Democratic strategist Michael Starr Hopkins said that Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s (R) apparent loss to Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) in Tuesday night’s election shows that Republicans in the state are “open to a split government.”
“Republicans voted Republican down the ticket except for the top of the ticket,” Hopkins, a founding partner of Northern Starr Strategies, told Hill.TV on Wednesday during an appearance on “Rising.”
“That shows Republicans are open to split tickets and open to a divided government because when a government’s divided, it actually kind of slows the process down and gives us a chance to really argue and figure out what we want,” he added.
Hopkins’s comments come a day after Beshear declared an upset victory over Bevin by a 49.2 to 48.8 margin with nearly all precincts reporting.
But so far, Bevin has yet to concede the narrow race.
Shortly after the elections results were released, President Trump’s campaign issued a statement saying “a final outcome remains to be seen.”
Trump had previously held a rally in Lexington, Ky., on Monday where he warned his supporters that losing the state house “sends a really bad message.”
“You’re sending that big message to the rest of the country — it’s so important. You’ve got to get your friends, you got to vote because if you lose, it sends a really bad message,” he told the crowd on Monday night.
Trump’s campaign later downplayed these comments, saying the president practically “dragged” Bevin “across the finish line.”
The president also took to Twitter, insisting that his rally “had a massive impact on all the races.”
“The increase in Governors race was at least 15 points, and maybe 20!” Trump tweeted.
—Tess Bonn
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