While other Democrats second-guessed their abortion-focused message in the waning days of the midterms, Catherine Cortez Masto bet big on it and won. Whether that vindication energizes her party on the issue is another matter.
The Nevada senator’s victory over Adam Laxalt handed her party another critical two years in the majority, of course. And Democrats see it as proof that it was a winning strategy to turn the reversal ofinto a campaign-defining theme, seeking to paint Republicans as extreme while the GOP focused on inflation and crime.
Cortez Masto sees victory on abortion access differently, though, describing herself and the majority she preserved as a firewall against further GOP attempts to chip away at abortion access: “By re-electing me, we’ve just now created a backstop in the Senate from the Republicans trying to put a federal abortion ban ... on the floor of the Senate,” she said in an interview.
In interviews, Democratic senators suggested their focus looking ahead would be on blocking bills like Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposed 15-week abortion ban, which openly split the GOPSen. Tina Smith said that the “first and foremost job” for Democrats is “to stop any effort to put a national ban in place,” while the second is to “look for all the ways that we can continue to protect access to abortion care,” citing medication abortion.
“That thing is so horrible, I don’t want to see it any place except in the bottom of the trash barrel,” she said.reversal proved to be perhaps the biggest wild card in the midterm elections, injecting an unpredictable dynamic into a national midterm environment that typically penalizes the party in power. According to the National Election Pool exit polls, conducted by Edison Research in key swing states, voters often ranked abortion below inflation.
The GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, which is closely aligned with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, found in its internal polling in Senate races that the court decision moved Democratic voters’ enthusiasm to the same level or above GOP enthusiasm. That same polling also showed that swing voters saw economic issues as a higher priority.
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Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto Projected to Win Crucial Nevada Senate Race for DemsDemocrats are projected to hold the Senate with Cortez Masto defeating Republican election-denier Adam Laxalt. (via 19thnews)
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Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto Holds On to Nevada U.S. Senate SeatDemocrats will keep control of the Senate due to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-NV) narrow election victory against Republican Adam Laxalt.
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Opinion | Catherine Cortez Masto remains a model for purple-state DemocratsICYMI: Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto wins re-election in Nevada, NBC News projects.
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How Catherine Cortez Masto clinched the Nevada seat — and the SenateShe leaned into abortion, pushed back against GOP messaging on crime and drove up her numbers among Latinos, all in the face of political headwinds.
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Cortez Masto wins in Nevada, giving Democrats Senate controlDemocratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto won election to a second term representing Nevada...
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Democrats Secure Senate Control as Cortez Masto Defeats Laxalt in NevadaDemocratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto will hold onto her seat in Nevada after defeating Republican Adam Laxalt to clinch the party’s control of the chamber for the next two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, NBC News projects.
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