Abortion’s True Impact on Elections

A close analysis of abortion’s impact on the 2024 election demonstrates that it was far less effective for Democrats than they hoped. 

Kamala Harris ran a single-issue campaign of unrestrained abortion until birth. During one campaign rally she actually paraded ten abortionists onto the stage. Next to her passion of ending the lives of unborn babies was her seething hatred of Donald Trump.  

Political pundits and high-priced consultants counseled Harris to view abortion as Trump’s Achilles heel, particularly with women. Mr. Trump proved them wrong by gaining the support of a majority of White women and making inroads with Black and Hispanic women.  

Abortion’s impact reached well beyond the presidential race. Here’s a snapshot of how pro-life candidates fared on both the federal and state levels. 

Pro-life US Senate candidates defeated pro-abortion incumbents:  

• Montana’s outspoken pro-life candidate Tim Sheehy defeated pro-abortion Democrat Jon Tester.

• Ohio’s pro-life challenger Bernie Moreno beat incumbent Sherrod Brown, a solidly pro-abortion Democrat. 

On the other side of the coin, three US Senate candidates who embraced abortion lost: 

• Senator Bob Casey Jr., a Democrat incumbent from Pennsylvania.  

• Kari Lake, a Republican vying for an open seat in Arizona. 

• Larry Hogan, a former popular Republican governor of Maryland. 

It’s particularly satisfying to see candidates who previously advocated for the protection of America’s unborn children lose after turning their backs on defenseless babies. Two such candidates were Bob Casey, Jr. and Kari Lake. 

Pro-lifers prevailed in the US House of Representatives:

• Democrats hoped to flip a pro-life Republican seat in New York’s 17th Congressional District, but incumbent Mike Lawler defeated pro-abortion challenger Democrat Mondaire Jones.  

• The open seat in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, previously held by a Democrat went to State Senator Tom Barrett, an outspoken pro-life Republican over pro-abortion Democrat Curtis Hertel. 

• Pro-abortion pundits claim white pro-life men are an endangered species due to the mistaken

  

  assumption that the abortion issue favors pro-abortion women. In Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District pro-life Republican Ryan Mackenzie (white male) defeated pro-abortion Democrat Incumbent Susan Wild (woman), flipping this race to Republican. 

The abortion issue benefitted pro-life state candidates: 

• The South Carolina Citizens for Life Action PAC endorsed 16 pro-life candidates for the State Senate and 13 won. Their pro-life majorities grew in both the State House and Senate. 

• Minnesota experienced the beginning of a pro-life comeback. Two successful pro-life State House candidates broke the extremists’ “trifecta” – control of the House, Senate and Governor’s mansion. Until now pro-abortion extremists had total control of the state legislature, reflected in legislation legalizing abortion until birth and infanticide for babies who survive late-term abortions.    

• The West Virginians for Life PAC endorsed in 113 races and 95% of them won. And here’s a first. Voters passed Amendment 1, which “proactively protects all its citizens and health care institutions from the dangerous trend of assisted suicide by a state constitutional amendment.” 

• Oregon is a tough state to advance the pro-life cause, however, 60% of Oregon Right to Life PAC’s endorsed candidates won. These victories succeeded in ending a pro-abortion supermajority in the state legislature. 

Ten states faced pro-abortion amendments. Here’s how they fared: 

• Amendments in five states actually mirrored the legislative status quo. This was more grandstanding than achieving pro-abortion gains.  

• Pro-lifers prevailed in Florida. And Nebraska not only defeated a pro-abortion amendment, they also passed a pro-life one. 

• South Dakota gets an honorable mention for twice defeating pro-abortion amendments since the Dobbs decision. Proponents thought they had an easy target because the state protects all unborn babies from the moment of fertilization with no exceptions.  

• Two prolife states, Missouri and Arizona suffered severe losses when their amendments passed, undermining any and all pro-life laws such as parental consent and preventing late-term abortions when babies feel pain. 

Looking past biased legacy media, abortion largely proved to be a winning issue for pro-life candidates. This should encourage elected officials and future candidates to boldly stand for life. 

Defending the babies, 

 Brad Mattes,

President, Life Issues Institute