’s trade war, which has escalated in recent days.

Walz said the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Canada not only affects economies in his state, which is on the border, but is “deeply cultural and so personal and so damaging.”

“Our hockey teams play each other. We grocery shop in the stores across the border. I have to leave Minnesota to get to part of Minnesota because I have to go through Manitoba to get to the Northwest Angle. … These are our closest allies,” Walz said.