Andy Beshear is the third Kentucky governor to win a second consecutive term in state history.

It's a seat only two other Democratic governors can claim.

His father, Steve Beshear and Paul Patton.

Our June Leffler has more on what the reelected governor had to say last night, as well as comments from his defeated challenger and from lawmakers in both parties.

Reelected Governor Andy Beshear thanks Kentuckians of all parties for their votes.

Kentucky made a choice, a choice not to move to the right or to the left, but to move forward for every single family.

The choice of Jack Harlow over Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

His running mate, Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman.

Spoke to fellow educators in the audience, the state and national teachers unions celebrated the win.

I tried to tell them, when you attack public education.

In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, you will lose.

Teachers helped Beshear beat Matt Bevin in 2019 by just 5000 votes, but his fan base has grown.

He's currently 67,000 votes ahead of this year's Republican candidate, Daniel Cameron.

See, it's that type of energy that helped us win.

To win the election.

Beshear crushed in areas he was sure to get and closed his margin of defeat and plenty of rural red counties.

Beshear won six more counties than he did in his first governor's race.

He flipped the purple counties shown here.

He lost the yellow counties that he had won in 2019.

Kentucky Democrats echoed that Beshear has crossed party and rural urban divides.

We're going to lift up our regions, and I think people see that.

They realize it.

And I think they spoke tonight.

And he's real.

And I think people see that in him.

And I think this worked well for him.

With plenty of down ballot wins for Republic kins, Beshear will once again have to work with his opposing party.

Some who aren't optimistic he'll do that.

He took credit for things that he actually chastised us on, on his press conferences and said, anything, I'm going to work with those guys.

But boy, when it came election time, he wanted to be attached us at the hip.

I will tell you that I've got the same cell phone number that I've had for the last five years and look forward to utilizing it perhaps more than he has in the past.

When Cameron gave his concession speech, he offered levity.

Well, that didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it.

To and look to the future.

Again, this was about future generations.

And as I called the governor to congratulate him.

I know from his perspective and from all of our perspectives that we all want the same thing for our future generations.

We want a better commonwealth.

One in which it can ultimately be a shining city on a hill, a model, an example for the rest of the nation to follow.

And so, as I did with Governor Beshear, I want all of us to think about what these next few decades will look like.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Juliet.

Thank you, June.

Governor Beshear will be inaugurated in Frankfurt on December 12th.

That includes a full slate of activities, including the inaugural parade.

And you can see all of it right here on KCET live.