GOP alarms go off after Ohio abortion vote

The huge voter turnout against a special ballot measure in Ohio that would have made it tougher to protect abortion rights is setting off alarm bells among Republican strategists who say abortion will be problem for their party in 2024.  

Republicans hope to win back control of the Senate and keep their House majority but acknowledge abortion politics will “complicate” their chances of winning key races in even conservative-leaning states, such as Montana and Ohio, where Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are up for reelection.  

The potency of the abortion-rights debate in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade was on full display in Tuesday’s special election in Ohio — a state former President Trump won handily in 2016 and 2020.