Tuesday’s Results Were About Issues, Not Individuals
This week, conservative Republicans were optimistic that the mid-term elections would bring sweeping changes in the U.S. House and Senate while Democrats were bracing themselves for the impact of losing control of Congress. We all hoped that issues like inflation, immigration, and parental rights would drive voters to the polls. Despite the less than stellar gains for conservatives, two underlying issues bubbled up that helped push Republicans toward victory: the abortion and transgender agendas.
Because of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, many Republican candidates were afraid to take a strong pro-life stance in left-leaning or moderate areas. The go-to response seemed to be, “I’ll leave it up to the states.” While handing the issue back to the states was the right decision for the Court to take, the abortion issue still matters on a federal level. Ensuring no taxpayer money toward abortions, conscience protections, life saving measures for babies, and prosecution of trafficking are essential policies to defend. While some are debating the role of Congress in restricting abortions on a federal level, they should, at the very least, uphold the fundamental right to life. Bills such as the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 61) that still allow state sovereignty do just that.
Another “hard-to-talk-about” subject is transgenderism. We have watched cancel culture reach its peak from the pro-transgender movement — from kicking people off social media to publicly lambasting comedians who dare to joke about the absurdities of this extremism. Now, it’s seeping into our schools to confuse children. Any candidate who is willing to take a hard stance against this is setting themselves up for immense criticism from the left. But to protect individuals from this evil agenda, conservatives need to be even more outspoken than they are.
After seeing the results of the election, it seems that taking a back seat on these issues was the wrong move. Several candidates in competitive races who refused to shy away from the subjects won their races. Eagle Forum PAC endorsed Senate candidates J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Ted Budd (R-NC) had single-digit leads in the polls but pulled off significant victories. Both were clearly pro-life and were willing to condemn the gender confusion movement. Vance unapologetically called proponents of transgenderism in the classroom “groomers” while Budd has a record of voting against codifying gay marriage, giving special protections to individuals based on their gender identity, and introduced legislation in the House that protects girls in sports.
The impact of abortion and transgender issues didn’t stop at federal elections. We saw massive victories on the state level, particularly in Governor races. LifeNews.com reported that the twelve Governors who previously signed an abortion ban won by wide margins. This included Florida Governor and Eagle Forum PAC endorsed Ron DeSantis who won his race by nineteen points. SBA Pro-Life America highlighted the Governors who signed heartbeat bills and were reelected. Those were Governors Mike DeWine from Ohio, Brian Kemp from Georgia, and Greg Abbott from Texas.
In order to be endorsed by Eagle Forum PAC, every candidate had to be outspokenly pro-life from conception to natural death and willing to fight against the transgender movement. We endorsed five U.S. Senate candidates and each won. In the U.S. House, we endorsed nine candidates and five pulled out victories. Then, on the state level, we endorsed three candidates of which two were victorious. To see the list of endorsements and information about each candidate, visit our website here.
We are still waiting for all the results to be reported, but as of today, the U.S. Senate is tied 48-48 with four races yet to be called (although Alaska, with rank-choice voting, will definitely elect a Republican). In the House of Representative, Republicans currently hold a majority of seats that have been decided at 210-198 with 27 races left to be counted. The Georgia Senate race between Republican Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock will head to a runoff which may decide the balance of the Senate next month. Eagle Forum PAC continues to watch the progression of these races and will keep you informed as results unfold.
