In Manchester visit, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear plays coy on 2028 plans

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks attends an event at Great North Aleworks brewery during his visit to New Hampshire. (Photo by William Skipworth/New Hampshire Bulletin)

Asked whether he’s mulling a presidential campaign in 2028, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told the Bulletin during a visit to New Hampshire Tuesday that “I’ll sit down with my family and we’ll see.”

During an event held by Manchester City Democrats at a local brewery, Beshear said he’ll start thinking about a presidential campaign after he finishes his term leading the Democratic Governors Association. Beshear is currently vice chairman of the organization and chair-elect. He’s set to lead the group through 2026.

“We’re going to win in some places that nobody’s expecting,” he said.

Throughout the evening, Beshear repeated one phrase: “We’ve gotta spend 80% of our time focusing on issues that matter to 100% of Americans.”

“The Democratic Party needs to be a common-sense, common-ground, get things done type of party,” he said. “We need to put the American people first, and our policies need to get results.”

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He said that includes creating jobs, making health care accessible, building safe infrastructure, investing in public education, and ensuring public safety.

Beshear insisted his visit to New Hampshire, an electorally important state in the presidential election, was about helping Democrats in the Granite State.

He also responded to Democratic voters’ demands that elected leaders be more forceful in their responses to the Trump administration.

“I think what you see from me is someone that’s not afraid to criticize this president, and I do it in a state that voted for him by 30 points,” Beshear said. “But at the same time, if we’re going to have credibility, when the president does something that’s positive for our states, we need to make sure we’re admitting that too.”

He cited the president’s response to flooding in Kentucky in February as an example of something positive, but criticized his tariff campaigns and cuts to health care in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“You can be forceful in standing up to this president, while also creating a vision for a better country,” Beshear said. “The Democratic Party has to be more than just against someone, we’ve got to be for something.”

While Beshear saw a warm welcome among Manchester Democrats, a pro-Palestine group protested his visit to the state with a TV ad campaign. The Institute for Middle East Understanding put out ads showing the devastation in Gaza wrought by Israeli air strikes and military campaigns. The ad criticized him for previously declining to answer questions about whether he’d stop sending weapons to Israel saying, “If you won’t stand against genocide, you can’t be our next president.”