Democratic lawmakers are leaning heavily on abortion ahead of the Senate race in Arizona next year, according to reports.
The party is banking on an abortion rights platform in an attempt to maintain its slim majority in the upper chamber. This strategy has helped the party win multiple elections in red and purple states in the last year.
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who’s running for Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat, is already targeting Republican candidate Kari Lake’s past comments on the issue.
The race is part of a broader battle in the Grand Canyon State over abortion rights, as advocates of the practice are trying to pass a ballot measure that would include the right to an abortion in the state constitution.
“I think it’s going to play a very big role for candidate Lake next year. Her rhetoric while she was running for governor was absolutely insane, and she’s going to have to find a way to get that genie back in the bottle if there’s any hope for her to win an election,” said Democratic strategist Stacy Pearson.
Democrats, such as Gallego, refer to audio from when Lake expressed her excitement over “a great law that’s already on the books” after Roe v. Wade was overturned. This is in reference to an 1864 law in Arizona that outlaws almost all abortions and is currently being challenged in court.
According to an interview she did with The Hill last month, she said that “what I support is all 50 states are going to come up with their own laws on abortion.”
“I want to make sure that women, when they find themselves pregnant, aren’t afraid and think that’s the only choice they have. Regardless of how many weeks is the law, regardless of all of that, I want to make sure that women have — know there are choices out there,” Lake told the political news outlet.
But Democrats and abortion rights advocates say it will be a contentious issue and are skeptical that Lake will be able to pivot. Gallego argued Republicans’ stances “aren’t at all real or based on any type of reality, and just trying to distract from their extreme position.”
