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Today, Democratic presidential candidates take the debate stage for the first time to woo primary and
general voters alike.
The same critical issues that resonated in 2018 are continuing to define the 2020 presidential race.
The contest will come down to who voters believe best understands these issues and can offer up the
practical solutions that best address the challenges American families face.
As the 2020 contest continues to heat up, presidential candidates should look to Democratic
governors’ success in 2017 and 2018 and how they are governing by getting things done. That is the
best road map to the White House.
The historic success of the Democratic Governors Association in the 2017/2018 election provides an
example of a path to victory in 2020. Democratic governors won in states across the map, from
Kansas to New Mexico to Maine, including four states won by President Trump in 2016.
The Democratic Governors Association saw historic gains during the 2017/2018 cycle. A record seven
seats were flipped to Democratic control on Election Night 2018, while nine open or incumbent
Democratic seats were protected. In 2017, the DGA won both Virginia and New Jersey. After our huge
wins, a majority of Americans are now represented by a Democratic governor.
Most notably, four of the wins in 2018 were states carried by President Trump in 2016 - Michigan,
Kansas, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, and since 2016 the DGA has won seven states where Trump
picked up electoral college delegates.
What worked
The success of Democratic gubernatorial candidates across a diverse spread of states showed that a
campaign focused on the kitchen table issues voters care about paves a path to victory. A message
centered around protecting and expanding access to health care, investing in public education, and
creating economic security resonated with voters from Oregon, to Nevada, to Michigan, to Maine.
Once in office, Democratic governors’ priorities have remained tied to these key campaign promises.
Governors don’t have the luxury of pontificating without taking action. Voters expect and demand
results.
As legislative sessions wrap up around the country, Democratic governors are ushering through historic
investments in education, policies aimed at protecting and expanding access to health care, and
strengthening their states’ economies through job training and increases to the minimum wage
Health care:
What they ran on:
● Candidates tapped into worries about the increasing fragility of access to affordable, quality
care. Republican governors blocked Medicaid expansion and fought the ACA, while GOP
candidates threatened to rip away coverage from hundreds of thousands of families.
Democratic campaigns focused on plans to increase access to care while promising to codify
key protections of the ACA and protect voters from the Trump administration’s harmful
policies.
Education:
What they ran on:
● Concerns over the quality of public schools and the lack of funding for classrooms were
amplified in 2018 by the #RedforEd movement around the country. Republican governors
showed their true priorities by cutting education budgets and leaving public schools behind.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates responded by promising increases in education funding
and teacher pay raises.
Economic security:
What they ran on:
● Republican governors had ignored or been slow to respond to stagnant wages, limited worker
benefits, and a shifting economy without a qualified workforce to keep up. Voters were
concerned not just about whether they could take time off in their current job to care for a sick
kid, but if their skills would be in demand through retirement. Democratic candidates focused
on what was needed at every level to build a diverse economy - from investments in the
workforce to big plans for infrastructure projects to increasing renewable energy projects in
their states.