Kansas Post-Election Data Powers Progressives: Abortion Rights Wins Rural Votes

Like it or not, lessons from election season have emboldened our progressive friends.

Here's the main takeaway from their perspective that's becoming a rallying cry . . .

This trend first appeared in Kansas, a state that supported Trump by nearly 15 points over Biden in 2020 but voted earlier this year to uphold state constitutional protections for abortion rights.

To be clear, in rural Kansas, the majority did vote against abortion rights — but the margin was much tighter than most expected. What may have caught the attention of Democratic strategists was how the pro-abortion-rights vote outpaced Biden’s own numbers in rural Kansas — for example, Biden garnered 17% of the vote in Russell County in 2020, while 45% voted in support of abortion rights in August. And in some counties, the majority of rural voters did vote for abortion rights: In Osage, a rural county with 11,900 registered voters (which has not gone for a Democratic president since the Johnson administration), voters leaned into abortion rights, 56% to 44%.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

The Rural Vote Is Again in Play

The midterms showed that rural voters must be an integral part of the Democratic strategy if they want to win in 2024. This spring I spent a couple of weeks traveling through the Midwest to meet with Democratic county chairs in rural areas.