- Title: ANALYSIS-Abortion, Trump dash Republican hopes for 'red wave
- Date: 9th November 2022
- Summary: DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 8, 2022) (REUTERS) SIGNS OUTSIDE POLLING LOCATION WARREN, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 8, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VOTERS CASTING BALLOTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIKE PRZYBRANOWSKI, 67, MICHIGAN VOTER, SAYING: "The democrats are spending out of control, Congress is spending out of control. That needs to come back in line." DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 8, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VOTERS CASTING BALLOTS PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 8, 2022) (Reuters) (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARYN BARTOSIC, 22, WORKS AT CLIMBING GYM AND AT PATAGONIA, SAYING: "Yeah, I think there are a lot of big things happening in the world at all times. But currently, surely as a woman protecting reproductive rights in all forms in the state and federally is the most important thing that's been driving me and a lot of my friends and I think has really pushed a lot of us to get friends who maybe wouldn't have voted or get people to kind of look into who they're voting for, why they're voting for them, and really protecting our basic human rights." U.S. FLAG WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 9, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. NADIA BROWN, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "There are people who have lived their entire adult lives, people that have grown up with reproductive rights, and they can't imagine their daughters and granddaughters living in a world without this right. And so I think it was just this culture shift that Republicans didn't have their pulse on the majority of what Americans wanted. " MANHATTAN, KANSAS UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 9, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATHANIEL BIRKHEAD, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "I think you can't overstate the impact of abortion. I think that's the first thing for the Democrats, is that voters the voters really are animated by those issues, that they deeply feel. Like inflation is something that people understand and is real. But I think that something is as fundamental as abortion is something that the Democrats need to take heed of and really move forward with." WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 9, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NAVIN NAYAK, COUNSELOR AT THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS, SAYING "But nothing has been more of a sea change than stripping away the fundamental right of letting women control their own bodies. And I think really chrystalized for millions of voters, women in particular, that there is a real threat of putting people in charge. Look what they did when they weren't in power. And I think the fact that putting them in power and the threat of a national van, I think was pretty terrifying to a lot of Americans." CINCINNATI, OHIO, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 8, 2022) (Reuters) PEOPLE VOTING HUNTINGDON VALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 8, 2022) (REUTERS) REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE FOR PENNSYLVANIA, DR. MEHMET OZ EXITING POLLING STATION AFTER CASTING HIS BALLOT (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE FOR PENNSYLVANIA, DR. MEHMET OZ, SAYING: "Well, I'm very proud of how we ran this campaign. Pennsylvania sent a very clear message to Washington. We want less radicalism and more balance." WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 9, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. NADIA BROWN, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "If it's a referendum on the Democratic Party, that's one thing. But if it's a choice between who's going to represent me in Congress and I have someone who seems incompetent, someone who seems corrupt, someone who seems immoral, someone who doesn't seem to have the pulse of my community or understand my issues or needs. I'm not going to vote for that person. Right. And I think voters were making some calculated choices." MANHATTAN, KANSAS UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 9, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) NATHANIEL BIRKHEAD, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "Yeah, I think that for the Republicans, I think it was really down to candidate quality. If we look at people like Herschel Walker, or Dr. Oz, these were people who are not serious candidates. And and voters noticed that and were punishing them for it. "
- Embargoed: 23rd November 2022 19:32
- Keywords: Biden House Senate Trump abortion battle for control democrats midterm republicans
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: Government/Politics,United States,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001825909112022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Republicans made modest gains in U.S. midterm elections but Democrats performed better than expected, as control of the Senate hinged on three races that remained too close to call on Wednesday (November 9), by when any wave had flattened out into a ripple.
Republicans were confident that Democratic President Joe Biden's unpopularity and Americans' angst over rising food and gas prices would help them take the majority from Democrats in both houses.
Exit polling and interviews with analysts and voters showed that while inflation was a leading driver for voters, the issue of protecting abortion rights was nearly as paramount.
"But nothing has been more of a sea change than stripping away the fundamental right of letting women control their own bodies. And I think the fact that putting them (Republicans) in power and the threat of a national van, I think was pretty terrifying to a lot of Americans," Navin Nayak, Counselor at The Center for American Progress told Reuters.
That surprised Democratic Party strategists and pollsters, who had expected inflation would trump everything, including concerns about the loss of abortion rights. They had urged the party to spend more time focusing on inflation.
The results appeared to show voters punishing Biden for presiding over an economy hit by steep inflation, while also lashing out against Republican efforts to ban abortion.
Poor performances by some candidates backed by Donald Trump -- including former football star Herschel Walker in Georgia -- indicated exhaustion with the kind of chaos fomented by the former Republican president, raising questions about the viability of his possible run for the White House in 2024.
Florida could be a battleground in any nominating contest because its Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, is viewed by strategists as a formidable contender for the Republican nomination, should he throw his hat in the ring.
That has made DeSantis a target for former President Donald Trump, who called the governor "Ron DeSanctimonious" while stumping for Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz.
"Oh, my goodness. This seems like a soap opera. And if our country's democracy wasn't at stake. I would be watching this popcorn," Nathaniel Birkhead, Political Science Professor at Kansas State University said.
Only 26 of the 53 most competitive races, based on a Reuters analysis of the leading nonpartisan forecasters, had been decided as of Wednesday morning, raising the prospect that the final outcome may not be known for some time. Democrats won 20 of those 26 contests.
(Production: Deborah Lutterbeck. Video Kevin Fogarty) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None