The Note: Blue wave continues ride through Kentucky, Virginia

Andy Beshear and Gov. Matt Bevin are locked in a tossup.

November 6, 2019, 5:59 AM

The TAKE with Rick Klein

It might just be that election results speak louder than impeachment revelations.

For all the caveats of an imprecise barometer, and those inevitably pointing out Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s flaws, Democrats walk away from Election Day 2019 with more votes in most closely watched contests -- including a 5,000-plus vote lead as of Wednesday morning in the race for governor of Kentucky.

It’s not just that Democrats appear poised to take the big prize in Sen. Mitch McConnell’s backyard, it's that President Donald Trump chose to spend election eve stumping for the incumbent governor. And it’s not just that Democrat Andy Beshear campaigned on expanding Medicaid, while Bevin campaigned on his embrace of Trump.

PHOTO: Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, along with lieutenant governor candidate Jacqueline Coleman, acknowledge supporters, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, in Louisville, Ky.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, along with lieutenant governor candidate Jacqueline Coleman, acknowledge supporters at the Kentucky Democratic Party election night watch event, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, in Louisville, Ky.
Bryan Woolston/AP

How the campaign played out and where might offer important lessons for a party eager to win again. Trump and Bevin failed to disqualify Beshear despite running hard against national Democrats and impeachment, while Beshear overperformed in rural areas and routed Bevin in the suburbs.

The geography and messaging also boosted Democrats in Virginia, where state legislative seats broke their way on Tuesday -- enough so that Democrats took control of the House of Delegates as well as the state Senate. Democrats will have full control of the state government in Richmond for the first time in more than a quarter century.

With Trump back on the campaign trail Wednesday in Louisiana -- in advance of next week’s gubernatorial election there -- the question is how much GOP loyalty to the president hinges on the perception that he can deliver votes.

"You can’t let that happen to me," Trump said Monday night about the prospect of a Democratic victory in Kentucky.

On Tuesday night, with Bevin trailing but The Associated Press yet to declare a winner in the race, Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale released a statement saying the president "just about dragged Gov. Matt Bevin across the finish line, helping him run stronger than expected."

Trump fared better in Mississippi, where he also campaigned late in the campaign and where Republican Gov. Tate Reeves defeated a conservative Democrat in the race for governor.

Yet Trumpism failed to triumph on the biggest general election night until the very big one next year. What happened Tuesday could make a perilous moment for Trump’s presidency even more troublesome.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

A key witness in the impeachment inquiry has changed his tune and now says he too was responsible for delivering demands to Ukrainian officials.

Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, first told investigators that he was not aware that the White House had preconditioned congressionally-approved military aid to Ukraine, then corrected the record.

Ambassador Gordon Sondland arrives at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Oct. 17, 2019.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images, FILE

In documents of his latest testimony released on Tuesday, Sondland told lawmakers that following a Sept. 1 meeting in Warsaw, Poland, he pulled aside one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's top aides and reiterated his understanding that the much sought-after U.S. aid was now contingent upon Ukraine's willingness to launch an investigation wanted by President Donald Trump and the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Gordon told lawmakers that other witnesses "refreshed my recollection about conversations involving the suspension of U.S. aid."

And with that, allegations against the Trump administration expanded and new questions have come into focus: were other U.S. government officials using their position to lean on Ukraine and how far did the coercion extend beyond the phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy?

The TIP with Armando García

During a contentious Senate hearing Tuesday, Sen. Kamala Harris asked FBI Director Christopher Wray questions related to the impeachment inquiry and actions by Trump. She repeatedly asked whether it would be ethically appropriate to open, limit or stop an investigation into criminal activity based on a request from someone inside the White House and pressed him about Trump's relationship with his personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani, asking if it could pose a counter-intelligence threat. Visibly frustrated, Wray stuck to his answers and stressed that his loyalty was to the Constitution and the rule of law -- not to the president.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., appears for a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 5, 2019.
Andrew Harnik/AP

On the campaign trail the presidential hopeful has acknowledged that despite her career spanning over two decades, most people have come to know her for interrogations of Trump appointees, including Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. And in recent weeks, the senator has honed in on her skills as a prosecutor, weaving her record as California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney into her stump speeches and alluding to her belief that when it comes to Trump's actions "we're working with a pretty good rap sheet."

It's these skills that Harris may draw upon once again to boost her struggling campaign and convince voters why she, in her own words, is best poised to "prosecute the case against four more years of Donald Trump."

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Wednesday morning's episode features ABC News' Katherine Faulders, who talks about why United States ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland's revised testimony could be significant in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. Then, ABC News' Conor Finnegan explains why security officials are concerned about Iran's recent nuclear moves. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, joins ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks and Multi-platform Correspondent Serena Marshall to talk about his new book, "Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America," which tells the stories of the senators who previously sat at his desk on the Senate floor. http://apple.co/2Zfz5nD

ONE MORE THING

After House Democrats requested that acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney give a deposition in the impeachment probe, the White House signaled he would not show up.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, appears on ABC's "The View" at 11 a.m.
  • President Donald Trump delivers remarks on federal judicial confirmation milestones at the White House at 3 p.m. Later, he headlines a campaign rally at the Monroe Civic Center in Monroe, Louisiana, at 8 p.m.
  • Acting White House Budget Director Russell Vought, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, Counselor to the State Department T. Ulrich Brechbuhl and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry are each scheduled to appear before impeachment investigators on Capitol Hill.
  • Tom Steyer has breakfast with Latinx leaders at Nuevo Mercado El Rey in Milwaukee at 8:30 a.m. (CST). He speaks at the American Federation of Teachers Forum at Milwaukee Technical College at 4 p.m. Later, he has a town hall at Freight 28 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Klobuchar files for the New Hampshire primary at the New Hampshire State House in Concord at 9 a.m. She then holds a rally on the steps of the New Hampshire State House at 9:30 a.m. She has a town hall at the Rochester Performance & Arts Center in Rochester at noon and then a town hall at the RiverWoods Retirement Community in Exeter at 3 p.m. Later, she delivers the keynote address at the Coalition of Southern New Hampshire Democrats' Blue Moon Rising Gala at Brookstone Park in Derry at 6 p.m.
  • Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., files for the New Hampshire primary at the New Hampshire State House in Concord at 1 p.m. He has a meet-and-greet event, hosted by Relyco CEO & Founder Mike Steinberg, at Reylco in Dover at 3 p.m. Later, he attends a house party, hosted by State Rep. Marjorie Smith, in Durham at 4:30 p.m.
  • Andrew Yang has a town hall at Loaded Question Brewing Company in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at 6 p.m.
  • Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., campaigns in New Hampshire.
  • Former Vice President Joe Biden travels to Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, Maryland, for finance events.
  • Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has meetings and fundraising events in Washington, D.C.
  • Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive the day's sharpest political analysis.

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