This Wednesday, November 8, the Democratic Party’s broad victory in Tuesday’s state elections was consecrated. The progressive party, focused on maintaining the Presidency and strengthening its power in Congress in 2024, used abortion and other social issues as an electoral asset to achieve victory in states such as Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia or Pennsylvania.
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Good news for the Democratic Party. And, in the state elections of November 7, the defense of the right to abortion was more powerful than the growing unpopularity of President Joe Biden in the United States.
Abortion rights supporters won a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the Constitution in Ohio. In Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear won re-election in the Republican-leaning state with a campaign that warned that the Republican option planned to ban the termination of pregnancy. And, in Virginia, Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, preventing Republicans from passing new restrictions on abortion.
Results to which both Republicans and Democrats have been attentive in search of clues about the 2024 elections. And which, for the moment, seem to benefit the former. Although not everything has been said yet and there are many nuances.
Abortion, the Democrats’ electoral trump card
In 2020, states like Kentucky and Ohio voted for Trump. But this Tuesday things were different: both marked an early victory for the Democrats. And all, once again, in favor of the protection of the right to abortion.
The defense of the right to abortion has a great mobilization factor for the Democratic electorate. For this reason, the progressive and liberal party has invested millions of dollars in a campaign to defend it.
Even media like ‘The New York Times‘ they have gone so far as to assure that “there is nothing like abortion to help the Democrats.”
🎉 Once again, voters showed up for abortion rights!!! Champions for reproductive rights and access are winning across 👏 the 👏 country 👏.
The fight doesn’t end here. Let’s celebrate tonight, and get ready to organize and mobilize for our rights again tomorrow!
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) November 8, 2023
“Once again, voters showed up for abortion rights! Advocates for reproductive rights and access are winning in the country. The fight doesn’t end here. Let’s celebrate tonight and get ready to organize and mobilize again for our rights tomorrow!”, the pro-abortion organization Planned Parenthood Action noted on social media.
In Virginia, Democrats launched commercials about abortion rights over gun control. With this tactic they managed to win in the state House of Representatives.
That’s how powerful the issue is in the country right now, after the Supreme Court decided to suppress the historic Roe vs. Wade in June 2022.
A movement in the state that also managed to overshadow the figure of Republican Glenn Youngkin, whose name was beginning to be heard for the conservative party primaries.
Abortion rights may not be a powerful enough issue to influence an election on its own. But these elections have shown that it does have great weight in combination with other central issues in the campaign.
In the case of Ohio, voters also approved a ballot measure legalizing the recreational use of marijuana with 57% support. After the vote, its use will be regulated and taxed for adults over 21 years of age, also with the expansion of the currently legal medicinal use of cannabis.
A specific tax will also be created on the sale of cannabis and, with the funds raised, it is planned to finance social inclusion programs. With this decision, Ohio thus becomes the 25th state to legalize marijuana in the country.
Democrats scored another victory in Pennsylvania, where Democrat Daniel McCaffwery has taken the only open seat on the state Supreme Court.
But in the state of Mississippi they did not have such good luck. There, Republican Governor Tate Reeves won re-election against Brandon Presley, current regulator of public services in the north of the state.
The Democratic victory, can it be extrapolated to Joe Biden?
The Democrats are raising the flag of victory after the elections on November 7, in what appears to be a strong position for the 2024 elections. But, at this time, the prospects for Joe Biden facing those same elections are not good.
This is demonstrated by the latest survey published jointly by ‘The New York Times’ and the Siena companywhich points out that Donald Trump surpasses Joe Biden in five of the six key ‘swing states’ – states that do not have a clear electoral positioning.
“All I know is what I see in the polls and there is a large majority of people in this country who think the president is too old and I don’t know if they are able to look past that and see, you know, the increase of jobs in the manufacturing sector and other aspects (…) Until now, they have not done so,” said James Carville, Democratic political analyst and advisor, to the Reuters agency.
The rise in inflation, questions about his job performance and his 80 years make many question, or rule out, voting for him.
Factors that have made Democrats not feel so confident ahead of next year’s presidential elections. But, in this year, there are still many factors that could change and there is no definitive prospect to know who will occupy the White House.
With AP, Reuters and local media
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