Politics

(WASHINGTON) — While ABC News and others haven’t made projections in her still too-close-to-call contest, former TV reporter Kari Lake, Donald Trump’s pick in Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial primary, went ahead and claimed victory in Phoenix on Wednesday as other state candidates backed by the former president also celebrated wins down the ballot.

Lake — echoing Trump — described herself as triumphing over unsubstantiated wrongdoing that was sometimes based only on what she said she was told by others.

“We outvoted the fraud,” she insisted. “The MAGA movement voted like their lives depended on it.”

Asked whether she should be declaring victory before the race has been officially called — in an election she’s already suggested needs to be investigated — a smiling Lake said her team was projecting a wide lead to come, so she was confident in calling the race for herself.

“And, frankly, I’m gonna be having dinner with my husband tonight, and I don’t want anybody to call me and ask me for a comment,” said Lake, a longtime local news anchor in Phoenix who left her job in 2021 to run for office. “So we’re doing this a little bit early because I actually want to take one night off. I haven’t had a night off for a long time.”

But while eager to claim and celebrate her victory, despite votes still coming in, Lake also continued to allege irregularities in the primary process — citing the shortage of paper ballots in Pinal County, which officials there said was due to an “unprecedented demand for in-person ballots” in certain precincts.

“I am not satisfied with how the election was run. We had major issues,” Lake said, not providing evidence to the press but maintaining that’s what the people of Arizona were telling her. “We have a lot of evidence of irregularities and problems, and we’re going to address those.”

Lake also said that in the lead-up to the general election in November, she would continue talking about the widely disproven claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

“Because I won doesn’t mean I’m going to now pivot and try to become a Democrat. Absolutely not,” she said — though, notably, she has acknowledged on the campaign trail that she did support Democratic causes in the past before converting to Trump’s GOP. “We will continue to talk about the election because we want to make sure we shore up those election laws.”

In what might be a messy preview of the general election against Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs if Lake is, in fact, ultimately found to have won the Republican nomination — when asked what her reaction would be if the Associated Press called the race for her opponent Karrin Taylor Robson and Taylor Robson declared victory, Lake made clear she intended to try and grab the win based on her belief about the outcome.

“Well, let’s remember they called the election for Joe Biden, so we know that AP is part of the problem. We’re going with the votes, and we’re going with what the people who really understand what’s happening this election now,” she said.

Taylor Robson, endorsed by Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, told ABC News at a rally on the eve of the primary that Lake already priming her supporters with the false idea that any loss was due to fraud was “wrong” and “should disqualify her from being the governor of this great state.”

At a watch party Tuesday night, Lake took to the stage at a Doubletree in Scottsdale three times as votes trickled in — at one point wielding a sledgehammer she said was intended for electronic voting machines and the Democratic nominee for governor — to tell hundreds of supporters that she won.

“There is no path to victory for my opponent, and we won this race. Period,” she said at her first appearance, when vote totals had Taylor Robson in the lead. “I don’t want any of you not to believe that.”

“And I want to thank President Donald J. Trump,” she added to the energized crowd decked out in Lake gear and “not my president” shirts. “He’s the one that got this whole thing going.”

Taylor Robson, for her part, had projected confidence in brief remarks on Tuesday from the Astoria Biltmore luxury resort, as the first batches of results put her ahead in the race. Widely seen as the establishment candidate — and echoing general GOP concerns about election integrity — Taylor Robson also outspent Lake.

It was a subdued atmosphere for much of the night but turned energetic when Taylor Robson approached the stage and spoke — with loud boos at the mention of Lake’s accusations of voter fraud

“Don’t let her get you down. Remember, talk is cheap,” Taylor Robson said. “She has no veto process over the votes being carried out in the process being carried out now, nor over the will of Arizona voters.”

Arizona sees MAGA primary sweep

Down the ballot, Trump’s other endorsees rose to victory in Arizona in Tuesday’s primaries, signaling the state Republican Party might be moving on from its maverick tradition to its “ultra-MAGA” era.

Not long ago, the late John McCain and the retired Jeff Flake were the state’s two Republican senators. But with those seats flipping blue under Trump and Joe Biden’s subsequent presidential win — the first by a Democrat in Arizona in almost three decades — Trump’s candidates winning in congressional and statewide races serves as a measure of how the party has shifted ahead of a true bellwether for the country in the November midterms.

Brian Seitchik, a GOP strategist in Arizona, said the primary proved to be a “complete and total victory for Trump” with his base.

“The president’s always had a love affair with Arizona, and that was simply reaffirmed again last night,” Seitchik told ABC News Wednesday. “This is still very much Trump country.”

In the Senate race, Blake Masters, a 35-year-old venture capitalist who pushed false claims about the 2020 election during his primary campaign and got Trump’s endorsement in the crowded race in June, will face Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy captain, in November. At a rally with Trump in July, Masters attacked Kelly for his Democratic record and said he would try to impeach Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

For Arizona’s secretary of state, Trump backed Mark Finchem, a far-right state lawmaker who has previously identified as an Oath Keeper, a militia group with other members who have faced charges for alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6. Finchem was in Washington on Jan. 6, though he has repeatedly said he did not enter the Capitol, and was among 30 GOP lawmakers in Arizona who signed a resolution calling on Congress to accept an “alternate” slate of electoral votes.

Finchem beat out Gov. Doug Ducey’s pick, advertising executive Beau Lane, who has acknowledged Biden’s victory and defended Arizona’s early voting system, a popular method in the state that the state Republican Party, post-2020, contends is unconstitutional.

If elected secretary of state in November, Finchem would have broad powers over the management of the state’s elections. He has said he would not have certified Biden’s win and wants to ban early voting and restrict mail-in ballot options.

Abe Hamadeh, a former prosecutor in Maricopa County and an Army intelligence officer, won the state attorney general nomination by pitching himself as an “Arizona first conservative,” earning Trump’s coveted endorsement in June after supporting the GOP-backed audit of the vote in Maricopa, which the current Republican attorney general said this week had allegations of dead voters his office could not substantiate.

Like most of Trump’s picks, Hamadeh has called election integrity and border security his top campaign issues.

“MAGA had its best night since Nov. 8, 2016,” Arizona Republican strategist Barrett Marson, who supported Taylor Robson, told ABC News.

“There’s no doubt the Trump endorsement was worth a significant boost to those campaigns,” Marson said. “If Donald Trump anointed you in Arizona, there was a really good chance you’re moving onto November.”

Trump even waded into the state legislature, somewhat rare for a former president, targeting House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who testified at a House Jan. 6 hearing on the pressure he faced to interfere with the 2020 election. Bowers lost his state Senate race to Trump-endorsed David Farnsworth, a former member of the Arizona State Senate who has alleged that the 2020 election was stolen and “headed by the Devil himself.”

While the candidates are celebrating their wins, some Arizona Republicans say they are concerned Trump’s influence will make it harder for the GOP nominees to beat Democrats in November.

“As far as Kari Lake goes, I loved Trump’s policies, but I’m afraid that there’s a lot of people that are going to vote against her just because Trump is supporting her,” Arizonan Anastasia Keller, who was undecided until she entered the voting booth Tuesday, told ABC News. “I want somebody that can beat the Democrats, as divided as people are over Trump.”

As Marson, the pro-Taylor Robson strategist, put it: “It’ll be up to them [the Trump candidates] to moderate, or to at least start to appeal to the broader audience. I just don’t get telling your voters that there’s fraud in the election that you want and then expect them to continue to come out and vote for you.”

“Because Lake, Finchem, Master and Hamadeh are attacking so far to the right with election denialism, they’re opening up the races to be more competitive,” Marson said, arguing Taylor Robson and other candidates would have had more appeal to moderates and independents who lean Republican in a general election.

Pinal County presents issues

In a significant move on a primary day, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel joined Republican Party of Arizona Chairwoman Kelli Ward in calling for Pinal County Elections Director David Frisk to resign after the county ran out of paper ballots hours before polls closed. The issue arose weeks after thousands of mail-in ballots were sent out with incorrect local races printed on them in the state’s third largest county, which Republican candidates blasted on social media ahead of the election.

“This is a comprehensive failure that disenfranchises Arizonans and exemplifies why Republican-led efforts for transparency at the ballot box are so important. Pinal County Elections Director David Frisk should resign immediately,” McDaniel and Ward’s joint statement read. (ABC News has reached out to Frisk’s office for comment.)

Pinal county election officials said the ballot shortage was due to an “unprecedented demand for in-person ballots” in certain precincts. Additional ballots were distributed to roughly 20 affected polling places, officials said, and as long as voters were in line at 7 p.m. local time Tuesday, they were allowed to cast a ballot.

Still, Seitchik, the consultant in Republican races, said, “It shakes confidence in the system.”

“I don’t think it’s going to have any impact on the statewide races. It doesn’t seem like any of these races are so close that you can point to that, but it does matter — and it fuels the frustration and the suspicion as we head into the general election,” he said.

Meanwhile Hobbs, the Democratic nominee for governor, is currently serving as Arizona’s secretary of state, which raises questions of whether she would recuse herself from any potential litigation brought by Republicans in Pinal County.

“In the event of an investigation or litigation into Pinal County’s election, we will assess our office’s involvement on a case-by-case basis,” said Sophia Solis, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office.

Georgia presented a similar situation in 2018.

Brian Kemp also ran for governor while he was secretary of state at the time and said ahead of his contest with Democrat Stacey Abrams that he would not recuse himself as Georgia’s chief elections officer if the race went to a recount.

Ultimately, Kemp declared victory and resigned from his post in November after a lawsuit was filed in the race.

“We’ve won, and now I’ve got to move on, but the process is true and has been for many, many years in Georgia,” Kemp said at the time. “That’s another reason we’re going to have a new SOS that certifies elections to make that clear to Georgians that I understand that, so that they have confidence in the process.”

ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Senate approved a resolution Wednesday evening to support Finland and Sweden in joining NATO — a crucial step in the quest of the two countries to join the 30-member alliance.

The Senate voted 95-1, with Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley voting no and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voting “present.”

The vote comes several weeks after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved admitting Finland and Sweden into NATO. Lawmakers were working to approve the matter before their August break.

Finland and Sweden announced their decision to formally join NATO within days of each other in May, ending long-held positions of neutrality in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They simultaneously submitted their applications on May 18.

All 30 NATO members must ratify the accession of the two countries. Seven countries remain.

During Wednesday’s vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took a veiled swipe at Paul and Hawley in a floor speech, saying, “Their accession will make NATO stronger and America more secure. If any senator is looking for a defensible excuse to vote no, I wish them good luck.”

Hawley aligned himself with former President Donald Trump, saying the U.S. could devote more funds and firepower to NATO “or do what we need to do to deter Asia and China. We cannot do both.”

Paul has always worked to keep the U.S. out of foreign conflicts. He offered an amendment that most rejected seeking to ensure that Congress’ role in authorizing military force would not be usurped by the NATO pact’s common defense commitment, known as Article 5.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., applauded the Senate’s vote, saying on Twitter that it is “all the more urgent given [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s barbaric, immoral and unjustified war in Ukraine.”

President Joe Biden thanked a number of senators, including Schumer and McConnell, for moving the ratification process along quickly.

“This historic vote sends an important signal of the sustained, bipartisan U.S. commitment to NATO, and to ensuring our Alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” the president said in a statement.

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(WASHINGTON) — A bill designed to help keep young children safe by strengthening safety requirements for products with button batteries has passed both the U.S. House and Senate, and is now headed to the desk of President Joe Biden.

The legislation, known as Reese’s Law, is named for Reese Hamsmith, an 18-month-old Lubbock, Texas, girl who died after swallowing a button battery, the small, round batteries found in many home devices and toys.

After her death, Reese’s mom Trista Hamsmith made it her mission to ensure no other parent had to suffer the pain and loss her family did.

“Reese’s life was taken way too soon, but her legacy will live on through this law so that no other family will have to suffer like ours,” Hamsmith said in a statement after the bill was passed by the Senate. “We are thankful for the passage of this legislation to help protect all children and families from the hidden dangers of button batteries.”

Reese was 16 months old in October 2020 when she developed cold-like symptoms, including a stuffy nose, Hamsmith told “Good Morning America” last year.

Hamsmith said and her husband took their daughter to see a pediatrician, who she said suspected Reese had croup, an infection of the upper airways, and prescribed steroids.

Shortly after, the family discovered a button battery was missing from a remote control in their home. After looking online and discovering that symptoms of button battery ingestion — including coughing, wheezing and chest discomfort — matched those of Reese, Hamsmith said she and her husband rushed Reese to the emergency room.

An X-ray confirmed that a battery was lodged near the top of Reese’s esophagus.

After spending six weeks hospitalized and undergoing various surgeries and attempts to try to save her life, Reese died on Dec. 17, 2020, according to Hamsmith.

Hamsmith calls button batteries a “hidden danger” because they are used in many items, including remotes, hearing aids, thermometers, tealight candles, battery-powered jewelry, greeting cards, key fobs, kids’ toys and even toothbrushes.

After Reese died, Hamsmith created a nonprofit organization, Reese’s Purpose, to educate parents about button battery safety and to try to create change around how button batteries are protected in packaging and in the items in which they are found.

“It literally takes one second [for button battery ingestion to happen],” she told “GMA” last year. “You can set your kid down, turn around and pick up a piece of laundry, and it’s happened.”

Under Reese’s Law, the Consumer Product Safety Commission would be required to create safety standards, such as requiring companies to use product warning labels, childproof packaging and adhere to performance standards to ensure that children under the age of 6 cannot access button batteries, according to the office of Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat and a lead sponsor of the legislation.

“Kids like Reese Hamsmith have tragically died or been severely injured after swallowing this small but deadly hazard found in common household items,” Blumenthal and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican and lead sponsor of the bill, said in a joint statement. “We are relieved this common-sense legislation has passed Congress and is on its way to President Biden’s desk to become law so families can have greater peace of mind about the safety of products in their home.”

More than 3,500 people swallow button batteries each year in the U.S., according to the National Capital Poison Center.

Dr. Kris Jatana, a professor in the department of otolaryngology at Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, said his research shows the actual number of button battery ingestions each year is actually much larger because the incidents are vastly underreported.

In the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, there was a 93% increase in emergency department visits for battery-related complaints in school-age children, according to research by Jatana, who helped create the GIRC App, a global database by the Global Injury Research Collaborative for medical professionals to track the severity of injuries, including from button batteries.

“I do think there is a lack of awareness among parents that these are severe hazards,” he told “GMA” last year. “We can’t fix the injuries that these batteries cause, so that’s what’s led us to [ask], ‘How can we prevent these injuries in the first place?'”

Here are three tips from Jatana and Hamsmith to both prevent and treat button battery ingestion injuries.

1. Keep an inventory of button batteries in your home: Because the symptoms of button battery ingestion can mimic the symptoms of other illnesses in kids, as was the case with Reese, both Hamsmith and Jatana say the most important thing for parents and caregivers is to always be aware of and know about the presence of all the button batteries in their home.

Hamsmith’s advice to caregivers is to keep products that contain button batteries not just out of reach but also out of sight of children, especially those ages 6 and under, who are most at risk for swallowing a foreign object.

Jatana said to not only know where the button batteries are in your home, but to also to regularly check all electronic devices to make sure the battery compartment is secured.

2. Know the symptoms: Symptoms of swallowing a button battery may include fever, not wanting to eat or drink, irritability, wheezing, difficulty breathing, coughing, throat pain, choking, gagging, problems swallowing and vomiting, according to a button battery resource website created by Jatana and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Children may also put a button battery in their nose or ear, which can present dangers. Symptoms to look for include irritability, pain or swelling around the ears or nose, fever and fluid drainage or bleeding from the ears or nose, according to Jatana.

Children who ingest button batteries may also present no symptoms at all, which is why parents and caregivers should know the whereabouts of button batteries in their home at all times, Jatana added.

3. Act quickly: Serious esophageal injury can occur within two hours of a child ingesting a button battery, before symptoms even start, according to Jatana.

“The clock is ticking from the moment the battery is lodged in the esophagus,” he said.

If a child ingests a button battery, immediately call for help, either through 911 or the National Battery Ingestion Hotline at 800-498-8666, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Parents and caregivers may also use honey to treat the child while waiting for medical help. Experts from the National Capital Poison Center recommend giving 10 milliliters of honey every 10 minutes to children 12 months and older.

Jatana stressed not to delay going to the emergency room and said seeking professional medical help should be the top priority.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is still testing positive for COVID-19 four days into his rebound infection, White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor reported Wednesday.

Biden “continues to feel well,” O’Connor said, noting the exam was conducted after the president completed a light workout.

“He is still experiencing an occasional cough, but less frequently than yesterday. He remains fever-free and in good spirits,” O’Connor wrote. Biden’s temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation also remain normal.

O’Connor said Wednesday that Biden will continue to follow strict isolation measures, but it’s not clear if he will go beyond the recommendations laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — as the White House vowed to do the first time he tested positive.

Biden initially tested positive for the virus on July 21, and emerged from isolation after completing a five-day course of Paxlovid and testing negative. But on July 30 he tested positive again in what O’Connor called “rebound positivity” — referring to a relapse of COVID-19 some patients experience after taking the antiviral treatment.

The White House said after Biden’s initial diagnosis that he would end isolation only after testing negative on an antigen test. The CDC recommends that an individual stop isolating after five days if they are fever-free and symptoms are improving. It doesn’t suggest testing within 90 days of a positive case unless new symptoms develop.

For Biden’s rebound case, the White House has said the president would again isolate for five full days, but it hasn’t said if he would end isolation only after testing negative.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told ABC News’ Ben Gittleson on Wednesday she couldn’t say if that would be the case.

“I would have to check to see exactly what the CDC guidance is, but we are gonna follow CDC guidance,” she said.

When asked if the White House wants the CDC to urge Americans to test to end isolation, too — and if they want the public to use the president’s behavior as a model — Jean-Pierre said they’ll “leave it to the experts.”

“That is for the experts and they follow the science which changes on this,” she said. “You know, this is COVID, as we know, once-in-a-generation pandemic, so we leave it to them to make that decision.”

Thursday will mark Biden’s fifth day of isolatio

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(ELKHART COUNTY, Ind.) — Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski and three others were killed Wednesday afternoon in a car crash, according to authorities.

Walorski, 58, was traveling southbound on SR 19 in an SUV with two other people when a car traveling northbound crossed the dividing line and slammed head on into the SUV. All three people in the SUV were killed.

The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as Walorski; Zachery Potts, 27; and Emma Thomson, 28.

The driver of the other vehicle, Edith Schmucker, 58, was also killed in the crash.

Thomson was Walorski’s communications director and Potts was previously Walorski’s campaign manager and was currently a district director in Indiana for the House of Representatives.

GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Twitter shared a statement — “with a heavy heart” — that he said was from Walorski’s office.

“Jackie was killed in a car accident this afternoon. She has returned home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers. We will have no further comment at this time,” the statement read.

According to the statement, Walorski’s husband was notified of her death by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana.

A former state lawmaker, Walorski had represented Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District since 2013.

According to her House biography, she and her husband “previously spent four years as missionaries in Romania, where they started and ran a foundation to provide food and medical supplies to impoverished children there. Jackie also worked as a television news reporter in South Bend and as a development director for colleges and universities in Indiana.”

Walorski’s Republican colleague Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois, mourned her death in a brief tweet Wednesday.

“My heart is heavy, and i don’t have the words. But all I can say is prayers for her family,” he wrote. “She was a good and honorable public servant.”

The Elkhart County Coroner’s Office and the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office continue to investigate the crash.

ABC News’ Davone Morales contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that paves the way for Medicaid to pay for abortion services for people having to travel out of state.

Speaking from the White House virtually, Biden continued to criticize the Supreme Court’s June 25 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Today, I’m signing the second executive order that responds to the healthcare crisis that has unfolded since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, and that women are facing all across America,” he said.

The executive order comes just one day after abortion rights activists secured a major win in Kansas, where voters on Tuesday rejected removing the right to abortion from the state constitution.

Biden said the Supreme Court “practically dared women in this country go to the ballot box and restore the right to choose that the Court just ripped away after 50 years.”

“The voters of Kansas sent a powerful signal that this fall the American people will vote to preserve and protect the right and refuse to let it be ripped away from politicians,” Biden said.

The executive order comes just one day after abortion rights activists secured a major win in Kansas, where voters on Tuesday rejected removing the right to abortion from the state constitution.

Biden said the Supreme Court “practically dared women in this country go to the ballot box and restore the right to choose that the Court just ripped away after 50 years.”

“The voters of Kansas sent a powerful signal that this fall the American people will vote to preserve and protect the right and refuse to let it be ripped away from politicians,” Biden said.

The new directive allows the secretary of health and human services to “invite states to apply for Medicaid waivers, so that states where abortion is legal could provide services to people traveling from a state where abortion may be illegal to seek services in their state,” the official said. Technically, these states would apply through what’s known as a “Medicaid 1115 waiver,” according to a senior administration official.

The official noted that when the White House looked into declaring a public health emergency for abortion and what that would allow the federal government to do, this change to Medicaid — an assistance program for low-income patients’ medical expenses — was one of the options. But the White House realized the president could also do it through an executive order instead, which he plans to do Wednesday, the official said.

But the timeline for these changes remains unclear.

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday for more details on the implementation of the executive order for women who want to seek abortion care soon.

“Are we talking about days, are we talking about weeks, are we talking about six months?” Vega asked.

Jean-Pierre said the administration didn’t “have the details to share today but [Health and Human Services] will soon have more on what a waiver could look like and the timeline.”

Biden’s order also directs the health and human services secretary to make sure “health care providers comply with federal non-discrimination laws so that women receive medically necessary care without delay,” according to the White House. That could include “providing technical assistance for health care providers who may be confused or unsure of their obligations in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs,” or providing other info and guidance to providers about their obligations and consequences of not complying with non-discrimination laws.

The order also directs the health and human services secretary to improve research and data collection on maternal health outcomes, according to the White House.

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(WASHINGTON) — Abortion rights activists on Wednesday were relishing a major victory after Kansas voters soundly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to roll back abortion access in the first state-level test since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade.

That win — in a red state former President Donald Trump carried by double digit margins in 2020 — is a clear warning shot for conservative candidates and state lawmakers alike who campaign on Roe’s downfall: Put the fate of abortion in the voters’ hands and suffer the political consequences.

Kansas voters choose to protect abortion access

Several factors may have motivated Kansas voters to defeat the amendment 59%-41%, but left-leaning strategists are likely to paraphrase Barack Obama famously observing, “elections have consequences.”

Those sorts of consequences can be measured in turnout.

On Tuesday, an eye-popping number of voters took to the polls, in near presidential general election-levels. So far, about 900,000 Kansans sounded off — compared to numbers in the 300,000 range in the 2016 and 2014 primaries. The turnout was stunning by any measure, for a primary night in the middle of summer vacation season.

Can Democrats repeat the results in other states?

Beyond the headline there’s layered impact here, as those seeking an abortion in a handful of states bordering Kansas — states that have implemented trigger law restrictions — can legally travel across state lines for the procedure.

While it might be a stretch for Democrats to do too big a victory lap for the cause, never in this midterm cycle has the left had a flare so bright and powerful, especially as down-ballot Democrats inherit the baggage of a generally unpopular president in Joe Biden, staggered inflation numbers, and mounting concerns about inflation.

The White House is championing this win, with Biden releasing a statement that the vote “makes clear” that “the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion.”

But several questions remain, a chief one being whether this voter enthusiasm can be replicated in other deeply red states. And will Republican-controlled legislatures dare to push amendments for fear of the same sort of result?

A winning strategy forward for Democrats to preserve abortion rights remains unclear and will surely be tested in the upcoming August primaries.

Plus, the result in the rest of Tuesday night’s primaries will likely give Democrats more headaches than produce high-fives.

A mixed night for impeachment backers, but a big night for election deniers

Elections in Michigan, Missouri, Arizona and Washington made way for big wins for “the big lie” and saw the end of the reelection road for Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer, one of the few Republicans who broke party ranks and voted to impeach Donald Trump. Meijer’s loss is something of a grim prescription for the remaining anti-Trump Republicans — Rep. Liz Cheney take note — who have staked their reputations and job security on the anything-but-MAGA line.

Instead of Meijer, ultra-conservative election-denier John Gibbs advances to the general election. The embers of Democrats’ stoking far-right flames burned in this race, too, with the party’s congressional campaign arm pumping $500,000 in ads boosting Gibbs’ profile in the hopes he would be easier for Democrats to beat in November.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, another vocal anti-Trump Republican who decided to back out reelection, told CNN that “the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) needs to be ashamed of themselves.”

Tricky news in any event for Cheney, who faces her own set of hurdles in the Wyoming at-large primary on Aug.16. A quirk of the Wyoming election rules where Democrats and Independents can change party affiliations at the time of voting introduces a safeguard not accessible to someone like Meijer, however.

If the Republican primary cycle has taught anything, it’s that there is legitimate appetite for election conspiracy among the GOP electorate – or at least, a willingness to support “big lie” candidates despite everything that’s been revealed. FiveThirtyEight estimates at least 120 nominees deny the credibility of the election.

Arizona is something of the ground zero of election denial, where candidates at nearly every level champion a flavor of “election integrity.” In the GOP primary for attorney general, former prosecutor Abe Hamadeh, with a blessing from Trump, will effort to make Arizona great again.

It’s too early to call the results for the Republican gubernatorial primary, where former tv anchor Kari Lake has made a questioning of the election her mantra, turning interviews back on journalists to make her case.

Which sort of Democrat is left to fend off someone like Lake? In Arizona, it will be former secretary of state Katie Hobbs, who already is campaigning against “conspiracies of the past.”

“We need leaders who will look to the future, not conspiracies of the past. Leaders who are doers, not whiners. Do you want a governor whose entire platform boils down to being a sore loser or a governor who will get the job done for Arizona?” Hobbs pitched in her victory speech Tuesday night.

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(WASHINGTON) — Senators Susan Collins and Joe Manchin joined forces Wednesday to propose changes to a 19th century law that former President Donald Trump and his allies exploited to try to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Manchin, D-W.Va., and Collins, R-Maine, testified before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee about reforming the Electoral Count Act — a vaguely worded 1887 law that governs the counting of each state’s electoral votes for president.

The once obscure law became a focal point of Trump’s scheme to remain in power as he pressured Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject votes for Joe Biden from certain states during the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

Nearly 150 Republicans maintained objections to electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania, even after the violence that broke out at the U.S. Capitol.

“We were all there on Jan. 6,” Manchin said in his testimony. “That happened, that was for real. It was not a visit from friends back home. We have a duty and responsibility to make sure it never happens again.”

Collins and Manchin introduced legislation in late July aimed at modernizing the law after months of negotiation with a group of 16 senators. On Wednesday, they urged colleagues to pass what they said are sensible and desperately needed reforms during this Congress.

“In four out of the past six presidential elections, the Electoral Count Act’s process for counting electoral votes has been abused with frivolous objections being raised by members of both parties,” Collins told the committee. “But it took the violent breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6 to really shine a spotlight on how urgent the need for reform was.”

The first bill — the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act — would raise the threshold for lawmakers to raise objections to state electors. Under current law, one House member and one senator are needed to raise an objection. In their proposal, one-fifth of the House and the Senate would be needed to object.

That measure would also clarify the role of the vice president as purely ministerial, after debate over whether Pence had the authority to unilaterally change, reject or halt the counting of electoral votes.

“It unambiguously clarifies that the vice president … is prohibited from interfering with electoral votes,” Manchin said.

The second bill would double the penalty under federal law for individuals who threaten or intimidate election officials, poll watchers, voters or candidates from one year to two years.

Earlier this summer, former election officials testified before the Jan. 6 committee on the threats they faced in the wake of the 2020 election.

Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, a mother-daughter duo from Georgia, described how being the target of a Twitter post from Trump — in which he falsely alleged they were smuggling suitcases of ballots — upended their lives and careers.

Both women said they’re afraid to use their names, and Freeman was told by the FBI she had to leave her home for two months because of threats.

“I haven’t been anywhere at all,” she said. I’ve gained about 60 pounds. I just don’t do nothing anymore. I don’t want to go anywhere. All because of lies — for me doing my job, same thing I’ve been doing forever.”

The Senate Rules and Administration Committee on Wednesday also heard from a panel of experts on elections and governance studies on the proposed changes to the Electoral Count Act.

Bob Bauer, a scholar in residence at New York University School of Law, said legal scholars have long called for reform and that the bills offered by Manchin and Collins are a “vast improvement over existing law.”

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(WASHINGTON) — A leading House Democrat on Wednesday backtracked on comments she made Tuesday that she doubts President Joe Biden will renew his bid for the presidency in 2024 — a highly unusual break from the party’s standard-bearer.

The White House has said repeatedly Biden intends to run for reelection.

When asked during a debate if he should run again, New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who is currently seeking reelection for the Empire State’s 12th Congressional District, told debate moderators from NY1: “I don’t believe he’s running.”

Maloney is in a hotly contested primary, in part due to redistricting that pits her against another Capitol Hill veteran, Rep. Jerry Nadler. The pair face off on Aug. 23.

Nadler told debate moderators on Tuesday that it was “too early to say” if Biden would run again in 2024, adding that such speculation “doesn’t serve the purpose of the Democratic Party to deal with that until after the midterms.”

Maloney’s answer was quickly seized on by the Republican National Committee and circulated on social media.

Maloney is no political novice. The chair of the House Oversight Committee has served in Congress for nearly 30 years, and her prognosis of Biden’s prospects are at odds with some others in the party: The Democratic National Committee and the White House — as well as congressional leaders like Sen. Chuck Schumer — have aligned on another potential Biden-Kamala Harris ticket. The president previously told ABC News’ David Muir that he would run as long as his health remained good.

Maloney tweaked her remarks somewhat Wednesday morning, tweeting that she would “absolutely support President Biden, if he decides to run for re-election.”

“Biden’s leadership securing historic investments for healthcare, climate & economic justice prove once again why he is the strong and effective leader we need right now,” she said.

Still, Maloney is not alone in her reservations: Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., recently told local media that he doesn’t believe Biden should seek a second term. “I think the country would be well-served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats to step up,” Phillips said.

Later, in a statement to The Minnesota Star Tribune, he added: “Under no condition can we afford another four years of Donald Trump, and while Joe Biden was clearly the right candidate at the right time two years ago, it’s my hope that both major parties put forward new candidates of principle, civility, and integrity in 2024.”

Minnesota House colleague Angie Craig then cited Phillips this week when she said that there needs to be a “new generation of leadership.”

At 79, Biden is the oldest-ever serving president — breaking a record set by his predecessor, Donald Trump, now 76.

Biden last month defended his popularity among Democrats, telling ABC News that a New York Times/Siena College poll showing a majority of his party preferring another 2024 nominee also found that 92% of Democrats said they’d vote for him in another race with Trump.

And among all voters, the poll found, Biden would best Trump 44% to 41%.

Biden told ABC News in December that the prospect of such a rematch was appealing.

“You’re trying to tempt me now,” Biden told Muir then, laughing. “Why would I not run against Donald Trump for the nominee?” he added. “That’ll increase the prospect of running.”

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(OVERLAND PARK, Kan.) — Abortion rights opponents in Kansas vowed to keep fighting after voters here decisively rejected removing the right to abortion from the state constitution in the first state-level test since the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections.

“This setback is not going to stop us. Our resolve has never been stronger than in this very moment,” Peter Northcott, executive director of Kansans for Life said following Tuesday’s defeat.

Coming just weeks after the Roe v. Wade decision, organizers on both sides said voters were more energized and engaged, leading to record turnout despite the issue being decided in a primary in a midterm year when numbers are historically lower.

As of Tuesday morning, more than 298,618 Kansans had cast ballots compared to the 2018 primaries during which only 89,449 had voted early, according to the Kansas secretary of state’s office.

The “Value them Both” amendment centered on a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling that protected abortion under the state constitution.

If the amendment had passed, it would have given the state’s GOP-controlled legislature the power to pass new abortion restrictions.

With 99% of the expected vote counted as of 8:31 a.m. Wednesday, “No” led with 59% to “Yes” at 41%

Kansas currently permits abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, although regulations include requirements for counseling, parental consent for minors, and a waiting period.

“I think that Kansas can make a statement to other states and show them that, even though we are normally Republican, we are not letting this be a political choice,” Jackie Clapper told ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott while canvassing with Kansans for Constitutional Freedom ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

“We are making this to be a health care choice a right to be able to preserve your choice to make choice decisions for your own body,” she said.

Abortion rights opponents say the issue is far from settled.

“If the last 50 years haven’t shown anything we’ve been fighting we’re not going to stop fighting until every woman is supported, every every father is supported, every child is supported. There’s nobody that’s unwanted and nobody wants to ever give up,” Mary Kissel, told ABC News at the Value them Both coalition watch party.

The ballot question read, in part, “Shall the following be adopted? Regulation of abortion. Because Kansans value both women and children, the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion. To the extent permitted by the constitution of the United States, the people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, laws that account for circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to save the life of the mother.”

It continued, “A vote for the Value Them Both Amendment would affirm there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion, and would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion. A vote against the Value Them Both Amendment would make no changes to the constitution of the state of Kansas, and could restrict the people, through their elected state legislators, from regulating abortion by leaving in place the recently recognized right to abortion.”

Following Tuesday’s defeat, the coalition claimed “misinformation” and “confusion that misled Kansans about the amendment.”

“As our state becomes an abortion destination, it will be even more important for Kansans to support our pregnancy resource centers, post-abortive ministries, and other organizations that provide supportive care to women facing unexpected pregnancies. We will be back,” the coalition said in a statement to ABC News.

Voters waiting in line also expressed confusion about the amendment, many saying that while they eventually understood what they were voting on, they had to make an extra effort to figure it out.

Celia Maris, a Democrat who voted “no” on the proposed amendment, said she had to read the wording multiple times, saying, “I think they need to explain it because not everybody can understand the terminology.”

At the same time, she said the confusion made her want to turn out. “I made a point to come and vote today even more.”

Christine Matthews, a “yes” voter, said it wasn’t clear what the amendment would do and wouldn’t do.

“I do think that some people think that if you vote no, then you will totally go back to having a national legal abortion situation. I also think that people think if you vote “yes,” that that is just going to completely wipe out abortion completely. I know neither of those was true.”

Tuesday’s vote was seen as a bellwether in a post-Roe world and will set a precedent for other states considering similar abortion measures.

President Joe Biden used Kansas’ ballot amendment defeat to call on Congress to “listen to the will of the American people and restore the protections of Row as federal law.”

“This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and show have the right to make their own health care decisions,” he said in a statement.

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