Conservative Kansas residents turned out in record numbers to vote to preserve abortion rights in the state.
In early polls, it was even between a yes and no party, but when 95 percent of the votes were counted, Margin 59-41.
A political earthquake, says Eric Locke in Civita.
Know the USA: Eric Locke believes Republicans will focus on the economy until November 8th. Photo: Truls Aagedal/TV 2
– This means that the Republicans are not in good shape, Eric Bergsen tells TV 2.
Abortion will now remain legal in Kansas until the 22nd week of pregnancy.
Want a different theme
Both believe, backroom Republican strategists are now pissed off that the Supreme Court threw out Roe v. Wade just months before the fall midterm elections.
– Support for abortion in Kansas was much greater than what polls indicated. One thing is that it’s big in the cities, but here it’s also big in the countryside. Locke notes that this is a state that Donald Trump won by about 15 percent in 2020.
Bergsen is convinced that Republicans prefer the 2022 election to be about the economy.
Now that the Democrats’ Joe Biden is president, and the US is battered by inflation and high gas prices, the economy is a winning issue for Republicans.
Instead, abortion rights occupy a huge space, because many state boards offer Abortion laws Which, at its most extreme, does not allow abortion even if the woman has been raped or incest.
Republicans shot in the foot, handing cause to abortion opponents, allowing them to take complete control of the party and pass these laws in the state assemblies. They thought, “Let them hang on, because Roe vs. Wade will never be flipped,” but then he was flipped. What do they do next? This is an electoral loser for them, says Bergsen.
Surprised: Eric Bergsen, like most others, is surprised by the result of the abortion in the Kansas referendum.
A reminder of Trump’s victory in 2016
He sees clear parallels with Trump and his electoral victory against Hillary Clinton here.
The result in Kansas also says something about the way polls work in the United States, because there are probably many more people who say one thing in the polls and then something else is true. One might think “what if my daughter got pregnant by accident” or “what if my son’s condom breaks?”. Every day people realize a little.
Many people said in 2016 polls that they shouldn’t vote for Trump, but they did anyway, Bergsen notes.
Six years later, it’s clear that many Trump voters in Kansas have turned their backs on him and the party on the abortion issue.
Trump won Kansas by 15 percent in 2020. That means a significant number of those who voted Republican and for Trump at the time, voted to preserve abortion rights now.
– It’s a sign of how that continues, he adds.
gift package
Løkke agrees with Bergesen that Republicans will certainly try to hold a by-election on the economy.
Questions about inflation, gasoline prices and everything related to the wallet will be the most important and strongest card for Republicans, Løkke tells TV 2.
Cheer up: Abortion supporters in Kansas are reacting with glee that the referendum result guarantees the state’s right to have an abortion. Photo: Everett Nelson/Reuters/USA Today/NTP
Løkke interprets the numbers from Kansas and primaries across the United States to mean that turnout in by-elections will be high. Often prefer Democrats.
– What I’m more unsure of is how this will turn into a by-election. There are almost certainly more people who voted to keep abortion rights now who would vote for Trump again.
–But the result in Kansas clearly shows that the Supreme Court ruling was a political gift to Democrats, Locke adds.
The midterm elections will be held in the United States on November 8. All 435 of the House of Representatives seats and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats are up for grabs. In addition, there are 39 governorships on offer.
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