Voters in the solid Republican state of Kentucky, who backed President Donald Trump in 2016 by a 2-1 margin, rejected a last minute plea from the president and elected a Democratic governor, according to preliminary results on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2019) Voters in the solid Republican state of Kentucky, who backed President Donald Trump in 2016 by a 2-1 margin, rejected a last minute plea from the president and elected a Democratic governor, according to preliminary results on Wednesday.Democrat Andy Beshear held a lead of more than 13,000 votes over incumbent Governor Matt Bevin in Tuesday's election, according to an unofficial tally by the Kentucky State board of Elections.
"Just because Trump shows up doesn't mean an automatic win anymore," former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said, as quoted in the Washington Post.
Bevin, who has yet to concede, nevertheless fell short in his bid to remain in office, despite a Monday rally hosted by Trump on his behalf.
Meanwhile, Democrats won control from Republicans in both houses of the state of Virginia legislature. Virginia, which borders Washington, DC, has trended Democratic in recent years and voted for Clinton over Trump by a 5.3 percentage point margin in 2015.
But voters in Mississippi elected Republican Tate Reeves as governor in favor of Democratic candidate Jim Hood.
Trump had campaigned in both Kentucky and Mississippi in the days before the vote.
On Wednesday, Trump turned his attention to next year's national election, in which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is up for re-election.
"Based on the Kentucky results, Mitch McConnell @senatemajldr will win BIG in Kentucky next year!" Trump tweeted.
Even though the incumbent governor appeared to lose, Trump's Monday rally "clearly juiced turnout for rest of ticket," longtime McConnell adviser Scott Jennings tweeted.
Preliminary results indicated Republicans won every office on the ballot except the governorship.
Kentucky, a typically a solid Republican state, voted for Trump over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by a 63-33 percent margin in 2016.
