Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear plans to publish his first book this fall, joining a slew of potential Democratic presidential candidates releasing memoirs that could set up future national campaigns.
The book, set to publish Sept. 22, will focus on Beshear’s Christian faith — a topic he often brings up amid Democrats’ debates about how to broaden their appeal and take back power. As a two-term Democratic governor in a state that President Donald Trump won in 2024 by more than 30 points, he says he is proof that his party can win over skeptics by better explaining their values, and he often cites the Bible to explain his own.
“My why is my faith,” the governor said repeatedly last year on a tour of South Carolina, a Bible Belt state that plays an outsize role in Democrats’ presidential nominating process and where potential 2028 candidates, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, are already making overtures.
Republicans have often put more emphasis on religion than Democrats have, and Trump campaigned in 2024 in part on calls to “make America pray again” and promote Christianity. Some Democrats have worked to center their faith and push back on the GOP’s message that it is the party of Christian values.
“Beshear will share what his own faith has meant to him, how it has informed his family and his public life — and serves as a rebuke to how faith has been hijacked, profaned, misused, and corrupted by Donald Trump and other public figures,” Beshear’s publisher, St. Martin’s Publishing Group, said in a statement.
“By regrounding faith in compassion and kindness, he believes we can start to heal as a country,” the publisher added.
The title of the book, “Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country,” alludes to the biblical story of the Good Samaritan, who helps a stranger; after relating the story, Jesus urges his followers to do the same. Beshear and his wife serve as deacons at their church.
Beshear is one of many ambitious Democrats who have released or plan to release books that could lay the groundwork for a national campaign. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro published a book last month, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s memoir is set to come out next week. Former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris published her explosive memoiron the 2024 race in September.
Some of those books have led to infighting among Democrats. Harris’s account of vetting Shapiro as a potential vice-presidential pick, for instance, drew pushback from the Pennsylvania governor, who later detailed the encounter in his own book.
Beshear has drawn national attention with his victories in deep-red Kentucky. The son of a former governor, he bucked the state’s rightward shift to win a second term in 2023 and has encouraged Democrats to focus on kitchen table issues.
At the same time, he has argued that Democrats do not need to avoid hot-button social issues. On his South Carolina tour, he said he’s a “proud pro-LBGTQ+ governor” and used his faith to explain his position to voters. During that tour, he recounted how, after he vetoed restrictions on transgender rights, a man walked up to him and said, “Governor, I’m not sure I agree with what you did yesterday, but I know you’re doing what you think is right, and I support you.”
“I said my faith teaches me that all children are children of God, and I didn’t want people picking on those kids,” Beshear said.
The post Beshear is latest 2028 contender to write a book, focused on faith appeared first on Washington Post.
