Democratic down-ballot campaigns will make state reproductive health issues their cornerstone issue during this election cycle, according to a memo shared first with CQ Roll Call on Wednesday.
The decision comes after national attention to state and local races highlighting abortion has skyrocketed in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Groups poured a record $51 million into a 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race and $57 million into Michigan’s 2022 ballot initiative that established a right to reproductive freedom, including abortion.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which focuses on electing Democratic majorities to state legislatures, already committed $60 million to the 2024 cycle. But in a memo released Wednesday, the group emphasized that congressional gridlock and new circumstances materializing post-Dobbs have made the states critical to changing existing reproductive policies.
