Tuesday’s primaries, in many ways, upended expectations.
In Kansas, voters rejected a proposed amendment that would have opened the door for state lawmakers to restrict – or even ban – abortions. Meanwhile, in Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Republicans appear poised to break with former President Donald Trump and his candidate of choice.
And in Missouri, a late effort to weaken former Gov. Eric Greitens in the GOP Senate primary proved successful.
Here are five takeaways from the primaries in Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Washington.
Kansas gives new momentum to abortion rights
Kansas voters became the first in the nation on Tuesday to make a decision on abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. The result: They rejected a proposed amendment that would have paved the way for the Republican-led state legislature to ban the procedure.
The failure of the ballot referendum came as something of a surprise. Recent polling from the Kansas City-based firm Co/efficient showed that 47 percent of Kansans planned to vote in favor of the proposed amendment, compared to 43 percent who said they would vote no.
Kansas isn’t the only state where abortion rights are on the ballot this year. But the sound rejection of the so-called “Value Them Both” amendment — and the stunningly high turnout for a midterm election primary — was a significant victory for abortion rights advocates and an early sign of the political backlash against the Supreme Court’s decision to do away with the precedent set by Roe v. Wade.
Comentarios