![]() ![]() The Ohio Democratic Party’s Liz Walters said while she’s pleased with the Issue 1 results, she doesn’t make assumptions about where Ohio is headed. So I think it's a fair question to say: whither the pro-life movement and what's next? And I know a lot of good people will be putting their thoughts and their hearts into that decision."Īnd that brings up the question of whether abortion is still a strong issue for Republicans or whether the overturning of the federal right to abortion and sending it to states to regulate it has flipped the issue toward Democrats. Others say, let's work within what's real and what will be upheld by the courts. "Some people think, get everything you can, get the most restrictions, save as many babies as possible. "The pro-life community is kind of split," Weaver said. The Issue 1 results in Ohio, coupled with abortion rights being upheld in red states including Kansas and Kentucky, have shaken anti-abortion activists, according to Mark Weaver. The fact that the side favored by the Democrats, favored by those who are pro-choice, won with a 14-point margin, suggests that maybe Ohio isn't as red.”Ībortion is a complicated and critical issue for both parties “Issue 1 is not a perfect proxy for party politics in Ohio, but it's a rough proxy. And we could swing either way," Miller said. And in fact, it really kind of hearkens back to the years when Ohio, for decades, really was a battleground state. "I think Ohio's party politics are apparently more in flux than a lot of observers believed. But again, I'm not sure that's going to mean what the state thinks about the Democratic Party, because it's just a more complicated issue than that.”īut Melissa Miller, a political science professor at Bowling Green State University, sees it differently. “I think the November ballot initiative, when abortion is on the ballot and there's a concrete policy in place, will probably give us a little bit better indication of what the state thinks about abortion. This is a special election on a very narrow issue," Smith said. "I think we should be very careful before we read too many results into this particular outcome. Cedarville University political science professor Mark Caleb Smith agreed, and said the Issue 1 results don’t necessarily suggest Democrats will see a surge in support. Weaver chalked up the defeat of Issue 1 to voter confusion at what it would do and voter frustration at an unexpected August vote, but he also said voters’ views on abortion certainly were a factor. "The thing with Issue 1, I think, is more of an outlier and less of a partisan trend." When I first moved to Ohio, it was a purple state. ![]() And he predicts the best known Democrat in Ohio, Brown, will lose. He noted gerrymandering doesn’t cover statewide candidates nearly all of whom are Republican. ![]() Mark Weaver is a longtime Republican strategist and is strongly anti-abortion. But Democrats have long claimed gerrymandering has created an extremist legislature, and some are saying Issue 1’s defeat shows Ohio isn’t as red as electoral maps make it look. Sherrod Brown, who is expected to face an uphill battle. LaRose is one of three Republicans hoping to run next year against Democratic incumbent U.S. Issue 1 would have made it harder to pass future constitutional amendments, including one in November guaranteeing abortion rights. I think it's safe to say that Frank LaRose can officially be crowned Ohio's biggest loser." "I want to thank Frank LaRose, who was the chief campaigner for Issue 1, who not only lost but made a lot of mistakes in the process, including admitting the quiet part out loud: that Issue 1 was 100% about abortion," Walters said. The morning after Issue 1 lost, Ohio Democratic Party chair Liz Walters admitted to reporters she doesn’t say thanks to Republicans very often, but she was feeling gratitude toward one particular member of the Ohio GOP. The resounding defeat of the Republican-backed Issue 1 – in a state that Donald Trump took twice and Mike DeWine won by almost 2-1 last year – has raised questions about whether there’s a political shift starting toward Democrats, or if Republicans continue to have a firm hold over Ohio. ![]()
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