HORSE RACE

The Democratic Party is on the lookout for new political stars, and eyes are on Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, who has found a way to win, win, and win again in a GOP stronghold. By Taylor Antrim. Photographed by Norman Jean Roy.

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STATE OF PLAY Governor Andy Beshear photographed in June in his office at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, Kentucky. "All day, every day" he talks to Trump voters, he says. Sittings Editor: Alexandra Michler Kopelman.

Kentucky governor Andy Beshear runs on his treadmill seven mornings a week.

His doctor would prefer six. “He said you ought to take one day off and he’s probably right,” says the 47-year-old Democrat. “But I want to feel good that day.” Beshear says his morning run (three miles or so) is “essential,” and he hits the word with a gentlemanly emphasis that lets you know he means it. Otherwise the stress of leading the state, and raising two teenagers—responsibilities he notes in the same breath—could get to him. “You start your day like that, you're ready for the rest of it.”

Not much seems to get to Governor Beshear. He has the placid self-assurance of a veteran camp counselor or fraternity president (he pledged Sigma Chi at Vanderbilt). On the day I interviewed him at Kentucky’s genteel Beaux Arts Governor's Mansion situated on a bluff over the verdant, slightly sleepy capital city of Frankfort, he and his wife, first lady Britainy Beshear, were already seated and waiting for me when I arrived (I was early). Even their labradoodle, Winnie, seemed to have her act together, bounding over for a brisk hello and then withdrawing politely so we could talk.

This, I would learn, is typical of Beshear’s governing style, which is hyper-organized, well-rehearsed, on message, and largely drama-free. He has a habit of running ahead of schedule, which I experienced firsthand, once missing the start of his remarks when I was only 10 minutes early. (He was 20.) In 2023 his campaign bus tour was so far ahead of schedule that his staff had to work their phones to rally 40 people at a gas station to kill a half hour.