Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear: US should abolish Electoral College, move to popular vote

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear supports abolishing the Electoral College.

A popular vote system to elect the president of the United States would “be a better form of democracy,” and entice more presidential hopefuls to pay attention to Kentucky, he said at a press conference Thursday when asked to elaborate on previous comments.

“I think it gets us closer to a place where we can govern in a way that lifts all Americans up, that we’re not pushed towards any extreme... we would truly get an election for all Americans,” Beshear said. “I think to do that, we would ultimately have to abolish the Electoral College.”

The Electoral College allocates a certain number of “electoral votes” based on how many U.S. Senators and Representatives — the latter of which is determined by population — each state has. In the vast majority of states, including Kentucky, the winner of the popular vote in each state takes all of the states electoral votes, which ultimately decide the presidential outcome.

Former President Donald Trump is expected to easily carry the commonwealth’s eight electoral votes, as he did by 30 percentage points in 2016 over Hillary Clinton and by 26 points over Joe Biden in 2020.

The last time Kentucky voted for a Democratic presidential candidate was Bill Clinton in 1996.

The popular vote — determined by whichever candidate earns the most individual votes — otherwise determines all other state, local and federal race outcomes. Presidential races are the outlier. Part of what makes the Electoral College controversial is that presidential candidates can win the popular vote but ultimately lose an election.

This happened as recently as 2016, when Hilary Clinton beat Trump in the national popular vote by roughly 3 million votes, but Trump pulled in 57% of the Electoral College votes, handing him the presidency. It also happened in 2000: though Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush earned more electoral votes. After a contested Florida recount and a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Bush was declared the winner.

During this cycle and other recent presidential elections, Kentucky has gotten little attention from either major party’s presidential candidate, especially compared to key swing states like Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania, which all have polled close in recent years.

Beshear argued that since the votes of Kentucky’s 4.5 million residents would count the same as any other 4.5 million, more candidates would make their case directly to Kentuckians.

“The idea that our vote, your vote, every Kentuckians vote, would be sought by the candidates just as much as every other vote around the country — to me, that’s a better process that puts us at the table just like everybody else,” Beshear said.

The Electoral College dates all the back to the Constitutional convention of 1787, though the process has changed considerably over time. A constitutional amendment would be required to change the current system. The most common method for amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the States.

Beshear acknowledged that process would prove difficult and said he “certainly” doesn’t see it changing anytime soon.

Kentucky Republicans have been quick to criticize Beshear for wanting to do away with the Electoral College.

After Beshear on Wednesday expressed a similar sentiment, the official account for the Kentucky GOP posted to X that Beshear “is out making a pitch to abolish the Electoral College, so places like Kentucky have no say in presidential elections. Glad you think so highly of Kentuckians, Andy.”