The day before his first election to Congress in August 2022, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, flanked by New York Governor Kathy Hochul and other campaign supporters, delivered the final speech of his campaign.
His address was very different from the one he might have imagined a few months earlier.
Ryan — a Democrat who graduated from West Point and served two tours of duty in Iraq — stood in front of a wall-sized American flag in a room often used for weddings and corporate dinners and talked mostly about the law to abortion.
He spoke of “fundamental freedoms and rights being taken away”, adding that “control over the lives and bodies (of women) has been taken away”.
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“Some of the greatest threats in our country’s history come from here, at home,” he warned.
Ryan’s victory in the special election in a closely divided U.S. district in New York’s Hudson Valley region was the first competitive federal election in the United States following the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling. overturn Roe v. Wade.
He focused his television ad campaign and stump speech on arguing his opposition to the court’s decision and mustered enough votes to defeat a formidable Republican challenger and win the seat.
In 2024, as Ryan tries to win another term in his politically purple New York, he doubles down. access to abortion.
In an interview from her congressional district, in the mountains near the Hudson River in Gardiner, New York, Ryan told CBS News that women’s reproductive rights “will be in my stump speech.” In my paid TV ads. It will be in the countryside. mailings. This will be part of the message when I knock on doors and make calls.
“The whole framework and direction of our campaign is to expand freedoms,” he said. Control of the House rests with New York. In a country with few truly moderate, vibrant congressional districts, several of the remaining competitive races are in the Empire State. The campaigns are heavily funded and equipped for combat.
And this particular political battleground appears to be centered on women’s reproductive rights.
Both parties are ready to fight for this.
A “brand problem”
Republican Party campaign leaders urged their elected officials and opponents not to abandon the issue of abortion and reproductive rights to Democrats.
This approach comes after the conclusion of Roe v. Wade posed a massive political challenge to the GOP on the campaign trail. midterms 2022. House Republicans have struggled to find a coherent way to respond to the end of decades of federal abortion protection, and hopes of a red wave this cycle were dashed when the GOP won than a narrow majority in what had been considered before the Supreme Court’s decision to be a party-friendly environment.
Republicans are now trying to avoid making the same mistake again.
Rep. Richard Hudson, a North Carolina Republican who now chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and is involved in efforts to win seats in New York, told CBS News, “Republicans have a ‘problem brand” on abortion, not an issue. Most voters think the Republican position is a very narrow and extreme position, which is not the case. Many candidates have many different positions, from states’ rights to reasonable limits.
“I just tell my candidates and my members, ‘Speak about what you believe. Don’t let it define you.'”
A Republican Party official told CBS News that the national campaign committee circulated a memo earlier this year to advise candidates on how to best argue and prepare to campaign on the issue.
New York Republicans were already considering doing so.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a first-term Long Island Republican, told CBS News, “I stood up to my own party to stop legislation that would have restricted access to mifepristone, and I made clear that I would reject any pressure to adopt it. a national ban on abortion at the federal level.
D’Esposito and Rep. Marc Molinaro, a first-term Republican from the Catskills, were the first Republican members of the House to co-sponsor a Democratic proposal to codify federal protections for in vitro fertilization.
The legislation became a rallying point for Democrats after a controversial ruling by an Alabama state court briefly halted IVF services for women in the state. Molinaro and D’Esposito made headlines in their hometown media by supporting the bill.
Molinaro told CBS News, “I’ve heard it from my constituents. I know firsthand the value and importance of making sure IVF is accessible to anyone who wants to expand their family. I think it’s a very special thing.”
A third New York Republican in the House, Rep. Mike Lawler of Westchester County, officially joined as a co-sponsor of the bill earlier this month.
Alison Esposito, a Republican seeking to defeat Rep. Ryan in November, posted a lengthy statement on abortion prominently on her campaign website. Esposito, a former Orange County NYPD commander, told CBS News: “Like most Americans, I believe in reasonable exceptions like rape, incest and the life of the mother.” »
“I believe in empowering and supporting women and babies at all stages of pregnancy so that they have access to more options in terms of financial resources, health resources and emotional support,” Esposito said.
“Speaking out of both sides of your mouth”
Several New York Democrats acknowledged to CBS News that Republicans are counterattacking more aggressively on the issue of abortion this election cycle. Ryan accused Esposito and Republicans of “muddying the waters” on their positions on women’s reproductive rights.
“The Americans will understand through this nonsense,” he said.
Laura Gillen, a Democrat who served as a town supervisor in Hempstead, New York, is trying to oust D’Esposito, in part by challenging his positions on abortion.
“He tried to talk out of both sides of his mouth when he said he wouldn’t support a national ban on abortion,” Gillen said of D’Esposito. “He has a record since he’s been in office – supporting federal regulations restricting women’s access to women’s reproductive health care.”
Democrats are optimistic about their strategy of emphasizing abortion rights and already used it in February, defeating a Republican and electing Democrat Tom Suozzi in a special House election on Long Island. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ran ads targeting Suozzi’s Republican challenger, Mazi Pilip, arguing that Pilip was “part of the extreme wing of the Republican Party that wants to strip you of your rights and benefits,” one ad said. “They would ban abortion even in New York, even in cases of rape or incest.”
In an April 5 memo, the DCCC raised the prospect of ballot initiatives codifying abortion rights and recent court decisions significantly limiting abortion rights in Arizona and Florida.
“This further ensures that reproductive freedom will remain a critical issue for voters in November, leaving vulnerable House Republicans and Republican candidates grappling with their anti-abortion and anti-freedom positions,” the memo said. “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will ensure that House Republicans’ efforts to ban abortion nationwide are a priority as voters head to the polls to protect their reproductive rights.”
Democrat Josh Riley, a lawyer and former congressional aide who is challenging Molinaro in the House district representing southern New York and the Catskills, pressed the issue of abortion rights early in his campaign.
“Right now, people want to restore Roe v. Wade and they want pro-choice candidates,” Riley said. “And that’s what I am.”
Riley said, “I try to meet voters where they are, by knocking on doors. I keep hearing that voters are terrified of what this Republican Congress is doing to our freedoms.
Federal campaign finance records through the end of March show that millions of dollars have already been raised by New York’s congressional candidates this cycle, which could help decide who will control the House. Lawler has outperformed his better-funded likely Democratic challenger, while D’Esposito has a financial advantage over the top Democratic fundraiser in his race. But Riley has both a significant fundraising and cash flow advantage over Republican incumbent Molinaro.
Spending from outside groups will also be key to these races.
House Majority PAC, a top campaign spender for Democrats, is already prepared to devote at least $18 million to closing New York congressional races, according to AdImpact data.
Molinaro, a longtime Dutchess County leader who won his seat in 2022, is trying to fend off Riley’s challenge by presenting himself as a “pragmatist” who has helped heal divisions in a particularly toxic House this year . He emphasized his stance in support of federal protections for IVF as a bipartisan and representative of his House district, which stretches from New York’s far-flung suburbs north to Binghamton.
Molinaro told CBS News: “At a time when we are a divided nation – and too many issues here in Washington divide Republicans and Democrats – there is consensus on IVF. And I hope that by taking the lead and showing that it’s important to establish that protection. , others will follow.”
Molinaro has suffered the impact of powerful policies on the issue of women’s reproductive rights. He was the Republican who lost the special election to Ryan in that heated August 2022 special election.
Scott MacFarlane
Grub5
