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What We Know Now About the Midterms: Election Deniers, Trump and More
As partisans and pundits digested the shock of the 2022 midterm elections on Wednesday, some new themes emerged. Finger-pointing among Republicans. Mixed results for election deniers. The return of choosy voters. And a more nuanced picture on the impact of abortion.Here are four fresh takeaways on the first full day of reckoning for both parties:Trump had a bad day.Many Republicans lit up cable news and conservative websites on Wednesday with withering criticism of the former president they once championed — and, in some cases, worked to elect or defended once in office.It was clear that many in the G.O.P. political class were angry about the outcome of an election they assumed would go much better for their side. It was far less clear whether their fury was shared by Republican voters — or the man in Mar-a-Lago, who congratulated himself from a “personal standpoint” as he grudgingly acknowledged a “somewhat disappointing” election in general.But Republican operatives, using words like “disaster” or “debacle” and making unflattering comparisons between former President Donald J. Trump and various circus acts, anvils, mental patients and even the Pied Piper of Hamelin, lashed the head of their party and openly wished for someone to seize his crown.Some Republican operatives even said they were reconsidering pursuing jobs with the third Trump presidential campaign, they reported — as others urged him to delay an announcement until after the runoff election for Senate in Georgia.Who Will Control Congress? Here’s When We’ll Know.Card 1 of 4Much remains uncertain. More
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Democrats Hold Onto Contested State Legislative Chambers
Democrats made gains in state legislatures, including at least one Midwestern battleground state, while thwarting Republican efforts to flip chambers in the Mountain West and elsewhere. As results of statehouse races were still being counted in several states late Wednesday, experts said that Republicans’ efforts to expand their control of state legislative chambers appeared to have fallen short.In Michigan, Democrats had flipped at least one chamber of the State Legislature, the State Senate, while votes were still being counted in races for control of the state’s House of Representatives, as well as Minnesota’s State Senate.“Last night was a surprisingly good showing for Democrats in statehouses, especially since their gains combat the notion that the president’s party always loses ground during midterms,” said Wendy Underhill, director of elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures.In Colorado, a state heavily targeted by Republicans, Democrats maintained their legislative majorities. And in North Carolina and Wisconsin, states with Democratic governors and Republican-held legislatures, Democrats fended off efforts by Republicans to win supermajorities, which would have given them veto override powers. Democrats also won full control of state government leadership in Massachusetts and Maryland — states where Democrats newly won control of the governor’s office while holding onto majorities in both chambers of their statehouses.Republicans went into the midterms with a grip on a majority of chambers in statehouses around the country. Single-party control of state legislatures has become common, and before voting on Tuesday, Republicans dominated both legislative chambers in 30 states, while Democrats held both chambers in 17.Counts were still continuing on Wednesday in various states, including Arizona and Nevada, where control of state legislatures was in play. But in states big and small where results were clear, Republicans easily maintained control of legislatures, including in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Missouri, North Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming.“Republicans continue to absolutely dominate the 50-state landscape, as they have since 2010,” Ms. Underhill said.In a sign of how polarization has characterized thousands of races, including many in rural areas where Republicans were running uncontested, only a few hundred seats at the state legislative level were expected to shift across party lines out of the more than 6,200 up for election, according to the N.C.S.L., a bipartisan organization representing state legislatures.Nevertheless, the results indicate a turn from 2020 when Democrats spent heavily to diminish Republicans’ control of state legislatures only to fail at flipping a single chamber, even as Democrats won the presidency and control of Congress that year.The shifts in state legislative seats come as control of these legislatures may prove more significant than ever. State legislatures already hold sway over a wide range of issues from taxation to what teachers are allowed to discuss in public schools. After the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe this year, state lawmakers gained even more power, deciding in many cases whether to restrict or expand abortion rights for their residents.Their authority could now shift significantly as the Supreme Court, which has leaned to the right, hears a case next month related to the role of state legislatures and their role in setting election rules. More
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American voters just sent a crystal-clear message: they believe in abortion rights | Jill Filipovic
American voters just sent a crystal-clear message: they believe in abortion rightsJill FilipovicAbortion rights voters delivered several key elections for Democrats. Now Democrats had better deliver for them The 2022 midterm elections were not the “red wave” of Republican dreams. They didn’t end up being a rebuke to the Biden presidency, a message about inflation or a protest against perceived crime rates.The only issue voters sent a clear message on? Abortion.Voters who came out to support reproductive rights seem to be one of the chief reasons Democrats weren’t absolutely routed. Abortion rights voters delivered several key elections for Democrats. And now, Democrats had better deliver for them.There are still some races outstanding, including important Senate battles in Georgia, Arizona and Nevada and a smattering of House races. But early numbers tell an important and definitive story: the Democratic base showed up in numbers that are wildly uncommon in a midterm election, particularly from a party that already controls Congress and the White House. Turnout this year surpassed the 2018 midterms, when Democrats surged to the polls to signal their disgust with Donald Trump. And exit polling suggests that these Democratic voters were overwhelmingly motivated by abortion, with 76% of Democrats listing abortion as their top issue, according to CNN polling. And voters generally – not just Democrats – said that they trusted Democrats over Republicans to handle abortion.Abortion rights supporters encouraged Democrats to prioritize abortion in their campaigns, but that strategy came with its fair share of detractors. Senator Bernie Sanders wrote in these pages that focusing on abortion over inflation and the economy was a mistake. (Democrats, in their defense, did overwhelmingly make their case about the economy, too; they just emphasized abortion rights more forcefully than at any point in my living memory.) It would appear that detractors got it wrong, and abortion was indeed a winning strategy.The Democratic line has been “abortion is on the ballot.” And in four states, it literally was: voters in California, Michigan and Vermont were asked to decide whether to enshrine abortion rights into their state constitutions; voters in Kentucky were asked to decide whether abortion rights should not be protected by their state constitution.Voters in all four states voted for abortion rights and against abortion restrictions, echoing the outcome of a ballot measure earlier this year in Kansas.This is an unmistakable pattern: when voters are given the chance to decide whether the state should outlaw abortion or if the choice should be left to a woman and her doctor, they tell the state to butt out. Even in conservative strongholds, state legislatures appear to be far more conservative on abortion than the voters they purport to represent.These abortion rights voters have also cast their ballots for Democrats more broadly. Candidates in several tight races, including in Michigan and Pennsylvania, emphasized that they would protect abortion rights – and those candidates won, bringing down-ballot victories for state legislators with them.In Pennsylvania, abortion was the number-one issue for voters, according to NBC exit polling – and 78% of voters who said abortion was their main issue cast their ballots for Democrat John Fetterman. Democrat Josh Shapiro also won against arch-conservative Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race. And while votes are still being tallied, Democrats seem to have done surprisingly well in races for seats in the Pennsylvania state legislature.In Michigan, voters sent a resounding message that they want abortion rights enshrined into the state constitution. They also re-elected Gretchen Whitmer, who ran on abortion rights in a state that has been engulfed in legal battles over the status of abortion. And they flipped the state legislature, handing Democrats control of all three chambers for the first time in nearly four decades.These voters are all clear: they turned out not just to put Democrats in power generally, but in support of abortion rights specifically.Now these voters will want results. Yes, delivering on abortion rights may be tough with a divided House and Senate – especially if Republicans gain control of one or both chambers. But Democrats were never under the impression that they could achieve overwhelming victory. They still promised pro-choice voters that if they turned out, Democrats would stand up for them. Now they have to make good on that promise, even if it’s tough.The Biden administration has been frustratingly tepid on abortion rights, and it’s beyond time for Democrats at all levels to get creative to secure abortion rights however they can. Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have suggested, for example, that Biden could use his executive powers to allow abortion clinics to open on federally owned lands, including military bases.Congress could affirm the basic rights of all Americans to travel for medical care – which could help to stave off conservative efforts to criminalize those who help women cross state borders for abortions – and pass a bill protecting women and their loved ones from prosecution for pregnancy termination. (In my ideal world, Congress would pass a bill protecting abortion rights much more broadly, but that path will become impossible if Republicans gain power.) The FDA could treat abortion-inducing medications like any other prescription drug and evaluate them on safety and efficacy rather than politics – which, frustratingly, remains the case even with a Biden administration in the White House. And if Democrats do somehow manage to maintain control of Congress, Biden and the Democratic party truly have no excuse to not pass a bill enshrining abortion rights into law nationwide.The American people sent a loud message yesterday: we are a pro-choice nation, and we want the government out of our most intimate reproductive decisions. Republicans should listen, and realize that their party’s position – that abortion should be outlawed in nearly all cases – represents but a tiny minority of Americans; if they want to stay competitive, they should back off from their extremist positions.And Democrats should realize that these pro-choice voters just saved many of their hides, and recently elected Democratic politicians now owe them more than pro-choice platitudes. They owe what they promised: abortion rights.
Jill Filipovic is the author of OK Boomer, Let’s Talk
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