by J. Wesley Leckrone

There are 36 gubernatorial elections in the United States in 2018. Currently there are only 15 Democratic governors. However, given the political environment Democrats believe they can make gains next year since Republicans will be defending 26 seats in the executive mansion.

The new chair of the Democratic Governors Association, Washington governor Jay Inslee, talked about his strategy for victory with Washington Post reporter James Hohmann. Here are some highlights from the interview:

“We need to talk about jobs,” Inslee said…. “People will figure out for themselves that they have to stand up to Donald Trump. They’re doing that without us saying a word. That’s not our communications strategy. We want to communicate about jobs and the economy. The other thing just happens organically.”

According to Hohmann the DGA will focus on a “’double-P’ strategy: The personality of the president will create the climate for a change election, and then Democrats will focus on prosecuting the case that GOP policies are hurting middle-class families.”

Inslee believes the focus should be on the second “p” since the president’s actions speak for themselves.

“No Democrat running for governor anywhere has to say, ‘Did you notice that Donald Trump has caused nothing but division, hatred and chaos?’ You don’t have to say that because he’s showing it himself. Our people are going to lead with an economic message … and we’re not going to be distracted by his divisiveness. … It’s not ideological. It’s just a rejection of chaos.”

He strongly believes gubernatorial elections will be nationalized in 2018.  Inslee argued that:

“These are referendums on the president, and you cannot escape that….You cannot minimize it. You cannot put on a different hat or a happy face. You are just tied to that smell. And that’s what they’re stuck with. There’s no soap that can erase it. … The guy [voters] wanted to drain the swamp fed the alligators instead.”

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