Important lessons from the elections of 2023: Democrats are stronger than Biden

 Important lessons from the elections of 2023: Democrats are stronger than Biden

Tuesday night's Democratic victories in several close races underscored the tone that the country is in on contentious issues like abortion in the lead-up to next year.

Democrats feeling apprehensive about President Joe Biden's ability to lead his party to victory in the fall presidential election have found some solace in Tuesday's off-year elections.

Important elections were won by Democrats in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, where the governor defeated a rival supported by former President Donald Trump and won by a larger margin than in his first attempt at reelection. These states are thought to be indicators for the 2024 election.

Tuesday's elections tested a number of contentious national issues, such as abortion rights, criminal justice, election management, and yes, even the effects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A few conclusions from Tuesday:

In important races, abortion helps Democrats.

A coalition of pro-abortion rights voters has boosted Democrats in elections at all levels and won a plethora of abortion-related ballot initiatives in both red and blue states since the Supreme Court overturned the historic Roe v. Wade decision last year and eliminated federal abortion protections.

Tuesday saw no halt to that trend.

Voters in Ohio approved a ballot initiative that made abortion rights a part of the state constitution. Following Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin's campaign vow to impose new restrictions on abortion should the GOP retake the state Senate, Democrats in Virginia were able to regain control of the legislature. A Democratic state candidate for the Supreme Court in Pennsylvania was able to build on Biden's margin of victory from 2020 to win a contest where abortion

A ballot initiative that guaranteed abortion rights in Ohio's constitution was approved by the state's electorate. Democratic leadership of the Virginia Legislature was regained after Republican governor Glenn Youngkin ran on a platform promising further restrictions on abortion if the GOP retakes the state Senate. In Pennsylvania, a Democratic candidate for the state Supreme Court was able to build on Biden's 2020 victory margin to win a contest heavily centered around abortion rights.

Evidently, the public still finds the matter important, and as the 2024 election draws near, it is one of their top concerns.

Biden can exhale following unimpressive polling

The president himself was among the first Democratic leaders to celebrate their win on Tuesday.

"Across the country tonight, democracy won and MAGA lost," Biden posted on Twitter. "Electors cast ballots. Surveys don't. Let's go win this year and the next."

The tweet came after a poll released over the weekend by the New York Times and Siena College that alarmed Democrats. He was in the lead in just one swing state, Wisconsin, but trailed Trump by significant margins in five other swing states, including Nevada and Michigan, where he was expected to lose.

Though nearly all of Tuesday's elections took place at the local and state levels, Biden needed some positive news to highlight. And that's precisely what the wins delivered.

Youngkin's night was terrible

The governor of Virginia has been mentioned as a possible late entrant in the presidential contest for months. Donors have seen Youngkin, whose 2021 victory shocked the party and provided hope about a way forward in a post-Trump environment, as a competitive alternative to Trump since his rivals were unable to challenge him in the GOP primary.

But as filing deadlines drew closer, it seemed unlikely that Youngkin would enter the race late. Instead, his party's performance in Virginia on Tuesday night quickly became entwined with his national future.

It was not successful.

In order to help him implement a broad Republican agenda, Youngkin spearheaded months-long efforts to help Republicans win a trifecta at the state level and flip the state Senate.

Rather, the Republicans did not only lose the state Senate but also the state House.

Tuesday represents a major setback, even though Youngkin might still have a national future after his term as governor ends in 2025 (Virginia governors are not allowed to serve two terms in a row).