Pressed on abortion, Republican candidates adapt
When picking a presidential nominee for 2024, Republican voter Shawn Walsh’s main concern is “electability.” Which means, he adds, that one of his main concerns is also abortion.
“Abortion to me is technically not a huge issue, but I know it’s a huge issue come voting,” says Mr. Walsh, a gunsmith and Army veteran from Claremont, New Hampshire, ahead of a campaign event for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at a local senior center. “If the midterms weren’t an eye-opener for the Republicans, I don’t know what is because we should have won that, hands down. That should have been a landslide across the country.”
Last fall, in the first congressional elections after the Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson, Republicans fell far short of their anticipated “red wave,” winning only a slim majority in the U.S. House and failing to retake the Senate. Abortion was a leading issue for voters, according to . Mr. Walsh says he watched the impact in his state firsthand: Friends and family who had always voted
