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Maryland Gov. Moore to campaign for Virginia Democrats ahead of state Legislature elections

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) will hit the campaign trail in Virginia on Saturday as part of an effort to boost Democrats running in the commonwealth’s legislative elections, according to details released exclusively to The Hill on Monday.

Moore will make campaign stops throughout the day with various Democratic candidates, including state Sens. Monty Mason and Aaron Rouse, as well as Dels. Don Scott, Schuyler VanValkenburg and Danica Roem. The latter two are running for state Senate seats.

The Maryland governor will also campaign with Democratic delegate candidates Michael Feggans, Rodney Willett and Josh Thomas.

Several prominent Virginia Democrats will join Moore at his campaign stops, including Democratic Reps Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney (D). Gun control activist David Hogg will also be present at one of the campaign stops.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4284106-maryland-gov-moore-to-campaign-for-virginia-democrats-ahead-of-state-legislature-elections/

Gov. DeWine is trying to trick Ohio voters with vague promises on abortion ban

Early voting is underway in Ohio, with abortion rights on the ballot. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who signed a six-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, is staunchly opposed to Issue 1, the measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, and he seems worried.

DeWine is now suggesting that voters should reject Issue 1 because he’ll get the rape and incest exceptions added to the state’s existing six-week abortion ban (which is currently held up in the courts). Pinky promise! And hey, if he doesn’t get that done, voters can always come back later and vote for additional rights.

“It is clear in the last year of listening to my fellow Ohioans that the vast, vast majority of Ohioans feel there should be an exception for rape and incest. That needs to go into the law,” DeWine told ABC 6 in Columbus last week.

Mind you, DeWine wasn’t talking this way until it was clear the measure was poised for a win. A new poll finds 55% support for Issue 1, and it seems like DeWine must be convinced that polling is right. He also certainly wasn’t acting like a guy ready for compromise (not that putting meaningless exceptions into a six-week abortion ban is a compromise) last year when he reappointed the head of Ohio Right to Life to the state board that can revoke doctors’ licenses. There is no reason to trust this guy on abortion rights. None.



https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/30/2202500/-Gov-DeWine-is-trying-to-trick-Ohio-voters-with-vague-promises-on-abortion-ban

Abortion rights campaign beats opponents in campaign donations and spending ahead of election

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The campaign in favor of Issue 1 has handily outearned and outspent opponents of the abortion rights amendment, campaign finance filings show.

Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights raised more than $39.2 million this year through mid-October and spent $26.2 million, according to the campaign’s finance reports. More than $28.7 million came from cash donations since August.

The campaign against Issue 1, Protect Women Ohio, has raised nearly $27 million through mid-October and spent just under $24.3 million. More than $16.8 million has been donated to the campaign since the summer.

Issue 1, which would ensure the right to abortion until fetal viability and protect other reproductive health decisions, has shone a national spotlight on Ohio as the Nov. 7 election approaches. Both campaigns received hefty contributions from out-of-state benefactors, including dark money groups, national organizations, billionaires and politicians. They also received significant contributions from churches, in-state organizations and individual Ohioans.



https://www.nbc4i.com/news/your-local-election-hq/abortion-rights-campaign-beats-opponents-in-campaign-donations-and-spending-ahead-of-election/

Ohio Sees Early Voting Surge as Abortion, Marijuana Legalization Take Center Stage

Officials in Ohio said they are seeing an increase in turnout for early voting with less than one week left for the early vote in the state.

Officials added that they expect the number of people in-person votes and mail-in ballots to rise as well before the state’s election on Nov. 7.

Melanie Amato, director of communications for the Secretary of State’s office, said there have been more than 200,000 people voting in-person and her office has received an estimated 110,000 mail-in ballots this year.

The numbers can be compared to 192,000 in-person voters and 93,000 mailed-in ballots this time before the August election.

Ohioans head to the polls in person on Nov. 7 and will have the opportunity on two statewide issues — access to abortion and a move to legalize the possession of marijuana in the state.




https://themessenger.com/politics/ohio-sees-early-voting-surge-as-abortion-marijuana-legalization-take-center-stage

Florida is close to putting abortion protections on the 2024 ballot

Floridians are almost halfway to putting abortion rights on next year’s ballot. The citizen-led ballot initiative campaign Floridians Protecting Freedom is leading the effort to let voters decide whether to make a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights. Their goal is to collect 1.25 million petitions. They need about 892,000 signatures by Feb. 1 to get the initiative on the ballot. The campaign had about 402,000 signatures as of Oct. 30. Advocates from Floridians Protecting Freedom say they are confident they will get the needed signatures in time for the deadline and ensure that Floridians have a say in protecting their abortion rights come November 2024.

“We know that getting a constitutional amendment in place that explicitly protects access to abortion will be the … final answer,” said Amy Weintraub, the reproductive rights program director for Progress Florida. “We know that what’s happening in Tallahassee with politicians is very much out of sync with the will and the preferences and the needs of Floridians.”

The initiative reached the signatures needed to trigger a state Supreme Court review of the ballot question’s language earlier this month. The amendment reads, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” The amendment doesn’t impact requirements that parents be notified before a minor has an abortion.

“We are very, very confident that the language that has been drafted for this constitutional amendment will hold up in court,” Weintraub said. “We have had amazing legal thinkers and constitutional experts involved from the beginning. We … are very confident that we will be able to successfully defend the language that we’re using.”



https://prismreports.org/2023/10/30/florida-is-close-to-putting-abortion-protections-on-the-2024-ballot/

Ohio's Abortion Amendment Sparks Heated Debate Among Catholics

Catholic bishops have been vehemently opposing an amendment in Ohio for several months.

Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr expressed his concerns in late August, urging “Catholics and all people of goodwill to oppose this very harmful amendment.”

He pointed out that the proposed amendment could eliminate safety regulations on abortion clinics in Ohio, remove the rights of parents to consent to abortion for their minor children, and potentially allow abortions up to nine months into pregnancy.

In response to the bishops’ stance, Catholics for Choice President Jamie L. Manson announced a billboard campaign and criticized Ohio’s Catholic bishops.


https://tdpelmedia.com/ohios-abortion-amendment-sparks-heated-debate-among-catholics/

Senator Vance urges Ohioans to reject Issue 1, decide abortion laws through legislature

OHIO (WTRF) – 7NEWS is your Local Election Headquarter, and next Tuesday, Ohio voters will decide the future of abortion in the Buckeye State.

If Issue 1 passes, it would prevent the government from restricting abortions up until the moment of fetal viability, typically about 22-24 weeks. It also gives the pregnant woman’s treating physician the authority to allow abortions past that, if the physician determines an abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health.

This deference given to doctors is causing many critics of Issue 1 to argue that it would technically allow for tax-funded abortions at any stage of pregnancy.

Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance, who is not a supporter of Issue 1, says it goes far beyond the old adage of “safe, legal and rare.”



https://www.wtrf.com/news/ohio-headlines/senator-vance-urges-ohioans-to-reject-issue-1-decide-abortion-laws-through-legislature/

Early voting in municipal election down so far; absentee ballot requests double

Early voting for this year’s Indianapolis mayoral and City-County Council elections is down so far this year overall, but got a boost over the weekend when early voting centers opened.

The Nov. 7 mayoral election pits incumbent Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett and self-funded Republican businessman Jefferson Shreve.

Through Sunday, 7,766 voters had cast early votes, according to the Marion County Election Board, a 34% decrease from the 11,862 voters who voted during the same period of the last municipal election in 2019, when Hogsett faced longtime Republican state senator Jim Merritt. Early voting began at the City-County Building on Nov. 11.

The City-County Building and the city’s eight satellite early-voting locations saw 5,467 voters over the weekend—the first in which the satellite locations were open—up from 4,202 during the first weekend in 2019.



https://www.ibj.com/articles/early-voting-total-count-down-from-2019-but-weekend-mail-in-numbers-up

Ohio Polls Show Majority Support for Marijuana Legalization Ahead of Initiative Vote

With little more than a week before Election Day in Ohio, two new polls indicate that a comfortable majority of voters support legalizing adult-use marijuana—the subject Issue 2 on the state ballot.

A survey of 638 Ohio voters by Public Policy Polling found that 59 percent of respondents would vote yes on Issue 2, while 39 percent would vote against it. Just 2 percent were undecided.

A separate poll from Northern Ohio University, meanwhile, found that two out of three voters support legalizing marijuana generally—though the survey didn’t specifically ask about Issue 2. Questions about cannabis in that survey were limited to use and attitudes toward the drug and policies surrounding it generally.

Pollsters behind the Northern Ohio University survey said the findings nevertheless bode well for Issue 2.



https://www.marijuanamoment.net/ohio-polls-show-majority-support-for-marijuana-legalization-ahead-of-ballot-initiative-vote/