The day we knew was coming is here. Roe v. Wade has been overturned by the Supreme Court. Below is 1) a curated list of news clips that explain the decision and its consequences, and 2) some new research from our team.
You can also give to our Electing Women Governors and Electing Women Senate slates, to help preserve state protections that exist now, and expand national protections in the future.
Also, RSVP for our July 14 monthly call with special guest Celinda Lake, a leading Democratic political strategist and pollster, who will present on how the SCOTUS ruling will shape races in key states and impact the midterm elections more broadly.
See more reminders and resources on our Resources page.
Analysis from our research team shows that states which have banned or severely restricted abortion rights have low percentages of Democratic women’s representation at the state and federal level.
US Senate
The fall of Roe will transform US Senate races, and all Democratic candidates have released statements pledging to protect abortion rights to whatever extent possible should they be elected to the Senate.
But it’s too early to tell just how much abortion rights will shape the races. A benefit to Democrats, and especially Democratic women, is sorely needed. New polling in Wisconsin shows Sarah Godlewski in third place in the primary, while Cheri Beasley is polling 5 points behind Rep. Ted Budd in the general, and Rep. Val Demings is struggling to gain help from national party institutions in Florida.
Incumbents are facing a similar trend: Sen. Maggie Hassan is either leading by 8 or down by 2, depending on likely opponent head-to-head polls, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto down by 1 against Adam Laxalt in the latest likely voter polls.
These concerning polls come as the June 30 end-of-quarter fundraising deadline looms, a time when campaigns need to show strength to meet their fundraising goals—and in turn fuel more donations.
June offered new—but no definitive—insight into Democrats’ fate with Hispanic voters. Although the message nationwide seems to be that Democrats are losing Hispanic voters, the reality is more mixed, with Hispanic candidates on the left and right surging in Texas’s elections.
Democrats on the progressive side are certainly not collapsing, despite the disappointment over Jessica Cisneros’ narrow loss. In Washington state, attorney and activist Jamie McLeod-Skinner unseated conservative Incumbent Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader, and in Texas, small businesswoman Michelle Vallejo won a chance to compete for a tossup open seat.
And again, while we don’t yet know how the Dobbs decision will affect these races, impact from the Jan. 6 hearings is trickling down, especially for Virginia’s Rep. Elaine Luria, the only Democrat on the committee whose district Trump won in 2020.
This month we saw a major development in Michigan: Five Republicans—including the front-runner—were kicked off the primary ballot for submitting falsified signatures and then falling under the signature threshold. This is a huge stroke of good luck for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose likely general election opponent is now activist Ryan Kelley, who was recently arrested by the FBI for suspected involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Down-ballot races are also seeing renewed focus in the wake of Dobbs, especially attorneys general, who will have wide-ranging power in how strictly to apply state abortion laws, and secretaries of state, who can safeguard elections.
