With that backdrop, Kelly’s reelection race this year could be pivotal to the GOP’s hopes of winning a majority in the U.S. Republican legislative majorities have dwindled to the bare minimum. House seats and two of the top five state offices. Democrats control a majority of the state’s U.S. Democrats Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly were elected to the Senate in 20, respectively, and President Joe Biden became only the second Democrat since Harry Truman to win the state’s electoral votes. “I think what you’re doing is giving the other side, who doesn’t have much of a reason to turn out, a reason to now come out and vote in these midterm elections.”ĭemocrats have grown increasingly successful in Arizona since Donald Trump’s election as president in 2016. However, the base is already fired up,” Noble said. “Those are clearly issues to really get the base fired up. That doesn’t surprise Mike Noble, a former Republican political consultant who now does nonpartisan polling in the Southwest from his base in Phoenix. Few GOP lawmakers explained their support during sometimes emotional debates in the House. The measures have been popular with the conservative base in states where Republicans dominate but could be politically risky in a battleground state where Democrats have made significant inroads.Īrizona Republicans have not aggressively promoted the bills as they’ve moved through the Legislature. GOP lawmakers thrust Arizona into the national culture wars Thursday when they passed three bills in party-line votes banning abortion after 15 weeks, prohibiting transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams and restricting gender-affirming health care for minors. READ MORE: Arizona’s privatized prison health care has been failing for years. “It’s just become this political wedge issue that our legislators use to get more votes, and it’s not fair,” said Andi Young, the parent of a transgender teenager and co-chair of the board of directors for GLSEN Phoenix, an advocacy group promoting inclusive education. That hasn’t changed even as Republican dominance has waned over the past five years, a fact made plain this week when GOP lawmakers passed strict measures targeting abortion and the rights of transgender young people. The Youngkin campaign put more than $1 million behind the ad.PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona has long been fertile ground for a social conservative agenda, with some of the nation’s toughest laws against abortion and a history of restricting LGBTQ rights. ![]() Though McAuliffe’s quote did not originate in the current tussle over schools, it quickly resonated. Schools have quickly climbed to the forefront of national political scraps, with right-wing media seizing on a crusade against school mask mandates and critical race theory, and major conservative pundits pushing for Republicans to focus on school board races. Other national dividing lines, such as voting rights, police reform and public health, play central roles in the McAuliffe campaign’s effort to paint Youngkin with the patina of a Trump Republican more than 75 percent of McAuliffe’s ads include an attack on or contrast drawn with his opponent.įor the Youngkin campaign, one ad is dominating the rotation: a clip from a debate in September where McAuliffe stated, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” The comment followed an argument between the two candidates over a veto McAuliffe signed as governor in 2017 of legislation that had allowed parents to opt out of allowing their children to study material deemed sexually explicit. “Caught on video admitting his far-right agenda.” “Glenn Youngkin has been caught,” a female narrative voice whispers as news reports of the video fill the screen. ![]() The McAuliffe campaign portrayed Youngkin as beholden to the conservative fringe of the Republican Party. The campaign has put the most money behind a 60-second ad that seizes on a hidden-camera video recorded by a liberal activist that showed Youngkin openly worrying about losing “independent votes” over the issue, but promising to go “on offense” to restrict access to abortion if Republicans also take the statehouse. More than 60 percent of the spending has been on ads that have at least some negative comparisons or attacks, according to AdImpact.įour of the five most expensive ads for the McAuliffe campaign have been negative, with a particular focus on abortion, an issue that rocketed to the forefront of national politics after Texas passed a new law that bans almost all abortions. Outside groups and super PACs have largely stayed on the sidelines. The two candidates have combined to spend more than $36 million on broadcast television ads at just over $18 million each, according to AdImpact, an ad tracking firm. In an expensive race with in-person campaigning still limited by the pandemic, the national issues being debated over the airwaves have set the tone.
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