Voters supported abortion rights in seven of the 10 states where the issue was on the ballot Tuesday, providing a vibrant example of the issue’s political importance more than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Roe v . Calf.
The results in solid blue Colorado, Maryland and New York were no surprise. But supporters of abortion rights also triumphed in Missouri and Montana – both states that former President Donald Trump won clearly. And they won in Arizona and Nevadahighly contested swing states.
Voters rejected an abortion rights measure in South Dakota, but major reproductive rights groups did not support the proposal, saying it was too tender. In Nebraska, voters approved a ban on abortion beyond the first three months of pregnancy, repealing a conflicting measure that would have allowed abortion until the fetus is viable.
Meanwhile, in Florida, an abortion rights amendment received about 57% of the vote but fell low of the 60% supermajority needed for passage.
“You have to look at the numbers that say 57% of Floridians voted to restore abortion rights,” said Kelly Hall, executive director of the nonprofit Fairness Project, which supports abortion rights measures in Florida and four other states. “In any other state, in any other context, that would be considered a victory.”
She noted that supporters won a immense majority despite powerful opposition from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who committed state funding to fight the measure. Hall vowed that “this conversation about abortion in Florida is far from over.”
The country’s abortion rights measures attracted widespread attention, but voters in 41 states considered a total of 146 ballot initiatives on TuesdayThis covered marijuana, minimum wage, crime, universal basic income, school vouchers, rent control, redistribution, greenhouse gas emissions and a host of other issues.
Additionally, 11 states had gubernatorial races and in 44 statesVoters elected state legislators to 87 of the state’s 99 legislative chambers.
Before the election, there were 40 states in which one party controlled the governor’s office and both houses of the legislature, a so-called trifecta. This resulted in 10 states having divided government – the fewest since 1952said the National Conference of State Legislatures, a nationwide nonprofit research organization serving state legislatures that began tracking the number in 1938.
Divided control forces lawmakers to act across the aisle, whereas full control by one party can empower its most extreme members, political scientists say.
It’s too early to tell what the final party split will be in state legislative chambers. But in the days before the election political observers estimated that Democrats had a chance to take control of one or both legislative chambers in Alaska, Arizona, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. In Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, Republicans were close to switching chambers.
In addition, the Democrats hoped for dismantling Republican supermajorities in Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina, which have allowed the GOP to override the vetoes of Democratic governors in those states. But in Kansas and Kentucky the Republicans retained their veto-proof margins, while in North Carolina the result is still unclear.
As of Tuesday evening, abortion rights measures had had a perfect track record since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2022 that there was no right to abortion in the federal Constitution. In the 2022 midterm elections, voters in six states — including conservative Kansas, Kentucky and Montana — supported abortion rights when presented with ballot questions about abortion.
The measure, which Montana voters rejected in 2022, could have punished health care providers who did not offer life-saving care to all infants born prematurely or after an abortion attempt. The proposal approved by voters on Tuesday would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.
This year saw the most controversial abortion battle in Florida. GOP officials used a state website to discourage support for the amendment, and state police showed up in the houses of the people who signed the ballot measure petition to confirm that they actually signed it.
DeSantis, who signed a ban last year State police investigated possible fraud in most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Abortion rights advocates described the visits as intimidation.
Makenzie Wilfert, 19, described the election as “nerve-wracking” after she cast the first vote of her life in Oakland, Florida, on Tuesday. Wilfert said abortion rights are a substantial issue for her.
“It’s a very big issue that affects a lot of women, and it’s about more than just getting pregnant and wanting an abortion,” she said. “This affects women who want to become pregnant, but the baby is unhealthy, has a negative impact on their health and leads to complications.”
A measure in Florida that would have legalized recreational marijuana also received a majority but fell low of the 60% threshold needed for passage.
Voters in two other states also considered recreational marijuana measures. North Dakota was on track to reject recreational weed for the third time. South Dakota also appeared poised to reject a legalization proposal. South Dakota voted to legalize in 2020, but that change was rejected by the courts. A second attempt failed in 2022.
In California, the voters considered 10 voting questions. Among other things, they approved a measure establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage; led to longer prison sentences for some drug and property crimes; and were on track to authorize the state to borrow billions to mitigate the threat of climate change.
California’s Proposition 33 – a proposed repeal of the state’s restrictions on local rent control – attracted national attention. Caps on rent increases relieve tenants, but say many economists Rent control measures exacerbate the shortage of affordable housing by inflating housing construction Rents for non-controlled unitsThis reduces the incentive for landlords to retain housing units and discourages the creation of recent rental housing. Californians rejected the measure, disappointing affordable housing advocates who hoped other states would follow California’s lead.
Three states – Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska – had questions about school choice on the ballot. Voters were asked to decide whether public money should be used to support private education. Proponents say the strategy gives parents more control over their children’s education; Critics say it costs money from established public schools. Voters in Kentucky and Nebraska voted against the proposals, and the same outcome appeared likely in Colorado.
In Oregon, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to do so Increase in the minimum tax for immense companies and pass the proceeds on to all residents. Interest in basic income or unconditional income programs, in which the government provides money directly to people, has increased in recent years. But critics said the Oregon proposal was poorly designed and would discourage other states from starting their own programs.
And in Washington state, voters protected the state’s interests Cap and Trade Programwhich forces polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions and invests the proceeds in pristine energy and electrification projects.
“This is nothing short of the most consequential climate vote in the country this year,” former state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, the Democrat who authored the program, told Stateline. “There is no question that other states will be extremely cautious if the initiative is adopted.”
The repeal effort was funded by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, who blamed the program for high gas prices and energy costs. Climate advocates say global economic factors are playing a much larger role in the price of gas, as evidenced by the fact that gas prices in Washington have now fallen below where they were when the cap-and-trade program was launched.
Washington’s program is expected to “connect” with carbon markets in California and Quebec. Proponents of the program expect the expansion to stabilize prices and make it easier for more states to join the coalition. California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Seattle last month to urge Washingtonians to keep the program.
Leaders in New York, which is in the process of setting up its own cap-and-trade program, said they would closely monitor the vote in Washington.
Stateline staff writers Alex Brown and Nada Hassanein contributed to this report.
