WASHINGTON — Democrats most at risk of losing their Senate seats in November’s U.S. election have jumped on abortion rights to shift the political narrative away from inflation and win back voters disappointed by President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy.
Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Raphael Warnock of Georgia both issued fundraising pleas on the possible Supreme Court action after the leak of a draft opinion indicating a majority of justices were ready to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada appeared Tuesday before the abortion rights advocacy and fundraising group EMILY’s List, vowing to make the issue front and center in the November election.
New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan made the rounds of local radio and television stations the day after the draft was reported by Politico.
“My Republican opponents have a clear record of working to eviscerate women’s reproductive health rights,” Hassan said in an interview at the U.S. Capitol. “The stakes could not be higher in this election, and I’ll continue to make that contrast.”
Abortion is now a wild card issue in the November contests that will decide which party controls the Senate during the last two years of Biden’s first term. Democrats are bedeviled by sour voter views of the economy at a time when they are likely to lose the House and their control of the 50-50 Senate is in doubt. Now they see an issue that will energize the party’s liberal base and lure support from suburban independent voters, who will be pivotal in the election.
“It’s going to make a huge difference,” said Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg, whose current clients include Kelly. “It doesn’t mean that abortion will trump inflation as the No. 1 issue. It means for people who are pro-choice and concerned about it, it will be a big mobilizer to get out to vote.”
Another Democratic pollster, Celinda Lake, said she is advising clients they should be “taking as clear a stand as possible, speaking to the issue” and directing those messages to “base and swing women.”
Some of states that have the closest Senate races also are jurisdictions that would see dramatic changes in abortion policy if Roe is set aside.
Kelly’s home state of Arizona has a pre-Roe abortion ban, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, this year signed a law that hasn’t yet taken effect that would outlaw abortions in the state after 15 weeks.
In Georgia, where Warnock is running for a full six-year term after narrowly winning a special election in 2020, the state legislature approved a “heartbeat” bill that would ban abortions after a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity, usually six weeks after conception. But a federal appeals court put it on hold last year until the Supreme Court issues its ruling in the abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenges a Mississippi abortion law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of gestation.
With polls consistently showing a solid majority of Americans support keeping abortion legal in all or most cases, Republicans have been treading carefully.
In Wisconsin, repealing Roe v. Wade would effectively reinstate the state’s 173-year-old abortion ban. Sen. Ron Johnson, the most endangered GOP Senate Republican, focused on the leak of the draft decision rather than abortion restrictions.
“The goal of this unprecedented breach is to intimidate sitting Supreme Court justices,” Johnson tweeted. “This is yet another example of how the radical left intends to ‘fundamentally transform’ America.”
Cortez Masto’s GOP challenger, former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, gave a measured reaction. Laxalt said in a statement that if the Supreme Court overturns Roe, “it would constitute an historic victory for the sanctity of life and the principles of democratic self-determination.” At the same time, he said that abortion is legal under Nevada law, and whatever the Supreme Court does “it is currently settled law in our state.”
In a memo to Republican candidates on Tuesday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee said it’s polling and focus group studies on the issue indicate that it’s best to stress being “the compassionate consensus builder on abortion policy,” including encouraging more adoptions and fewer abortions and to provide support for pregnant women “in difficult circumstances.” It also urged Republicans to keep the focus on other issues, including rising consumer prices.
Abortion “is an important issue to many people. But so is inflation, so is crime, so is the border,” Florida Sen. Rick Scott, the NRSC chairman, said. Asked if Republicans would advance legislation banning abortion nationwide if they take control of the Senate and House next year, he responded, “We’ll worry about that next year.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is working to keep the spotlight on the issue with a planned vote next week codifying Roe v. Wade, a tally that will fail but will put every senator on record.
“The Democrats still have to have a clear economic message and a clear contrast,” Lake said, “but they just acquired a major component of their message for the fall.”
