Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is in open war with prominent Latino lawmakers, and his potential 2028 rivals for president are taking advantage.
- Beshear, as head of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), has resisted pressure from Latino leaders to invest heavily in Gina Hinojosa's campaign for Texas governor, opting to focus on races in other states.
- In response, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore have given money to Hinojosa's bid to unseat Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) — and earned praise from Latino lawmakers.
Why it matters: The back-and-forth amounts to one of the first fights of the 2028 Democratic primary, against the backdrop of the party's desperation to reverse the GOP's recent gains among Latino voters.
- Latino leaders are trying to flex their political muscle, fueled in part by Democrats' new primary schedule, which has Nevada and New Mexico — and their large Latino populations — the second and fourth states to vote in the nominating contest.
Driving the news: In recent weeks Latino leaders have gone public in their pressure campaign to push Beshear to invest $10 million in Texas, as polls have shown Hinojosa ahead or within the polls' margin of error.
- Beshear, mindful of how expensive it is to campaign statewide in Texas and the DGA's limited resources, resisted and instead focused the committee's resources on governor's races in critical states like Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Ohio.
Pritzker, a potential 2028 rival to Beshear who already had donated $200,000 to Hinojosa's campaign, then publicly announced he was donating an additional $1 million to Hinojosa. That won the Illinois governor, a billionaire who has strategically spread some of his personal wealth across the party, some fans.
- "When Latino leaders asked for the cavalry, JB Pritzker sent it, putting $1.2 million behind Gina Hinojosa because he knows the race is winnable," Cristóbal Alex, board chair of the Latino Victory Fund, told Axios.
- Alex noted that Pritzker, who hosted a fundraiser for the Latino Victory Fund, has "put his resources and his time into Hispanic candidates and voters around the country."
Newsom, meanwhile, sent a fundraising email that brought in $75,000 for Hinojosa.
- Moore privately told the DGA to reallocate $100,000 from his reelection campaign to Texas, two Democratic officials told Axios.
- Beshear, who personally donated $25,000 to Hinojosa's campaign, ultimately announced the DGA would give her team $1 million — 10% of the original ask and a small commitment for a big state like Texas. The money arrived this past week, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The intrigue: Several Latino leaders and lawmakers were furious that Beshear didn't attend a Zoom call with them and the DGA on Oct. 7 to discuss the Texas race.
- "It just baffles me that someone who was even thinking of 2028 would disrespect us and not meet," Rep. Silvia Garcia (D-Texas) told Axios, noting that seven Latino members of Congress were on the call. "Just freaking five minutes on a Zoom … and excuse yourself."
- "I really felt like he disrespected the group, and that he is going to have a serious Latino problem if he doesn't know how to do the outreach and the communication that's going to need to get us to the White House."
- Beshear's critics note he had time this fall for a book tour when, they argue, he could have been raising more money for the DGA.
The other side: Several Democrats told Axios that they believe the DGA made the right strategic decision to send money to other states.
- Some of the Latino leaders pressuring Beshear also were consultants who stood to make money if he invested heavily in Texas.
- Many Latino leaders claim they speak for Latino voters, but have been proved wrong in recent elections, as Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and others have pointed out.
- Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona are swing states likely to be more critical than Texas for a Democrat to get 270 Electoral College votes in 2028.
What they're saying: DGA communications director Sam Newton told Axios: "Unfortunately for the D.C. staffers who are personally obsessed with 2028 and manufacturing Democratic infighting, the DGA and our chair Gov. Beshear, along with all of our Democratic governors, remain solely focused on beating Trump and Republicans to win as many of our high-stakes 36 races for governor as possible."
- A person familiar with conversation within the DGA conversations told CNN that their internal polls had Hinojosa trailing Abbott by 5 points, but Hinojosa's campaign this week released an internal poll showing her up by 2.
- The DGA didn't respond to questions about the discrepancy and pointed Axios to its promotion of the poll showing Hinojosa up by 2.
The bottom line: Even some Democrats who think the DGA made the right financial decision not to invest heavily in Texas think Beshear mishandled the politics of the situation.
- If he can't handle the politics of being DGA chair, they argue, how could he handle a presidential campaign, and potentially the White House?