(C) Ohio Capital Journal
This story was originally published by Ohio Capital Journal and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
How are GOP candidates campaigning on abortion in a post-Issue 1 Ohio? [1]
['Nick Evans', 'More From Author', '- February']
Date: 2024-02-14
Last year, Ohioans voted resoundingly in favor of the abortion rights amendment, Issue 1, with 57% support. They also soundly rejected a bid to raise the threshold for passing amendments broadly understood as a proxy for abortion rights, also with a vote of 57%. The state Democratic party has made no secret of its plans to turn 2024 into yet another referendum on the issue. But at the same time, many Republican voters remain just as opposed to abortion as they were before ballots were counted.
It presents a quandary for Republican office seekers. How do you navigate an issue that’s a litmus test within your own party and the primary line of attack for your opponent’s party?
In Ohio’s 6th U.S. Congressional district, a campaign ad for state Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus, R-Paris Township, commits to doing “all we can to protect innocent life” while superimposed text describes him as “100% pro-life.” Next door in the 13th U.S. Congressional district, former state Rep. Kevin Coughlin said he “either co-sponsored or voted for every allowable Roe v. Wade state restriction” while serving as a state lawmaker. But he lamented after passage of Issue 1, “most of those were, we think, probably struck down.” And in Ohio’s 9th U.S. Congressional district, J.R. Majewski said “I’m pro-life, 100%, without exception. However, I’m also a realist and we’ve lost three really strong battles in this state in the past few years.”
In each case, their Republican primary opponents have taken similar positions — voicing their personal opposition to abortion while searching for a rhetorical path that doesn’t close off a potential majority come November.
In several cases, that may have gotten a bit harder this week. Ohio Right to Life, the anti-abortion group that led in pushing to make amending the constitution harder, released its list of endorsements. In the 6th district they endorsed both Stoltzfus and his GOP opponent Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem. They backed both candidates in the 13th district, too, endorsing Coughlin and his opponent, Hudson City Council member Chris Banweg. The organization singled out former state Rep. Craig Riedel in the 9th district, though. On social media he said that be was the “only” candidate to receive their endorsement and promised, “In Congress, I will always defend the sanctity of life and continue to advocate for policies that support new mothers and families.”
I'm grateful to be endorsed by the Greater Toledo Right to Life. In Congress, I will always defend the sanctity of life and continue to advocate for policies that support new mothers and families. #OH9 pic.twitter.com/hBzyCZSTi3 — Craig Riedel (@craig_riedel) February 8, 2024
Maps and primaries
Ohio State political scientist Paul Beck explains part of what’s happening is geography. Because Democratic voters tend to cluster near a handful of cities, broad swaths of the state are very red. Gerrymandering has further exaggerated that distribution.
“There’s so many one-party districts where if you win in the primary, you’re going to win the general election,” Beck described. “And so the real contest that you face — Democrats or Republicans, but it’s more Republicans than Democrats — the real contest you face is in the primary election itself.”
In a district like Ohio’s 6th, which is a safe Republican seat, that makes sense. But the 9th and 13th are more in play. Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia and the Cook Political Report, both rate the 9th district as leaning Democratic and the 13th as a toss-up. Partisan leanings also don’t explain why all three of Ohio’s GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate have voiced support for federal abortion restrictions. Running statewide, they face the exact same electorate that twice sided with abortion rights in 2023.
To those examples, Beck suggests we’re seeing the familiar dance of politicians catering to their base during the primary before tacking to the center for the general.
“First things first, they have to get nominated,” Beck explained. “They are vying for the support of a base that is strongly anti-abortion, and they don’t want to be perceived by voters in that base as somebody who is softening on the abortion issue.”
“I guess they’re figuring they’ll take their chances in the general election,” he added.
Couching the issue
To balance those competing impulses, candidates have largely asserted their own ongoing opposition to abortion and then discounted the possibility of legislative changes. Stoltzfus’ “all we can” and Majewski’s “I’m a realist,” both offer a case-in-point of that sort of qualified opposition.
Other candidates have thrown up their hands — blaming voters who approved Issue 1 for taking away lawmakers’ ability to act. At a candidate forum hosted by the Roosevelt Regan Society at Hicksville High School, state Rep. Derek Merrin, R-Monclova Township, insisted, “I’ve fought to protect the unborn.”
“This last year the citizens of Ohio went a different direction,” he added, “and amended late-term abortions in the Constitution.”
The constitutional amendment approved by voters allows abortion procedures up to the point of fetal viability as determined by doctors. This typically falls around 26 weeks into pregnancy. Doctors have repeatedly said that the rhetoric of “late-term abortions” is political and not medical terminology.
Merrin is one of four Republican candidates running in Ohio’s 9th Congressional district, a seat currently held by Democratic Ohio U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur. Majewski is one of his opponents in that contest, but instead of pointing the finger at voters, he pointed at elected officials. In particular, he used the opportunity to take a swipe at Gov. Mike DeWine’s COVID policy.
“Issue 1 failed not because people wanted to have an abortion it’s because they didn’t trust giving that decision to a governor and a regiment that put us in masks for over a year,” Majewski argued.
“If DeWine wouldn’t have put us in masks, and he would’ve stood up for our liberties,” Majewski added, “I think Issue 1 would’ve passed with flying colors.”
In a follow up email, a Majewski spokeswoman explained he sees abortion as a state issue after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down Roe v. Wade. She added Majewski recognizes the need for “more sensibility on these issues as a party,” but that the commonly cited proposal banning all abortion after 15 weeks while allowing states to impose additional regulations as they see fit, is an “acceptable compromise.”
51 years ago today, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. Last year, Ohioans protected reproductive freedom in our state’s Constitution––but the fight continues as we push back against a national abortion ban. In Congress, I will always protect Ohioans’ reproductive freedom. pic.twitter.com/XfMmT5Cw8g — Emilia Sykes (@EmiliaSykesOH) January 22, 2024
In an Ohio Christian Alliance radio interview with candidates running in the 13th Congressional district, Coughlin acknowledged Issue 1 ties policymakers’ hands. But he also argued voters didn’t understand what they were voting on.
“Obviously, you can say well, the voters have spoken,” Coughlin said, “but I really do believe that most people do not understand the extent of what has just been placed in our Constitution. I don’t think it represents a consensus of where we are as Ohioans.”
Chris Banweg, meanwhile, made a case that’s become familiar since Issue 1’s passage. Instead of just focusing on abortion, he argued, its opponents need to emphasize policies that make it easier to carry children to term.
“It’s also about our culture in America and why it costs so much to live and it’s so cheap, to deal death or to offer that option,” Banweg argued. “I think we really need to look at the economy that we have and the financial incentives we have that push so many people into that direction.”
Banweg and Coughlin are running for a seat currently held by first-term Democratic Ohio U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes. Late last month, on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision she called out Republican efforts to pass a federal abortion ban, and insisted, “I will always protect Ohioans’ reproductive freedom.”
Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/02/14/how-are-gop-candidates-campaigning-on-abortion-in-a-post-issue-1-ohio/
Published and (C) by Ohio Capital Journal
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/ohiocapitaljournal/
