On Tuesday, primary voters in the Northeast sent candidates to represent them in November's elections. In New Hampshire and Massachusetts, openly pro-abortion candidates won Senate and gubernatorial nominations for the GOP, respectively, and New York Democratic state Sen. Timothy Kennedy won the nomination for his seat.
New Hampshire
Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who has long described himself as a “moderate pro-choice Republican,” beat former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith to take the party into a tight race this fall against incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Smith was a champion of life during 18 years in the Senate.
While Brown's record on abortion has been mixed, Shaheen's is not. She is considered a reliably pro-abortion Democrat.
Massachusetts
In his first ad as the Republican nominee for governor, Charlie Baker has an ad that has his daughter saying that he is “totally pro-choice,” with simultaneous text that says “100% pro-choice.” Baker is running against Attorney General Martha Coakley, who lost in her 2010 Senate race against former Sen. Scott Brown. Coakley is a supporter of abortion and abortion facility buffer zones, and has said that pro-life Catholics should not serve in emergency rooms, according to OnTheIssues.org.
Pro-marriage activist Scott Lively, who is also pro-life, is running an independent campaign for governor.
New York
Former pro-life Democrat Timothy Kennedy, who earlier this year was accused of changing his views on abortion for financial reasons, easily won re-election to the state Senate against a candidate who nearly beat him in 2012.
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Kennedy was criticized by pro-life groups and his own bishop for the policy change. At the time, he said, “I believe at the end of the day that a woman has to be able to make a decision upon her health, her life and her family that is in her best interests and their best interests.” He also said, “Oftentimes, the situation that presents itself involves dire circumstances.”
Also in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo won the Democratic primary against a liberal female opponent endorsed by the National Organization for Women. Cuomo, a Catholic, has spent a great deal of political resources to pass the “Women's Equality Act,” which includes an expansion of abortion in the state. The abortion component of the ten-part bill has stalled in the state legislature.
Washington, D.C.
Pollster Stu Rothenberg says that while the polling doesn't show it, Republicans are likely to make major gains in this fall's elections.
Several pollsters have said the GOP is likely to win the Senate — a gain of six seats — but will have a hard time exceeding media-and-activist-driven expectations. However, Rothenberg has said the party could very well win seven or more.
The GOP-controlled House has passed a number of pro-life measures, including a ban on most late-term abortions, but they have been held up in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Likewise, a Senate ban on most abortions after 20 weeks' gestation has yet to garner a vote under Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV.