CNN
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Democratic governors and attorneys general have begun building Resistance 2.0, talking about tough and promising new laws and legal battles to insulate their states from the conservative policies expected of President-elect Donald Trump.
And President Trump has already launched a counterattack. This is an early preview of significant legal, regulatory, and political battles to come in 2025 and beyond.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday defended the state’s progressive policies on issues such as abortion rights and climate change from the incoming administration and Republicans, who may gain a majority in the Senate and retain control of the Legislature. The Legislature has convened a special session later this year for this purpose. Majority of the U.S. House of Representatives. “The freedoms we cherish in California are under attack, and we cannot stand idly by,” Newsom said in a statement.
In a post on Truth Social on Friday, President Trump said Newsom — who calls himself “Newscam” — is “trying to kill our beautiful California.” He said homelessness and food prices are out of control in the state and called for changes to state voting laws to require voter identification and proof of citizenship.
Newsom is not the only Democratic governor preparing to take on Trump. Officials in blue states such as Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York are already engaged in legal and policy battles against the incoming Trump administration on issues such as abortion rights, environmental regulations, gun control, and immigration enforcement. He has clearly stated that he will do so.
The early moves come as Democrats enter a period of soul-searching over how President Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris around the world and what the party’s path forward looks like. It was held in
Everything is unfolding with an eye toward 2028. With a lame duck presidency and the loss of the Senate majority, Democrats lack a clear national leader. After President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 race in July, the ambitious governors who did not object to Harris’ early appointment won’t have to defer anyone in four years.
The presidential primaries don’t start now, and they won’t start anytime soon. But the second Trump era will provide an opportunity for Democratic officials to demonstrate their leadership in preparation for future candidacies.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he is preparing for the possibility of President Trump’s policies, pledging to protect women who come to Illinois for abortions and uphold environmental regulations. He also said the state would take legal action if necessary to bar the withholding of federal aid from blue states that don’t cooperate with President Trump’s deportation efforts.
“You’re coming for my people, you’re coming through me,” Pritzker told reporters Thursday.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters Wednesday that the state “will not accept an agenda from Washington that strips New Yorkers of the rights they have enjoyed for years.” The state’s attorney general, Letitia James, told reporters she was not afraid of President Trump and said in a statement that she was “ready to fight back again.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who declared a state of emergency 15 months ago citing a housing shortage and an influx of immigrants seeking shelter in the state, said Thursday on MSNBC that state police said Trump He said he would “absolutely not cooperate” with efforts to deport him.
“Every tool in the toolbox will be used to protect our people, to protect our residents, to protect our state, and to ensure that we uphold democracy and the rule of law as fundamental principles.” she said.
Some Democratic governors, including one widely seen as a 2028 presidential candidate, did not immediately take aim at the incoming Trump administration.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said his state, which borders the nation’s capital, and the federal government are “deeply intertwined” and that the federal government is the state’s largest employer.
“We stand ready to push back on this new White House if necessary,” Moore said at Friday’s Cabinet meeting. “But if we can find common ground, we will.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, co-chair of the Harris campaign, said in a statement Wednesday that President Trump “has led by trying to unite people, including those who didn’t vote for him or don’t support him.” I hope that he will stand up.”
“As we move forward, let us remember that we are a nation of good and kind people with more in common than we have with each other,” she said. “Finally, let’s support the new administration’s success and continue to work together to get things done.”
“I will never back down from standing up for the freedoms I was elected to protect,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement. But he also said: “Now that this election is over, it’s time to govern. It’s time to work together, compromise and get things done.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the defeated Democratic vice presidential candidate, gave his first speech after returning home Friday afternoon.
He said Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, campaigned on a promise to let the states decide, and “we’re going to take the states at their word on that.”
“But the moment they try to bring a hateful agenda to this state, I am ready to stand up and fight to protect the way things are done here,” he said. “Minnesota has and will continue to provide shelter from storms.”
“I stand ready to defend the progress we’ve made here in Minnesota,” Walz said, citing abortion rights, climate change, gun control in schools and workers’ rights, among others.
Despite liberal victories on policies such as Arizona voters overriding a 15-week abortion ban, passage of a ballot measure protecting abortion rights in Missouri, and a minimum wage increase and wage guarantee. Other Democratic governors were trying to make sense of Harris’ loss. Sick Leave, Denial of Kentucky Private School Voucher Program.
“I think what this country needs is the concept of common ground and common sense,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on CNN on Friday.
Mr. Beshear pointed out that Mr. Trump won re-election by 5 percentage points in last year’s presidential election, and Mr. Trump just won there by 31 points, noting that the party’s only problem in 2024 will be getting its message across. He said it was a mistake to think that “we’re doing everything right, but we’re not talking about it in the right way.”
“What I think is probably more important is focus,” he said, adding that Democrats need to make sure the party focuses on issues that directly impact voters’ daily lives.
Harris wrapped up a presidential campaign largely focused on defending democracy and freedom and portraying Trump as a threat to the nation’s founding principles as he fought to overturn his 2020 defeat.
“What this suggests is that people are looking for a better life,” Beshear said. I want to spend time on the issues that are most important to you, perhaps the least important of all the political issues out there, but that affect people every day. ”
Josh Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general and governor-elect, said Thursday on MSNBC that even though Trump won the state’s Electoral College votes, Democrats had a series of victories in statewide elections. He said he was proud of him.
He said Democrats need to “reassure the public that we actually care about them and are going to work on the issues that matter to them.”
“Good ideas don’t stick with one political party,” he says. “People have the same interests, no matter who they are.”
