Abortion, AIPAC, and President Trump Winners in Bellwether Primaries
In ratifying a state court decision allowing an abortion before the passage of 22 weeks, Kansas’s was the referendum heard ’round the republic.
The biggest vote among Tuesday’s primaries did not feature a candidate. In a ballot measure on whether to strike from their state constitution the right to an abortion, Kansans overwhelmingly — 59 percent to 41 percent — chose to retain that right. The result was expected to be closer.
In ratifying a state court decision allowing an abortion before the passage of 22 weeks, Kansas’s was the vote heard ’round the republic. President Biden, cheering the outcome, intoned that “the American people must continue to use their voices to protect the right to women’s health care, including abortion.”
The vote, in the first plebiscite since Dobbs was decided, was one of several noteworthy votes on Tuesday. Also notable: Democratic Michiganders are going to stick with Israel, voting in that party’s congressional primary to reject a political scion who is a left-wing opponent of the Jewish state, Andy Levin, in favor of Congresswoman Haley Stevens.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee backed Ms. Stevens to the tune of more than $4 million in a race that was marred by acrimony. “I’m really Jewish,” Mr. Levin told MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan, to emphasize his sense of betrayal at the opposition he faced from pro-Israel groups. He has proposed a Two State Solution Act in Congress widely seen as biased against Israel.
A one-time head of AIPAC, David Victor, called Mr. Levin “more damaging than Rashida Tliab [sic] or Ilhan Omar,” two left-wing congresswomen. His defeat will likely be seen by both critics and detractors as a validation of AIPAC’s pivot toward a more direct role in funding political candidates supportive of Israel.
Along with abortion and AIPAC, another winner was President Trump. In Michigan’s Republican congressional primary, John Gibbs defeated Peter Meijer, one of only 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Mr. Trump. This race was widely seen as a test of Mr. Trump’s abiding sway.
Putting party over principles, Democrats poured money into the campaign of Mr. Gibbs, who has contested the 2020 election results, seeing him as an easier mark in the general election. This backing comes despite widespread calls by Democrats for Republicans to buck Mr. Trump. Mr. Meijer, who did just that, has expressed bitterness over this raw realpolitik on the left.
In Arizona, Mr. Trump’s endorsee, Blake Masters, sailed to victory in the Republican senatorial primary, while his candidate for governor, Kari Lake, appears headed for victory. Both defeated Republican candidates who resisted aligning themselves closely with Mr. Trump.
Another victorious candidate who garnered Mr. Trump’s endorsement was a state representative, Mark Finchem, who has faced disqualification efforts for questioning the 2020 election results. He grabbed the nomination for secretary of state. Arizona’s house speaker, Rusty Bowers, who memorably testified against Mr. Trump for the January 6 committee, will lose his race for state senate.
Mr. Masters’s victory is a notch in the belt not only of Mr. Trump but of an increasingly visible player in electoral politics, Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist who founded PayPal. He poured $15 million into a super PAC backing Mr. Masters, who was once a student of Mr. Thiel’s at Stanford Law School and then the chief operating officer at Thiel Capital.
In Missouri, Eric Schmitt secured the Republican nomination for Senate, defeating, among others, Eric Greitens, whose career has been marred by scandal. Mr. Trump’s planned endorsement in this race was difficult to discern, as he wrote he was “proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement.” There were, of course, two Erics running.