Yesterday was a day of Dem victory for most legislative races and referendum battles. Starting with Virginia, voters turned out yesterday in strong numbers and flipped the Virginia House of Delegates to Dem control, while maintaining Dem control of the State Senate. The victory was propelled by the increasingly important issue of women's reproductive rights, with candidates tagging their Republican / Forced Birth opponents as extreme on that issue. It also represents a major setback for Virginia Governor and would-be Presidential aspirant Glenn "Trumpkin" Youngkin. From the Washington Post's coverage:
"Virginia voters resoundingly rejected Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s costly efforts to take control of the General Assembly in Tuesday’s elections, according to unofficial results — flipping the House of Delegates to Democratic control and preserving a blue majority in the state Senate that can block his conservative agenda and prevent Republicans from tightening limits on access to abortion. [snip]
Youngkin had hoped to set a new model for how Republicans everywhere could win on the abortion issue, campaigning on the promise that if voters gave Republicans control over both chambers of the General Assembly, he would pass a ban on abortions after 15 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother."
In an added slap to Youngkin, his close ally Republican Sen. Siobhan S. Dunnavant was defeated in her bid for re-election.
In Kentucky, Dem Gov. Andy Beshear won re-election over Trump-endorsed state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who became infamous for siding with the police who killed Breonna Taylor in 2020, calling it "justified." Much of Beshear's message was to modify the commonwealth's extreme no-exceptions law on abortion rights.
Finally, in Ohio voters passed an amendment to their State's constitution affirming a woman's right to abortion access. From the Associated Press:
"Voter turnout for Ohio’s amendment, including early voting, was robust for an off-year election. Issue 1’s approval will all but certainly undo a 2019 state law passed by Republicans that bans most abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, with no exceptions for rape and incest. That law, currently on hold because of court challenges, is one of roughly two dozen restrictions on abortion the Ohio Legislature has passed in recent years."
It was a great day for Dems and preservation of women's reproductive rights, and a bad day for Christofascist Republicans wishing to turn the clock back decades.
BONUS: Democrats also held a critical seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and won a majority in a Virginia school board race in a battleground county that's been ground zero in "schools in crisis" fear- mongering by Christofascist Republicans; far-right "Moms for Liberty" candidates tanked overall. For example.
BONUS II: New narrative incoming! Politico headline -- "Democrats Romp, Youngkin Flops."
BONUS III: Best line -- "The political media's sweaty attempts to make Glenn Youngkin a major thing died last night..." Bwahahaha.
