Abortion rights advocates win landslide victory in key statewide race – By Steve Benen (MSNBC) / Aug 3, 2022
As one GOP strategist put it, “If Republicans think the issue of abortion isn’t on the minds of voters, tonight’s results should put them on notice.”
South Dakota Republicans thought they’d come up with a clever plan. With Medicaid expansion on the ballot, GOP state legislators tried to pull a fast one: They put a related issue on the ballot that would force Medicaid expansion supporters to get 60 percent of the vote to succeed, instead of a simple majority.
Making matters worse, Republicans tried to rig the process further by having voters decide the matter on a day in June when many GOP primary voters — and not many Democrats — were likely to be casting ballots.
They failed spectacularly: Health care advocates turned out in droves two months ago and rejected the Republican measure in a landslide.
As it turns out, GOP policymakers in Kansas had a very similar strategy in mind about a different health care issue. Republicans in the Sunflower State pushed a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would allow the GOP-led legislature to ban abortions. They also put the issue on the primary ballot — on a day when there were no major Democratic contests — assuming that would give opponents of abortion rights an added advantage.
