Why does Hillary Clinton say governor races matter in the 2026 midterms?

Hillary Clinton says the 36 governor races matter because governors shape congressional maps when states redistrict after each census, which is why Trump pressed Greg Abbott to find more seats in Texas. Governors also oversee the 2028 election and lead on issues Washington ignores, such as regulating social media and AI and keeping phones out of schools, the work her Clinton Policy Institute does with states.

Six of the seven presidential battlegrounds elect governors this year, all but North Carolina.
In Georgia, Clinton is not confident Republican Rick Jackson would resist pressure to overturn results the way Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger did in 2020.

▸In their words

“The states still have to be the laboratories of democracy.” Hillary Clinton · at 48:57 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on On with Kara Swisher (2026-10-28). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode

Q1What did Hillary Clinton say about the Serbia and Brazil elections on High Stakes?Q2What does Hillary Clinton think of the Ken Paxton versus James Talarico Texas Senate race?Q3How does Hillary Clinton rate Abdul El-Sayed's chances against Mike Rogers in Michigan?Q4What did Hillary Clinton say about Susan Collins in Maine and the two Dan Sullivans in Alaska?Q6What did Hillary Clinton say about Vivek Ramaswamy's ad against Amy Acton in Ohio?Q7What does Hillary Clinton wish she had done differently about James Comey in 2016?Q8What does Hillary Clinton predict Trump will do if Republicans lose the 2026 midterms?

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