Despite President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings and an off-year election, Democrats scored major victories on Nov. 7 that could have implications for national races in 2024.
Democrats in Virginia swept Tuesday’s legislative elections, campaigning on protecting abortion access and retaking full control of the General Assembly after two years of divided power.
Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment that ensures access to abortion along with other forms of reproductive health care, and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear was reelected in Kentucky—an increasingly red state.
“The biggest lesson learned for 2024 is that governing well is good politics,” Democratic Governors Association (DGA) Communications Director Sam Newton told The Epoch Times. “That’s why Gov. Beshear flipped and closed margins in a number of rural counties where he showed up and led with faith and compassion during tough times, while also growing the economy, keeping people safe, and lowering costs.”
Another takeaway from the 2023 results that will likely reverberate beyond the election itself, is that Democrats now feel emboldened to run on access to abortion in races across the country next year, as a winning issue.
Virginia State Legislative Races
As one of just four states that held legislative races in 2023, Virginia was viewed as a bellwether for next year’s presidential and congressional elections.
That fueled outside interest in the expensive, hard-fought state elections, as both parties closely monitored the results for signs about voter moods heading into the 2024 campaign with access to abortion being a key issue.
Instead, Democrats managed a major victory, and with every General Assembly seat on the ballot, they managed to flip the House of Delegates and held the majority they’ve had in the Senate since 2020.
“This is a huge win for Democrats in Virginia and a sign that Republicans face a major branding problem when it comes to abortion,” Democratic strategist Jared Leopold who advised campaigns in Virginia told The Epoch Times. “Voters view the Republican Party as the ‘abortion ban party,’ and that is going to be an anchor for all anti-choice Republican candidates in 2024.”
The results were a sharp loss for Mr. Youngkin and his fellow Republicans, who spent a great deal of energy, money, and political capital to win a GOP trifecta.
“The post-Dobbs Democratic surge from 2022 is still in effect in 2023 and shows no signs of abating,” Mr. Leopold said.
Kentucky Governor’s Race
Mr. Beshear’s reelection to the governor’s mansion in Kentucky has been viewed as a potential model for other Democrats on how to thrive politically heading into next year’s defining presidential election.
The governor defeated Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron (a protege of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) by about 5 percentage points and withstood relentless attempts to connect him to Democrat President Joe Biden, who is deeply unpopular in the red state.
“Gov. Andy Beshear’s decisive victory ... is the latest example of how Democrats can win in states by blocking out the national noise and focusing on the biggest issues impacting the lives of working families,” Mr. Newton said.
Mr. Beshear insulated himself from outside attacks by focusing on state issues, including his push for exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban. His reelection gave pro-choice advocates nationwide yet another victory and is good news for Democrats running on tough political terrain in 2024.
Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Joe Manchin (W. Va.)—if Mr. Manchin runs for reelection—are facing tough races in increasingly red states next year.
Ohio
Ohio became the seventh state where voters decided to protect abortion access through a constitutional amendment and was the only state to consider a statewide abortion rights question this year.“The future is bright, and tonight we can celebrate this win for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights,” Lauren Blauvelt, co-chair of Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, which led support for the amendment said at a rally.
Voters in Arizona, Missouri, and elsewhere are expected to vote on similar protections next year.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris issued statements celebrating the amendment’s win, emphasizing that attempts to ban or severely restrict abortion represent a minority view across the country.
Houston Mayoral Election
The race for the Mayor of America’s fourth-largest city is still undecided, as Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and State Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston) are headed to a run-off election that will be held on Dec. 9.If elected, Ms. Jackson Lee would be Houston’s first Black female mayor, since 1995, she has represented Houston in Congress. Mr. Whitmire has lapped his rivals in fundraising after five decades in the Texas Legislature, where he has helped drive tough-on-crime policies while also casting himself as a reformer.
About two weeks before the election, Ms. Jackson Lee’s campaign had to contend with a leaked audio recording sent to various media outlets, that appeared to capture her berating staff members with a barrage of expletives.
A voice that sounds like Ms. Jackson Lee can be heard on the recording telling a staffer she wants him to have a “[expletive] brain” and says “nobody knows a [expletive] thing in my office—nothing.” She then refers to another staffer as a “fat-[expletive] stupid idiot” and adds both staffers are “[expletive]-ups.”
Ms. Jackson Lee expressed regret after the recording was released and said that “everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect”
Whitmire has also come under fire for allegedly being too moderate as a Democrat and relying on Republican support.
“It’s clear enough that Whitmire’s coalition of Republicans and others showed up for him in the first round,” founder of the Texas Lone Star Project and Democratic strategist Matt Angle told The Epoch Times. “It will be interesting to see what he has to say and do to keep them on board.”
As chair of the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee, Mr. Whitmire has prided himself on having bi-partisan support and the ability to work across the aisle to tackle major legislative issues like reforming the justice system and passing strong anti-crime measures.
He has also been endorsed by several organizations representing City of Houston law enforcement officers, firefighters, and municipal workers including the Houston Police Officers Union, Afro-American Police Officers League, and the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association among others.
Ms. Jackson Lee was recently endorsed by current Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (D).
