Abortion will be ‘defining issue’ in 2024 presidential election: Jim Messina
Obama-Biden 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina reacts to the midterm election and the issues that affected independent voters
Democrats who focused on abortion for months ahead of the midterm elections failed to unseat one of the most pro-life governors in the country. However, in the Georgia Senate runoff, the issue is still seen as a deciding factor.
The party spent over $320 million campaigning on abortion this election cycle, pouring more into the issue than inflation and crime, but after pro-life Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp won his re-election in the Peach State, it is unclear what role the "winning issue" will play in the Georgia Senate runoff between Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP candidate Herschel Walker on Dec. 6.
A Fox News poll from late October, conducted before the election, found that at 38%, inflation was the top issue to Georgians — an increase from 28% in July. Among inflation voters, Walker was ahead by 43 points. Abortion was the most important issue to 18% of voters and election integrity was on the top of the minds to 12%, with Warnock leading both groups by at least 40 points. Despite Warnock having an edge when it comes to Georgians who are voting on abortion, voters in the state re-elected a GOP, pro-life governor.
"The human right to life is a winning political issue when voters have access to the truth, and the pro-life message speaks louder than the lies of the abortion industry," Lila Rose, president of Live Action, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. "On Election Day, strong pro-life candidates including Governor Greg Abbot of Texas, who has presided over a legal end to almost all abortion in Texas, and Governor Brian Kemp in Georgia, who signed the popular Heartbeat Bill, were resoundingly re-elected."
GEORGIA JUDGE BLOCKS STATE'S LAW OUTLAWING MOST ABORTIONS AFTER SIX WEEKS
Rose, a prominent pro-life activist, proposed that the candidate who stands with the "truth that human life begins at fertilization" will ultimately prevail.
The Senate runoff between Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker will take place on Dec. 6. (Fox News)
"The abortion industry and its allies failed to achieve a clear victory, even after spending over $400 million dollars telling lies about how abortion at any time, for any reason, and subsidized by taxpayers is a worthwhile policy. Life is a winning issue when candidates stand firmly and boldly on the truth that human life begins at fertilization and abortion is the cruel and violent killing of an innocent child."
Planned Parenthood Votes Georgia, on the other hand, firmly believes that the issue of abortion shaped the 2022 midterm elections and ultimately aided pro-choice candidates in getting elected.
"Abortion undeniably redefined the midterms and motivated people to the ballot box like never before, defying history and punditry to further prove that reproductive freedom is a winning issue in Georgia and beyond," Amy Kennedy, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes in Georgia, told Fox News Digital.
Kennedy noted that various polls ranked abortion as a top voter priority and that Georgia gaining 500,000 new registered voters, with about 4 million total ballots cast, was a result of the abortion debate driving more voters to the polls.
"Planned Parenthood Votes has worked around the clock to elect these abortion rights champions in Georgia, and we will carry that momentum forward through the Dec. 6 runoff to ensure that abortion remains top-of-mind for voters and that Georgians return Sen. Raphael Warnock to Washington," Kennedy said.
Live Action President Lila Rose believes that "the pro-life message speaks louder than the lies of the abortion industry." (Live Action)
Walker, the Republican nominee seeking to oust Warnock, revealed in a debate that he supports the Georgia legislature’s ban on abortion after six weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Walker was recently accused of paying for an ex-girlfriend's abortion, but affirms that the unproven claims are false and simply an attack on his campaign.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, the self-labeled "pro-choice" pastor," was vocal about his pro-abortion stance throughout the cycle, but did not specify what, if any, limitations he supported.
"The women of Georgia woke up one summer morning to discover that a constitutional right that they had enjoyed for half a century had been taken away from them in one fell swoop," said Meredith Brasher, Warnock for Georgia Communications Director, on what role abortion will play in the upcoming runoff. "Georgians want a Senator who will stand up for women’s fundamental rights. Herschel Walker wants a national ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother – a position that is out of step with where most Georgians are, Democrat or Republican."
A Georgia News Collaborator poll surveyed Georgia voters before the election about where they stand on their state's laws on abortion. About 62% of Georgians either somewhat or strongly oppose the state's law, passed in 2019, that restricts abortions once cardiac activity can be detected by an ultrasound, which usually lands around the sixth week of pregnancy, while 32.3% either somewhat or strongly support the law. The poll was conducted from September to Oct. 4, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Though a majority of voters may disagree with Georgia's pro-life Heartbeat BIll — which restricts abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected and was recently blocked by a federal judge — it did not stop Governor Kemp, a strong proponent bill's, from winning his statewide race in November.
Abortion was a leading issue of the 2022 midterm elections. (Alex Wong)
Despite Democratic candidates placing heavy focus on their pro-abortion positions ahead of the midterms, pro-life Kemp was re-elected as governor of the Peach State with more than 53% of the vote, while his Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams, who went all in for abortion and supported little to no limitations, was defeated. Abrams' loss came under fire just weeks after comments she made before the election, claiming abortion will help alleviate inflation and that it is "fallacy we know exactly when a pregnancy starts."
"Brian Kemp was re-elected as Governor in Georgia by a landslide after signing the Heartbeat Bill, in part because of strong support from evangelical and pro-life voters, and Kemp is fully engaged in campaigning for Herschel Walker in the Senate runoff on December 6," Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of Faith & Freedom Coalition, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Raphael Warnock voted to reimpose Roe v Wade on all 50 states by codifying it into federal law, which would repeal all common sense restrictions on abortion, including late-term abortion bans and heartbeat laws."
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Reed concluded that Walker encompasses the values of the average Georgia voter and that his pro-life position may benefit him in the December runoff. "Warnock’s extremism on this issue and Kemp and Walker’s support for Georgia values will boost Herschel in the runoff election."
Fox News' Victoria Balara contributed to this report.
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