Seven questions
1. Will abortion rights keep winning?
At least three states are worth watching:
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Ohioans will vote on a referendum to protect abortion access until about 23 weeks of pregnancy. If it passes, it will be the seventh straight victory for abortion rights in state referendums since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
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In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat running for re-election, is focusing on his support for abortion rights (while also trumpeting the fruits of Biden’s economic policies without naming Biden, as our colleague Reid Epstein explains).
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In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, is trying to give his party a model for the post-Roe world by backing a 15-week limit as a middle ground. All of Virginia’s state legislature seats are on the ballot.
2. Can a Democrat win in the Deep South?
No Democrat has been elected governor or senator in Mississippi in more than 20 years. But Brandon Presley, a state official and second cousin of Elvis Presley, seems to have an outside chance.
Gov. Tate Reeves, the Republican incumbent, has been hurt by a corruption scandal in which, according to court documents, a state official directed welfare funds to the pet projects of wealthy, connected Mississippians. Presley is running the kind of campaign that was once normal for Democrats: moderate on social issues, progressive on economics. He calls himself pro-life, emphasizes his religious faith and supports gun rights, while promising to expand Medicaid and help rural hospitals.
“The fight in politics in Mississippi is not right versus left,” Presley said. “It’s those of us on the outside versus those of them on the inside.” Recent polls have shown him trailing by between one and eight points.
3. What happens with schools?
Conservatives and liberals are running against each other for school boards in suburban Philadelphia, Northern Virginia and elsewhere — with gender issues often central. One example: In Pella, Iowa, a Des Moines suburb, voters will decide whether to give the City Council more control over the public library after the library’s board recently rejected the effort of some residents to ban the memoir “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe.
4. How will cities deal with rising homelessness?
Voters in Spokane, Wash., will decide whether the police can issue tickets to people who camp within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds and child-care facilities. In Boulder, Colo., voters will decide whether to prioritize the removal of encampments near schools and sidewalks.