Tuesday is Election Day. It’s a sleeper in California: Only a few scattered races for school board and a handful of local issues are in play.
But in other parts of the United States, it’s a big deal. With exactly one year until the 2024 presidential election, high-stakes contests will be decided Tuesday in multiple states that could affect everything from abortion to voting rights. Several possible future presidential candidates will see their fortunes rise or fall. And there’s even a celebrity angle — voters in Mississippi will decide whether to elect Elvis Presley’s cousin as governor.
Here are five of the biggest races to watch as returns come in Tuesday night:
1) Abortion in Ohio
In a landmark decision last year, the conservative-controlled U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide. Many conservative states imposed strict limits soon afterward.
Since then, the issue has moved to the ballot box. Measures backed by abortion rights groups have won in election after election, even in states that former President Trump carried. Last year, voters in liberal-leaning California, Michigan and Vermont added abortion rights guarantees to their state constitutions. In three red states — Kansas, Kentucky and Montana — voters rejected efforts to roll back abortion access.
On Tuesday, voters will decide the fate of Issue 1, a ballot measure that would establish a right to abortion in the Ohio Constitution. Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Mike DeWine, have pushed for a ban after six weeks and oppose the measure. But Issue 1 leads in the polls.
“The Ohio election looms larger than anything else on Tuesday,” said Larry Gerston, a professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University. “This issue has been on the ballot in six states since the Dobbs decision, and voters have supported abortion rights in every one. That’s significant. Will that trend continue in Ohio? Or is this an…
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