The battle for control of the Virginia Legislature is still hanging in the balance, but the first round of returns from Tuesday’s off-year elections delivered one clear message: abortion rights are popular, no matter when or where they are on the ballot.
Voters in Ohio decisively said they wanted a constitutionally protected right to choose with the passage of a ballot measure doing just that – only a few months after they rejected another measure that would have made it harder for them to shield abortion rights.
In Kentucky, the Democratic governor defeated his Republican challenger, a state attorney general with close ties to former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, after a campaign in which abortion became a flashpoint.
A victory in the Virginia state Senate would cap off a hat trick of invigorating results for Democrats, who have endured a dispiriting week with multiple polls, including a new one from CNN, showing President Joe Biden could face an uphill fight against Trump in case of a 2020 rematch in 2024.
With votes still being counted, here are a few early election night takeaways on a strong night for Democrats:
Already a proven political winner for Democrats, abortion rights further solidified their place as a driving force in next year’s elections when voters in Ohio, an increasingly conservative state that voted twice for Trump, passed a ballot measure on Tuesday enshrining them in the state constitution.
Red, blue and purple states alike have green-lit similar proposals, solidifying a trend that defies partisan expectations and could have an outsized influence on next year’s federal elections.
In the end, though, Ohio Republicans might have gotten off easy. Their referendum took place now, during an off-year with no voting for statewide office or president. Other state…
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