Thousands of Americans took to the polls on the night of Nov. 7 for the 2023 off-year elections. With the 2024 presidential campaign beginning earlier this year, the results of this election could have severe outcomes. While recent polls have shown Republican candidate Donald Trump ahead of Democratic candidate President Joe Biden, the Republican party suffered big losses following the general election.
In Virginia, Democrats regained control of the state legislature, and in Kentucky, they retained the governorship. The biggest win for the Democratic party seems to be the increasingly high amounts of pro-abortion policies. The most noteworthy was the resounding adoption of a referendum to include abortion rights in the Ohio constitution. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion rights have, in fact, prevailed every time they have been put on the ballot. Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) of Virginia was unable to seize control of the state assembly. This implies that he will be unable to approve his 15-week “limit” on abortions, which might potentially jeopardize his chances of running for president in 2024. Republicans trying to demonstrate to voters that they can win over people by uniting around what they see as a moderate stance on abortion has suffered a setback with the Virginia GOP’s defeat. If they had been successful, the GOP would have had a potentially effective means of countering one of the Democrats’ main political advantages going into 2024.
University sophomore Caroline Martin explained her reasoning for not voting red this year. “I’m usually very Republican leaning when it comes to elections”, she explains, “but I had to abstain from voting this year because of what the Republican party has done the last two years regarding abortion.”
Many members of the party believe that the campaign strategies the Republicans took prior to the election were weaker than those of the Democrats. Where the GOP struggled in campaign strategies, the Democratic party flourished. Democratic nominees defeated multiple Republican candidates around the nation, seemingly fulfilling a risky Democratic strategy that involved spending millions of dollars to elevate these individuals. A Reuters assessment shows that Democratic organizations invested a minimum of $51.5 million in the Republican primary this year. However, they didn’t always achieve their desired outcome: the candidate they were endorsing the most lost the primary in races in Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, and California. All eight Democratic candidates who benefited from the plan were expected to win their contests, suggesting that the risk paid off. The outcomes might serve as a model for the presidential election in 2024.
As previously mentioned, the 2024 presidential election is looking more positive for the GOP than it is for the Democrats. With the President and the Democratic party’s stance on the current situation in Israel and Palestine, many of the voters who elected Biden are hesitant to vote for him for a second term. Biden has lost a significant amount of support over the years. Still, his continued backing of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians has cost him a great deal of voters’ support, particularly Middle Eastern and Muslim voters, a demographic that had previously been very supportive of his presidency.
One of these voters is Tara Jennabi. A senior at the University, Jennabi feels hesitant in her decision to vote for him in 2024. “I voted for him in the 2020 election, I absolutely despise his stance on the situation in Palestine,” she said, “His lying and continuous support for genocide are not the qualities I want to see in the president of our country.”
“On the other hand, I dislike Trump’s policies [Regarding the Middle East] as equally as Biden’s. This new election season is a lose-lose for the Middle Eastern community.” Jennabi is not the only voter who feels this way, as many have expressed their distaste for both Trump and Biden and their reluctance to vote next year. This conflict could cause a decrease in voting for the 2024 election.
