Warning signs for both parties in state and local elections

Democrats lost more ground in legislatures and governor's mansions, raising questions about the party's strength when President Barack Obama's name isn't at the top of the ballot.

Democrats still have important demographic advantages in the states that often determine presidential elections, but the party is struggling in power centers outside Washington that influence policy and steer congressional redistricting.

The GOP is casting its victory in the Kentucky gubernatorial race as a blueprint for how Republicans can run successfully against Obama's signature health care law.

For party leaders anxious about Donald Trump and Ben Carson's lead in the GOP presidential primary, the win in Kentucky for Matt Bevin — a wealthy businessman who has never held political office — could be a sign that many voters are serious about electing outsider candidates.

For Democrats, results in Kentucky, Virginia and elsewhere were part of a troubling pattern.

Since Obama was elected in 2008, the party has lost 12 governorships and more than 900 state legislative seats, ceding control of 30 legislative chambers.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who is struggling in the GOP presidential polls, aligned himself with Bevin's success as a political outsider.