Part of the Democrats’ strategy to regain control of the House in 2024 is to rail against Republicans from blue states, like New York, who have supported pro-life laws, Politico reported on Monday.
“The party lost seven battleground congressional seats in the Empire State, four of which were flipped from blue to red in 2022 — in addition to a handful of others in strongly blue California, New Jersey and Oregon. While advocates for abortion rights organized around specific constitutional or legislative abortion bans in swing states in 2022, many expect the priority of the issue to become more widespread next cycle,” according to the report.
The House Majority PAC, a House-specific Democrat political action committee (PAC), is planning to put forward $45 million to compete in New York next cycle. The president of the group, Mike Smith, claimed that “the path to a Democratic House Majority runs through New York,” according to the report.
Democrats will focus on House Republicans’ efforts to pass more pro-life laws following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. One such example is a Republican-led bill that would make it a felony to neglect care for an infant who survives an attempted abortion.
“The newly elected Republicans from New York — Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, George Santos, Nick LaLota, and Brandon Williams — all voted in favor of the first bill, which passed the House,” according to the report. “These members are all targets of the Democratic congressional campaigns spending group, House Majority PAC. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, chaired by Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), has not yet released its target list.”
Democrats are also waiting to see if a federal judge will block the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion pill in a lawsuit out of Texas. Such a ruling could take mifepristone — the first drug used in a two-drug abortion regimen — off of the market. While the decision is still pending, “such a move would bring the issue to the fore for many voters, even in states with strong protections for abortion,” according to the report.
Democrats are additionally carrying over the 2022 election cycle tactic of insisting that Republicans are looking to pass a national abortion ban.
“Advocates and Democratic lawmakers believe even the threat of a national ban will activate voters in New York in the same way the initial Dobbs decision did for voters in purple and red states, from Michigan to Kansas, in the midterms,” the report states.
Republican congressional candidates in blue states will also be running alongside whoever becomes the GOP presidential nominee, and the current and potential contenders — like former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — have all supported pro-life legislation.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told the outlet that those congressional candidates will “presumably support [the nominee]” and show “that they are objectively anti-choice,” which will “obviously come back to bite them.”