Election 2023 results and analysis: Democrats excel in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is projected to win reelection in Mississippi.

Nov. 7, 2023, was Election Day in at least 37 states, and Americans cast their votes on everything from governorships to local referenda. When the dust settled, it was a solid night for Democrats and their allies: According to ABC News projections, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection in Kentucky, and Ohio voters passed Issue 1 to codify abortion rights in the state constitution. The AP also projected that Democrats won both chambers of the Virginia legislature and an open seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. However, there were a few bright spots for Republicans: ABC News projected that Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves beat back a strong challenge from Democrat Brandon Presley.

As results came in, 538 analysts were breaking them down in real time with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.


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A strong start for liberals in Ohio

All of the votes reporting so far in Ohio appear to be early and absentee votes, which skew liberal. That explains why both Issue 1 and Issue 2 are leading by so much right now, as Leah mentioned. That said, they are winning by such a big margin that they’ll probably still be passing even after Election Day votes are counted. The New York Times has a live model of Issue 1, and they’re expecting the abortion-rights measure to pass by 14 percentage points.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


More Ohio voters are supporting Issue 1 than Issue 2

So far, the “yes” vote is leading for both ballot measures, but with 14 percent of the expected vote reported, we’re seeing 66 percent support for Issue 1, which would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, and 58 percent support for Issue 2, which would legalize recreational marijuana (with limitations).

— Leah Askarinam, 538


It’s looking good for Democrats in Kentucky

Democrats face test in Kentucky governor's race:


Another projection in Kentucky

ABC News projects that Coleman will win the Kentucky Attorney General's race. It's the second projected statewide win for Republicans tonight. But as Nathaniel and Elliott noted earlier, Beshear otherwise seems to be over-performing his 2019 numbers in some parts of the state. That may include Breathitt County, which he won in 2019 by two points but is leading tonight 61 to 39 percent over Cameron, with 83 percent of the expected votes in. Breathitt County, in Eastern Kentucky, was hit hard by flooding last year, and Beshear's performance in leading the recovery could account for better-than-expected results there. Overall, Beshear is ahead 53 to 47 percent in the state, with 45 percent of the expected vote reported.

—Monica Potts, 538


Republicans aim to win all three Southern governorships up in 2023

Three Southern states hold gubernatorial elections the year before a presidential election: Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. But despite the strong Republican lean of these states, Democrats held the governorships of Kentucky and Louisiana coming into this election. The GOP began the year with a real shot of winning all three, and entering today, they’re already one step of the way there: On Oct. 14, Republican state Attorney General Jeff Landry won Louisiana’s governorship outright, avoiding a November runoff. This was an open-seat pickup for Republicans since Democratic incumbent Gov. John Bel Edwards was term-limited. Now, all eyes are on Kentucky and Mississippi, where each incumbent governor is slightly favored to win reelection in a competitive contest, based on limited polling and race ratings from Inside Elections, Sabato’s Crystal Ball and The Cook Political Report.

In Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear faces Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Beshear won in 2019 by less than 1 percentage point against an unpopular GOP governor, but has maintained a high approval rating despite his party identification. He’s painted Cameron as an extreme Republican because of Cameron’s support for Kentucky’s near-total ban on abortion. That message might work: Although Kentucky is conservative, voters last year rejected a constitutional amendment that would have formally stated there is no right to abortion under the state constitution. In his campaign, Cameron has tried to tie Beshear to the unpopular Biden while criticizing the incumbent for his vetoes (later overridden) of anti-transgender legislation. We have very little polling here, but in mid-October competing partisan polls from Hart Research and from co/efficient each found Beshear ahead by differing margins. However, a poll from Emerson College released on Friday showed the two candidates running just about even.

On the flipside, Mississippi is more likely to remain in Republican hands. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves faces Democratic Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, one of just two Democrats in Mississippi’s executive branch (and, yes, a second cousin of Elvis). Reeves has played to the GOP base by highlighting his opposition to transgender women playing women’s sports, while Presley has tried to ding Reeves by connecting him to an ongoing scandal involving the misuse of federal welfare funds by the Mississippi Department of Human Services. We have even less polling to go on here than in Kentucky, however. A late October Public Policy Polling survey on behalf of the Democratic Governors Association gave Reeves only a tiny edge, but that’s maybe the rosiest picture for Presley. The next most recent poll from the Mason-Dixon/Magnolia Tribune put Reeves up 8 points.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538