Opinion: A huge night for Democrats
CNNEditor’s note: Kate Bedingfield served as White House Communications Director in the Biden administration, and was the deputy campaign manager on Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. In Ohio, a state Donald Trump won by 8 points in 2020, voters overwhelmingly supported Issue 1, a ballot measure enshrining abortion rights in the state’s constitution. In addition to telling us that voters resoundingly reject Republican efforts to take this choice away from women across the country, it also tells us that while voters’ pessimism about the economy is absolutely salient and will be a factor in President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, it isn’t the only issue motivating voters. Those polls also showed, however, that Trump — who is likely Biden’s main election opponent in the 2024 contest — is enormously unpopular with general election voters. Kentucky’s Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron made Trump’s endorsement a key part of his closing message in the week before Election Day, and Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear won re-election in a state that voted for Trump over Biden in the last presidential election by a margin of 26 percentage points.