Abortion rights advocates on Tuesday won a critical victory in Ohio, beating back a measure that would have made their push to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution more difficult.
Abortion rights advocates on Tuesday won a critical victory in Ohio, beating back a measure that would have made their push to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution more difficult.
CNN projected that voters in the state rejected a proposal known as Issue 1. Placed on the ballot during what’s ordinarily a sleepy August by Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature, at the urging of Secretary of State and GOP Senate hopeful Frank LaRose, the proposal would have raised the threshold to pass constitutional amendments from a simple majority to a 60% vote. It was widely seen as a proxy battle over the proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights that will be on Ohio’s ballots in November.
That effort backfired spectacularly on Tuesday, demonstrating that – even in red states – Republicans are at odds with the electorate on the issue of abortion rights.
Their victory on Issue 1 is certain to energize supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment as the state begins what’s likely to be an expensive and acrimonious three-month sprint to the November vote.
Here are four takeaways from Ohio’s election:
Abortion remains a major driving force
Ohio’s August election would ordinarily have been a sleepy, low-turnout affair. In fact, the Republican-led state government had just enacted a law that effectively ended August special elections there. Then they backtracked and scheduled Tuesday’s contest.
Mail-in and early voting for this election had already surpassed 2022 primary voting before Election Day even began. And strong turnout across the state on Tuesday had sent the overall turnout far beyond typical August elections, toward gubernatorial election territory with many more votes to count.
The results underscore the new political reality, one that’s been repeatedly demonstrated in both blue and red states: Since the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, abortion rights are a major, driving force.
