In a campaign ad this month, Derek Tran, a Democrat from Orange County, California, sharply criticized his opponent, Republican Rep. Michelle Steel, for supporting a national ban on abortion and voting to limit access to birth control. .
Democratic challenger Will Rollins also criticized his rival, Rep. Ken Calvert, and “MAGA extremists” in an ad last week for their support of a bill that could criminalize doctors who perform abortions.
A few blocks off State Route 14 in Lancaster, about 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, Rep. Mike Garcia’s Democratic opponent, George Whitesides, posted two signs promising to protect reproductive health care, a blow to the congressman Republican, who voted to cut taxpayer funding for abortions for service members and other Americans.
As Election Day approaches, Democratic hopefuls are doing everything they can to tie Republican opponents in contested congressional districts to their anti-abortion records. Aggressive ads are running in California, Arizona, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and Oregon, as Democrats see an opportunity to take control of the House by engaging voters who may not vote directly, or vote in absolute. Republicans currently control the House by a narrow margin.
“What we all need to do is make sure we look at her history, and that history is contrary to what she puts out in her ads,” Tran said in an interview about Steel. “We’re making sure to educate and remind voters who she really is.”
Democrats are also linking Republican incumbents to former President Donald Trump, who took credit for the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Democrats warn voters that more restrictions could come. During the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Trump dodged a question about whether he would veto a national abortion ban if elected.
A majority of voters support restoring the federal right to abortion, according to a recent KFF poll. And 1 in 14 voters say abortion is the most important issue in determining their election. Those voters have the potential to make a difference in close elections, said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University.
“The politics of abortion and reproductive health can get voters more involved,” McCuan said. “It’s going to be a decisive issue.”
Democrats hope the issue will play in their favor in California. Two years ago, voters codified abortion rights into state law. In May, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California launched a seven-figure campaign targeting seven Republican seats and Democrat Katie Porter’s open seat.
As a result, political analysts say, Republicans have avoided voting on abortion and some incumbents (such as Steel, Garcia and Central Valley U.S. Rep. David Valadao) have moderated their stances to appeal to voters.
Steel, like García and Valadao, has said he supports exceptions to the abortion ban in cases of rape, incest or threats to the mother’s life. The three co-sponsored a bill that amounted to a blanket ban on abortion in the previous Congress. Garcia and Valadao left their names off the bill last year, but Steel signed on again as a cosponsor, briefly.
She withdrew her support after winning the March primary, explaining that it could create confusion because the three-page bill could threaten in vitro fertilization. In a September campaign ad, Steel shared that she had used IVF to have children and reiterated her support for the procedure. Steel spokesman Lance Trover said he opposes a national abortion ban.
None of the Republican incumbents representing a “swing” California district, as determined by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, gave an interview to KFF Health News. Respondents said they do not support a national ban on abortion.
Rep. John Duarte added that he opposes the ban because he is “pro-choice,” and Calvert said that “the best way to decide the issue is directly with the states and their voters.” Both voted for a bill to limit medication abortion and supported a measure that would have authorized prison sentences for medical providers who fail to resuscitate babies born after an abortion attempt.
Tim Rosales, a political strategist who has represented Republican candidates, said these incumbents should not be criticized for changing their minds over time, noting that former Democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama changed their positions on intermarriage. same sex.
“There has to be some room for evolution on a variety of issues,” Rosales said.
Ben Petersen, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Democrats who have criticized Republicans for inconsistencies want to divert the conversation from other issues, such as the “disastrous cost-of-living crisis affecting women and families caused by the one-party system. control of Sacramento.”
This political dance is playing out on the national stage, especially in races where Republicans are on the defensive in states where abortion is on the ballot. About two dozen races are considered toss-ups.
In a March post on social media platform of abortion, which makes no exceptions for cases in which the mother’s life is at risk. That same month, Rolling Stone reported that the Omaha-area congressman had removed some anti-abortion endorsements from his website. Nebraskans will vote this November on anti-abortion ballot measures.
In Arizona, where voters will also be asked whether abortion rights are enshrined in the state constitution, Republican incumbent David Schweikert did not support a national abortion ban this year, which he had cosponsored at least six times between 2012 and 2021. In April, he wrote in X that he opposed Arizona’s abortion ban and called on the state legislature to “address this issue immediately.”
On the airwaves, on their websites and on the campaign trail, Republican candidates are pivoting to convince voters that they have voted to protect women. For example, Steel this month released an ad titled “Champion,” in which the Orange County sheriff says Steel has “worked tirelessly to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.”
Trover, Steel’s spokeswoman, said she voted two years ago to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. That vote was on a larger $1.5 trillion government spending bill, which included the measure.
The year before, Steel voted against reauthorizing the law.
This article was produced by KFF Health Newswho publishes California Healthlinean editorially independent service California Health Care Foundation.
