It remains unclear if Democrats will be successful next year in their push to focus on abortion rights. The 2024 race will be the first post-Roe presidential election, plunging both parties into uncharted political terrain. The political impact of abortion may be blunted by the all-consuming national conversation of a presidential contest paired with Mr. Trump’s criminal indictments and courtroom drama.
Democrats didn’t accomplish a total sweep of the races on Tuesday. In Mississippi, the Republican governor, Tate Reeves, won re-election, defeating Brandon Presley, a self-proclaimed “pro-life” Democrat.
Still, the Biden campaign felt validated by the results, in particular in Kentucky, where it had tracked millions of dollars in anti-Biden television ads. At the White House, Mr. Biden was making congratulatory calls to the evening’s winners, including Mr. Beshear and candidates in Virginia, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In his race, Mr. Beshear went to great pains to separate himself from the president, rarely — if ever — using Mr. Biden’s name. Mr. Beshear is one of the most popular governors in the country, while Mr. Biden remains politically toxic in a state that he lost by about 26 percentage points in 2020.
The Democratic victories on Tuesday marked the conclusion of a surprisingly positive off-year election cycle for the party, with many of their candidates boosted to victory by embracing the power of abortion rights as an issue. They exceeded Mr. Biden’s performance in the 2020 presidential election in 21 of 27 races this year, not counting Tuesday, according to a study conducted by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the party’s campaign arm for state legislative races. In April, Democrats flipped majority control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from conservatives, as their liberal candidate won an 11-point triumph.
