The issue of affordability took center stage Saturday afternoon at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington as the Democratic and Republican parties’ respective gubernatorial campaign chiefs sat together for a panel unpacking the issue.
After Democrats won governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia by placing affordability at the heart of their campaigns, both parties have jumped on the issue, with the left using the word so frequently that President Donald Trump has said: “The word ‘affordability’ is a con job by the Democrats.”
Con job or not, the topic was selected as the central issue for one of the weekend’s most high-profile panels that featured potential 2028 presidential contender and Democratic Governors Association Chair Andy Beshear, the Governor of Kentucky, and Republican Governors Association Chair Greg Gianforte, the Governor of Montana.
The National Governors Association prides itself on bipartisanship and problem-solving, so electoral politics were kept far away from the day’s discussion. However, both men offered glimpses into how they view the problem as they’ll each be charged with leading their parties’ respective strategies for attaining governorships heading into the 2026 midterms.
“I look at this country right now, the two biggest threats are the division that we all see out there and then the concern by so many of our families that the American Dream is no longer real,” Beshear said. “If you can just barely pay the grocery bill, how does that feel? If you can’t afford to take your kids on the same vacation that your parents took you on? Do you feel like a failure?”
Beshear said it’s unacceptable for the next generation to feel worse off and placed job creation at the center of the solution. Creating a plethora of opportunities for educated white-collar workers and technically-trained blue-collar workers means connecting people with work where they’ll be valued and compensated, Beshear said.
Crucial to that is bringing opportunities to areas that lack them, he emphasized. And when those opportunities arrive, he said it’s important to make a spectacle when a firm breaks ground on a new plant and cuts the ribbon on opening day. “The American people want to see, touch and feel things to believe in them, so you have to make sure that you’re being intentional,” Beshear said.
Gianforte spoke about affordability as a web of issues related to high costs tied to things like energy and housing as well as regulations that restrict job growth and drive expenses. Heeding advice from famed pollster Frank Luntz whose polling presented the day before found Americans don’t like the term’ “bipartisan,” Gianforte spoke about “all American” task forces he convened with people from both sides of the aisles aimed at gathering expert advice to implement pragmatic solutions.
“I put one of these all-American task forces together. They studied the problem, and they came back with a bunch of recommendations,” Gianforte said. “This is the result of all-American work from policy holders, legislators, county commissioners, think tank folks and asking them just to cast a broad, broad net. I stay out of the way, but then I receive their results, and we work hard to get them over the finish line.”
The panel, which was moderated by Axios founder Mike Allen and featured Republican Governor Mike Braun of Indiana and Democratic Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts, was policy heavy and focused on the governors’ respective accomplishments in the areas of education, energy, health care, job creation, and more.
From an electoral perspective, however, Beshear’s opening allusions to national divisions and the dignity of average Americans forecasted the DGA’s potential 2026 focus. A focus which will likely eye the state of the country’s political and economic circumstances under Trump and connecting that to a picture Democrats have begun patining of a White House distracted with vanity projects and conflicts abroad at the expense of everyday working Americans.
In turn, as is often the case for politcicans whose party holds the White House in a midterm year, Gianforte highlighted a non-federal approach to governance, whereby elected state leaders keep their heads down and solve problems no matter what’s taking place in Washington. As the party most known for doing away with needless regulations, he demonstrated where the GOP holds a potential edge.
Trump faces among the highest disapproval ratings of his second term, at 55 percent, per the polling aggregator Siler Bulletin by famed pollster Nate Silver. On the generic congressional ballot to forecast 2026 midterm results, Silver has nearly 48 percent of Americans backing a generic Democrat versus under 43 percent supporting a generic Republican.
Governors’ races are different than congressional ones, with candidates being able to more effectively differentiate themselves from the national party through emphasizing state issues and their unique brands. It’s clear though that national trends bode well for Beshear over Gianforte in the quest to capture America’s governor’s mansions.
While bipartisanship and problem-solving may be the theme of NGA weekend, expect intensity between these two to heat up as all eyes turn to the midterms and the powers that be in Washington amp-up the pressure on delivering in the 39 governorships up for grabs this November.
