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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Looking to strengthen his foothold in national politics, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is taking on a lead role for Democratic efforts to win governorships in the 2026 midterm election — when a majority of states will be electing governors, including a crucial set of presidential swing states.

Democratic governors on Saturday picked Beshear as chair-elect of the Democratic Governors Association for 2026. He will serve as vice chair in 2025, when Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly will continue serving as the group’s chair. Voters in Virginia and New Jersey will elect governors next year.

His selection sets up Beshear to play a lead role in candidate recruitment, messaging and fundraising for 2026, when the DGA says governorships are up for grabs in 36 states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The assignment will raise Beshear’s profile within the national party as Democrats try to rebound from bitter losses last month, when Republicans swept the White House and both chambers of Congress. Beshear is one of several Democratic governors who are the subject of early speculation as potential contenders for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028.

After gaining his new role at DGA, Beshear said in a statement that Democrats can win anywhere by focusing on “fundamental challenges families are facing every day” — continuing a theme he advanced in a New York Times opinion piece outlining a way forward for Democrats after the November election.

In the opinion piece, Beshear said Democrats can win back voters without abandoning the party’s values on divisive social issues. But the focus, he said, should be on core issues — good jobs, affordable health care, education, public safety and good roads and bridges.

“Earning trust and showing people you care about them also require that we talk to people like normal human beings,” he wrote. “And that we are not afraid to share our ‘why.’ For me, my why is my faith, and I share it proudly.”