Opinion: Suddenly a glimmer of hope for Democrats
CNNEditor’s Note: Charlie Dent is a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who served as chair of the House Ethics Committee from 2015 until 2017 and chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies from 2015 until 2018. CNN — The mixed messages in Tuesday’s primary election results in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington reveal a Democratic electorate fueled by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and a Republican electorate that is, in many cases, still firmly in the grips of former President Donald Trump. In Washington state, pragmatic GOP Reps. Jamie Herrera Buetler and Dan Newhouse, who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 appear to have advanced to the general election, narrowly defeating Trump-backed challengers. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, believing Gibbs would make for a less appealing candidate in the general election, ran more than $300,000 worth of ads touting his conservatism and fidelity to Trump. Coupled with Trump’s stolen election obsession, mass shootings and a growing number of extreme GOP candidates in competitive races, the unpopularity of the Roe decision may mitigate Democratic losses in November, despite vulnerabilities on a number of other fronts.