[Berman:] The battle for who controls the House and Senate, that might be grabbing most of the attention today. But there are also 36 governor's races across the country. They are huge. Republicans currently control 26 of those states. Here to discuss now is the governor of Washington State, Jay Inslee. He is the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. And, Governor, I don't want to reveal the secret from the break here but you came on practically singing James Brown, "I Feel Good."
[Gov. Jay Inslee , Washington, Chairman, Democratic Governors Association:] Yes, James Brown. This is an "I Feel Good" moment. I think tonight we are going to find that the majority of Americans have a Democratic governor working for them. And I'm very happy about that effort, both as a check on the chaos out of Washington, D.C. but more importantly, this is the place we can make progress starting tomorrow morning because we can make progress and Donald Trump cannot stop these Democratic governors from making progress.
[Berman:] So, as we've been saying all morning, we don't know what's going to happen. It's early in the morning. The polls close tonight we'll count the votes.
[Inslee:] Right.
[Berman:] But one of the things that you know as a Democratic governor and you know by looking at the calendar is that this race is so important for Democrats because redistricting will happen after the 2020 census
[Inslee:] Right.
[Berman:] and governors who were in office, they have a key seat at the table.
[Inslee:] Yes, I think there's three things. Look, gerrymandering is a pathology on the body politic. We have to stop this pernicious gerrymandering. The best way to do that is elect a Democratic governor. In just eight states, if we get a Democratic governor, that could mean Americans have a chance to elect 26 new members of the U.S. Congress in a fair districting process. So it's extremely important from a congressional standpoint, but I would say it's most important in our ability to move forward. And, President Trump cannot stop Stacey Abrams from getting a half million people to have insurance, Andrew Gillum fighting climate change, Gretchen Whitmer for fixing the roads in Michigan. This is a it's simply, with all his tweets, he can't stop that progress.
[Berman:] And that's interesting because you're positioning this as a national election for governors. These governors, you're suggesting, are
[Inslee:] Right.
[Berman:] running in opposition to the president?
[Inslee:] Well, that is part of it. And I think if you were going to write the book of the rise and fall of Donald Trump, the rise ended this morning and the fall is starting tomorrow because these governors can lead the country both resisting some of this chaos and division, but also showing a way forward on health care, on education. Or, Laura Kelly in Kansas can show the way forward on education, or Michelle Lujan Grisham can show a clean energy jobs program to fight climate change when we have a climate change denier in the White House. So I really do think we're setting a plate for great progress, starting this morning.
[Berman:] You earn your keep as chair of the Democratic Governors Association by naming as many of the candidates as you can during this one television appearance.
[Inslee:] They're friends.
[Berman:] I know. But I will note you've been successful in getting all the names in. Stacey Abrams in Georgia
[Inslee:] Right.
[Berman:] Andrew Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee in Florida. Those races have garnered a lot of attention
[Inslee:] Yes.
[Berman:] maybe historic in both cases. African-American candidates ascending to the state to the governor's mansion in those states. When you look at those races what factor has race played?
[Inslee:] Well, it's an unfortunate factor because in both of those races we have these hugely inspirational candidates with great personal stories. I told a story of Stacey yesterday a story where she was valedictorian of her high school, but when she went to get to the governor's office to sort of be rewarded he wouldn't let her in. Andrew Gillum tells a story of bringing it home. His parents always told him bring it home. When you got to school bring something home to the family. Now his theme is "Bringing it home to Florida." So, inspirational candidates and every time a Republicans opens their mouths some dog whistle to division and hatred and latent racism comes out, and it's really unfortunate. And I but here's the good news, not going to work. I really do believe we're going to do well there.
[Berman:] Georgia could go into overtime. What's the Governors Association the DGA going to do to help Stacey Abrams if it ends up in a run-off there?
[Inslee:] I think I've won every overtime game I've ever been in so I hope that that will continue. We will be very active. We're excited about Georgia.
[Berman:] Let me ask you this. You have suggested you are thinking about or have been thinking about running for president, like roughly 673 other Democratic potentials.
[Inslee:] Right.
[Berman:] When do you have to make your mind up if you're going to run in 2020?
[Inslee:] Well, not today because today is for saying let's vote. And by the way, everybody who is listening to this show is going to vote. I know, because they care. That's why they're listening to your show. But I hope people are heroes today, which gets all of their nephews and nieces to vote
[Berman:] When do you have to decide whether you're going to run for president?
[Inslee:] Sometime in the future. Today, I'm getting everybody on your show to become a hero to get everybody under the age of 40 to vote.
[Berman:] Before the first of the year?
[Inslee:] We don't know.
[Berman:] All right. Governor Inslee, thank you for being with us. Good luck today and thanks for being here.
[Inslee:] Thank you. Don't forget to vote.
[Berman:] All right.
[Camerota:] As Americans vote today, Canada's prime minister is talking about his complicated relationship with the president. Poppy Harlow's interview with Justin Trudeau, next.