The results are in, and it is not pretty for the Republican candidates who talked in controversial ways about abortion.
Todd Akin, U.S. Senate candidate for Missouri, lost to Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill by about 15 points. McCaskill was considered one of the most vulnerable Senators running for reelection and the focus of Republican attempts to take back the Senate-- until Akin made his claim that women who are raped almost never get pregnant because their bodies shut down the ovulation and conception process. Mitt Romney won the state by almost 10 points.
Richard Mourdock, U.S. Senate candidate for Indiana, lost a close race (within 1% point) to Democratic candidate Joe Donnelly. This is a pick-up for the Democrats; the contest was for a seat left open when Republican incumbent Richard Lugar was defeated in the primary by Mourdock. Donnelly is a moderate-to-conservative Democrat who self-identifies as pro-life but voted, as a House member, for the Affordable Care Act. Mourdock is the candidate who stated that, when a women conceives as a the result of rape, God intended for the conception to occur. It is hard to know how much the backlash from this statement affected the race. Note, however, that Mitt Romney won the state by about 10.5 percentage points.
Joe Walsh, an incumbent Republican member of the House of Representatives in Illinois (8th District), lost to Democrat Tammy Duckworth by more than nine percentage points. Walsh won the seat very narrowly in 2010 and Duckworth was a candidate who was well-known and strongly backed by the state and national Democratic parties, so her win might have had nothing to do with Walsh's statements on abortion. Walsh was the candidate who denied that abortion is ever a medically necessary procedure. President Obama won the state last night. From what I can tell, the counties that make up part of the 8th District voted narrowly for Obama.
Finally, Republican House candidate John Koster lost to Democrat Suzan DelBene by more than seven percentage points in Washington State (1st District). This was supposed to be a very competitive election. Koster is the candidate who was asked about his views on abortion and referred to "that rape thing." This was an open seat. President Obama won Washington State, and it looks like the counties that make up the 1st District went to Obama by about seven percentage points, so Obama may have produced a coattails effect for DelBene.
Looking at these four races, it seems safe to conclude that the controversial comments of the four Republican candidates either a) affected the result of the race outright, or b) accelerated or sealed voter trending toward the Democratic candidate.
I'm not sure that results like these will affect the views of future pro-life candidates, but the results are likely to affect how they frame those views and the language that they use in explaining them.
Todd Akin, U.S. Senate candidate for Missouri, lost to Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill by about 15 points. McCaskill was considered one of the most vulnerable Senators running for reelection and the focus of Republican attempts to take back the Senate-- until Akin made his claim that women who are raped almost never get pregnant because their bodies shut down the ovulation and conception process. Mitt Romney won the state by almost 10 points.
Richard Mourdock, U.S. Senate candidate for Indiana, lost a close race (within 1% point) to Democratic candidate Joe Donnelly. This is a pick-up for the Democrats; the contest was for a seat left open when Republican incumbent Richard Lugar was defeated in the primary by Mourdock. Donnelly is a moderate-to-conservative Democrat who self-identifies as pro-life but voted, as a House member, for the Affordable Care Act. Mourdock is the candidate who stated that, when a women conceives as a the result of rape, God intended for the conception to occur. It is hard to know how much the backlash from this statement affected the race. Note, however, that Mitt Romney won the state by about 10.5 percentage points.
Joe Walsh, an incumbent Republican member of the House of Representatives in Illinois (8th District), lost to Democrat Tammy Duckworth by more than nine percentage points. Walsh won the seat very narrowly in 2010 and Duckworth was a candidate who was well-known and strongly backed by the state and national Democratic parties, so her win might have had nothing to do with Walsh's statements on abortion. Walsh was the candidate who denied that abortion is ever a medically necessary procedure. President Obama won the state last night. From what I can tell, the counties that make up part of the 8th District voted narrowly for Obama.
Finally, Republican House candidate John Koster lost to Democrat Suzan DelBene by more than seven percentage points in Washington State (1st District). This was supposed to be a very competitive election. Koster is the candidate who was asked about his views on abortion and referred to "that rape thing." This was an open seat. President Obama won Washington State, and it looks like the counties that make up the 1st District went to Obama by about seven percentage points, so Obama may have produced a coattails effect for DelBene.
Looking at these four races, it seems safe to conclude that the controversial comments of the four Republican candidates either a) affected the result of the race outright, or b) accelerated or sealed voter trending toward the Democratic candidate.
I'm not sure that results like these will affect the views of future pro-life candidates, but the results are likely to affect how they frame those views and the language that they use in explaining them.
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