On Tuesday, November 7th, 2023, voters in four states: Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio, came to the polls to vote on both ballot measures, governorships, and state legislatures. The results of said elections are sure to affect the 2024 election cycle as well as national politics as a whole.
In Virginia, Democrats won both houses of the State Legislature, taking back the state assembly which they had previously lost two years prior in 2021. The win for Democrats came largely amid backlash to Republican Governor Glen Youngkin who sought to limit the right to abortion in the state to only the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. Youngkin, who was elected in part because of initial backlash to Joe Biden in 2021, has been touted as a GOP success story for his ability to win in a state Joe Biden won by over 10%. However, such backlash challenges this notion, and with both chambers of the state house controlled by democrats, Youngkin will likely be unable to further his more conservative policies.
Similarly, in Ohio, voters approved a ballot measure that granted women in the state a constitutional right to an abortion. The decision follows Ohio voters' rejection of a bill that would’ve greatly restricted abortion access in the state just last year. Both of these have greatly rebuked the state GOP which has continued to push abortion restrictions.
Elections in both of these States follow the post-Roe trend of abortion being a winning issue for Democrats. Many credit last year's midterm overperformances and key governorship wins as responses to the fear that abortion rights would be overturned.
Ohio also approved the legalization of marijuana moving the total number of States who have legalized the substance to 24, nearly half of all states in the union. This comes as polls indicate that the vast majority of Americans are in favor of legalization.
In Kentucky, Democratic Governor Andy Brashear was re-elected, defeating Trump-endorsed Attorney General Daniel Cameron. The results are especially interesting in a state like Kentucky where Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden by almost 26%.
In Mississippi, the results were similar. While incumbent Republican Tate Reeves was able to win re-election, he won by only 4.5%, in a state won by President Trump in 2020 by double digits. Indicating a large overperformance for non-Joe Biden democrats.
Overall, these elections indicate strong support for democratic policies (see abortion rights and marijuana legalization) nationwide, as judged by performances for the democrats going back to last year's midterms. Even as Joe Biden's approval rating is dipping to a low 39% and as former president Donald Trump seems to be beating Biden in several key polls. All this goes to indicate that the problem is not Democrats in the eyes of Americans, but perhaps Joe Biden himself. In any case, the results of this election are sure to play a role in the way our nation's politics are conducted going into the future.
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