Warning signs for Donald Trump as suburban voters abandon Republicans in statewide elections
Donald Trump has been handed a warning ahead of his 2020 re-election bid after a string of statewide elections suggested Republican voters in the suburbs are abandoning the party.
In Kentucky, a state Mr Trump won by almost 30 percentage points in the 2016 election, the Democratic candidate for governor appeared to have won a narrow victory over the Republican incumbent.
In Virginia, the Democrats flipped a string of Republican seats and now control the state legislature and the governorship for the first time in 26 years.
Elsewhere there were good results for the president, including in Mississippi, and drawing firm national conclusions from local races, each with their own factors and personalities, is problematic.
However Republican strategists said the night’s results amounted to a red light for the Trump presidency, with the departure of voters - especially women - in the suburbs who had been with him three years ago a particular concern.
Most damaging politically for Mr Trump was the failure of Matt Bevin, the Republican governor in Kentucky, to win more votes than his Democratic rival.
Mr Trump had appeared at a rally in Lexington, Kentucky, just 12 hours before polls opened in an attempt to get Mr Bevin and other candidates over the line.
During his speech Mr Trump had implored supporters to make sure Mr Bevin won, warning that if he did not secure reelection it would backlash on the president.
“If you lose, they will say Trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world,” Mr Trump had said. “You can’t let that happen to me, and you can’t let that happen to your incredible state.”
With all the votes counted Mr Bevin was on 48.8 per cent of the vote compared to his Democratic rival Andy Beshear, who was on 49.2 per cent.
The margin was around 5,000 votes. By Wednesday morning Mr Beshear had declared victory but Mr Bevin was yet to concede the race.
Mr Trump attempted to limit the political damage by pointing to the other five races in Kentucky that Republicans won on Tuesday.
Brad Parscale, Mr Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, said: “The president just about dragged Gov. Matt Bevin across the finish line, helping him run stronger than expected in what turned into a very close race at the end.”
But Republican strategist Rick Tyler told The Washington Post of his party: "They continue to lose needed support in suburban districts, especially among women and college-educated voters. That trend, if not reversed, is a death spiral."
