Reproductive Rights Victories
As promised, we are writing with an update on the 2024 election results for Project 50’s target races and the broader reproductive rights movement.
The 2024 general election was painful. Electing Donald Trump to another four years in the White House will further divide the country and cause real danger for many. We want to acknowledge this awful reality before offering initial thoughts about abortion rights and access coming out of yesterday’s election.
Perhaps the best news from yesterday is Missouri’s victorious Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative which amends the state constitution to recognize the right to abortion healthcare until fetal viability. As of this morning, it is winning by roughly 100,000 votes.
The Missouri initiative is one of seven abortion-focused state ballot measures that passed yesterday, many by 60% or more. The Missouri effort is especially significant because it is the only 2024 abortion ballot initiative that nullifies a complete abortion ban.
A close second-place contender for the best news: Arizona for Abortion Access won with almost 62% of the vote. Like Missouri’s effort, Arizona’s initiative amends the state constitution to protect access to abortion healthcare until viability, overriding the state’s current 15-week ban.
A cautionary note, however: given the loss of an abortion ballot measure in South Dakota, and the failure of the Florida ballot measure to overcome a 60% state-mandated threshold, we want to acknowledge that even in states where ballot initiatives are possible, it's far from a guarantee that they'll be successful. These mixed results reinforce the importance of building political power for abortion rights at the state level, which of course is Project 50’s focus.
Among the state legislative races on which Project 50 was focused, and in which we invested $320,000 in voter messaging, there are bright spots in Arkansas, Oklahoma and South Carolina
In Arkansas, Diana Gonzales Worthen is winning her campaign to unseat the anti-choice incumbent in House District 9 by 9.7%! When Ms. Gonzales Worthen takes office, she will be Arkansas’ first Latina state legislator. Demonstrating the benefit of persistence, this is her third run for the legislature and first win.
In Oklahoma, State Representative Melissa Provenzano won re-election, fending off an avidly anti-choice challenger by 9.1%, achieving the largest margin since she was first elected in 2018.
In South Carolina’s 35th State Senate District, Project 50 backed abortion rights supporter Jeff Graham who was seeking an open seat. He is currently ahead by 4.3%. Our effort to support the re-election of pro-choice Mike Fanning in State Senate District 17 is currently too close to call. Only 32 votes separate Senator Fanning from his abortion-opposing challenger.
Arkansas, which voted for former President Trump by 31%, turned out to be one of the night’s heartbreakers. As of this writing, Representative-elect Gonzales Worthen is the only victor among the seven challengers we supported in collaboration with our colleagues at Progressive Arkansas Women PAC. With loss margins of as little as 2%, we believe more of these outstanding leaders would have won in a less hostile election year.
Representative-elect Gonzales Worthen, Representative Provenzano and Senator-elect Jeff Graham are going to be inspirational reproductive rights leaders in Arkansas, Oklahoma and South Carolina, respectively. Project 50 salutes their victories.
The likely loss of pro-choice majorities in both chambers of the U. S. Congress reinforces the perennial importance of Project 50's mission to work for abortion rights in politically hostile states. Let us not forget: the candidates backed four decades ago by America’s first pro-choice PAC - Personal PAC - sometimes lost elections. But Personal PAC stayed resolved in its mission, just as Project 50 and our partners will.
We stand confident in our work in states where there is little or no communication around candidates’ positions on reproductive rights and where access to abortion healthcare is extremely limited or non-existent.
We will reach out again when we have better analyzed these results and have a clear picture of the road ahead. To receive a full briefing on 2024 election results for critical races & ballot initiatives for reproductive rights, we encourage you to join our virtual Second Tuesdays Program on November 12th at 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT.
You can register for the online event HERE.
In the meantime, thank you so much for your support and collaboration. When the state legislatures in Arkansas, Oklahoma and South Carolina re-convene, there will be new, battle-tested pro-choice advocates leading the fight for reproductive rights because of you.
Thank you.
The Project 50 Team
Paid for by Project 50 (project50.net) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.