Democrats gain ground in some states

Republican Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky might have lost his reelection bid to Democrat Andy Beshear, but the race is officially still too close to call. Every other GOP candidate for statewide office won in the state’s elections on Tuesday. In Virginia, Democrats seized control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time in more than two decades when there was also a Democrat in the governor’s mansion. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, will be the next governor of Mississippi after defeating Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood.

Why was the Kentucky race so close? With almost 1.2 million votes cast, Beshear held a lead of just 5,000 votes. Bevin told supporters Tuesday night he would not concede before looking into what he called some irregularities in voting. A strong proponent of pro-life policies, Bevin angered some state residents with his response to teacher strikes and by scaling back the state’s Medicaid expansion.

Dig deeper: Read Rachel Lynn Aldrich’s report in Liberties on the Bevin administration’s attempt to get out of paying legal fees in the case of former county clerk Kim Davis, a Christian who stood for Biblical marriage. A federal appeals court ultimately ordered the state to pay $224,000 incurred by couples who sued Davis.