After Roe’s fall, Mississippi Democrats wrestle with backing a ‘pro-life’ candidate for governor
OXFORD, Miss. — In Mississippi’s first governor’s election since the fall of Roe v. Wade — which shuttered clinics across the South and drove pregnant women across state lines for care — abortion rights aren’t on the ballot.
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and his Democratic challenger, Brandon Presley, both support the state’s sweeping abortion ban.
That has left some Democratic voters here wrestling with deeply held convictions about abortion rights in a surprisingly competitive governor’s race: Should they support Presley’s “pro-life” campaign, which promises to provide a desperately needed lift for vulnerable families? Or should they withhold their vote in protest, which could help Reeves, a conservative who critics say hasn’t done enough to address some of the state’s most persistent socioeconomic challenges, win a second term?
Texas city council candidate arrested on child porn charges on eve of Election Day
Brad Benson, a Granbury City Council candidate in Texas' Hood County, was arrested yesterday and accused of possession of child pornography, according to a police report obtained by NBC News.
The Republican Party of Granbury said in a statement that it was notified this morning of a law enforcement operation involving Benson.
It said that "the Executive committee has conferred, spoken with law enforcement, confirmed more substantial information and unanimously withdraws their support for Mr. Benson."
"Crimes of this degree tear at the heart and soul of society, and we condemn them in the strongest terms. The Republican Party stands for conservative, family values and the protection of children. These heinous acts are antithetical to what Republicans stand for," the party said. "It is time for the justice system to act and if Mr. Benson is proven guilty, the punishment needs to be swift and severe."
Benson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reeves wins undecided voter over on economy
Clad in a hot-pink campaign T-shirt, Kathy McDade waved a campaign sign as polling traffic started to pick up late this afternoon at a precinct in Flowood, Mississippi, about 10 miles north of Jackson.
McDade was there to support Brent Bailey, a Republican running for re-election to the state’s Public Service Commission. McDade, whose family once owned a local grocery store chain in Jackson, said she voted for Republican Gov. Tate Reeves before her volunteer shift.
“He’s always had that support, because we are businesspeople,” she said.
After he cast his ballot, Terry Beck, an independent, said he struggled with whether to vote for Reeves before he made a final decision this morning. He ultimately voted for Reeves, he said, because the state is in “fair shape economically.”
On the campaign trail, Reeves has touted investments in workforce development and major economic projects expected to bring jobs paying above the state’s average salary.
“He has the ability to work with industry and other income-generating entities,” said Beck, a retired State Health Department employee.
He acknowledged one policy area, however, over which he disagrees with Reeves: “We need to pass Medicaid expansion. Period.”
NBC News Exit Poll: Ohio voters trust Republican Party more on the economy
Nearly half of Ohio voters today said that when it comes to the economy, they trust the Republican Party more than the Democratic Party, according to the NBC News Exit Poll of early and Election Day voters. By contrast, 42% trust the Democratic Party more to handle the economy.
Self-identified Democrats and Republicans sided with their own party on the issue. Among independents, 44% said they trust the Republican Party more to handle the economy, while 38% said they trust the Democratic Party more, the poll found.
NBC News Exit Poll: Most Ohio voters unhappy with decision overturning Roe v. Wade
Sixty percent of Ohio voters today said they are dissatisfied or angry about the Supreme Court decision last year that overturned Roe v. Wade, according to the NBC News Exit Poll of early and Election Day voters.
Thirty-five percent had positive views of the Supreme Court’s decision, with 18% saying they were enthusiastic and 17% more saying they were satisfied.
Issue 1 on the ballot today asks whether the right to an abortion should be added to Ohio's constitution. NBC News has not projected the outcome.
How election denialism is affecting a county in Virginia.
NBC News Exit Poll: Ohio voters say Biden and Trump shouldn’t run in 2024
Ohio voters today largely disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president, according to results from the NBC News Exit Poll of early and Election Day voters. Fifty-seven percent said they disapprove of the job he's doing, compared to 41% who said they approve.
Negative views of the president extend to his re-election campaign, with just over 7 in 10 Ohio voters saying they do not think he should be running for another term.
The Republican front-runner, former President Donald Trump, has more support for 2024, but not much more, the poll found. Only about one-third of Ohio voters said he should be running again.
NBC News Exit Poll: Majority of Ohio voters think abortion should be legal
Abortion is on the ballot in Ohio today, and a majority of voters think it should be legal in all or most cases, according to the NBC News Exit Poll of early and Election Day voters.
About 6 in 10 voters said they think abortion should be legal, with 29% saying it should be legal in all cases and 33% saying it should be legal in most cases. About a quarter said they think abortion should be illegal in most cases, while 11% said it should be illegal in all cases.
Issue 1 on the ballot today asks if the right to an abortion should be added to Ohio's constitution. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET; NBC News has not made a projection on the outcome.
Ohio GOP Senate candidate says ballot measure would let a rapist ‘force’ a woman to get an abortion
Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno falsely claimed in a recent interview that Issue 1 — the ballot measure seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution — would allow a rapist to “force” a woman to have an abortion.
The remark by Moreno, a businessman, is the latest from groups and individuals opposed to Issue 1 to mischaracterize the proposal by tying it to parental rights.
“As a dad of two girls, it’s about having that girl be able to be raped and having a rapist force her to have an abortion — all without your consent — as a minor,” Moreno said in an Oct. 12 episode of the RestoreLiberty.US podcast.
Earlier in the podcast, Moreno mischaracterized Issue 1 as being about “on-demand abortion, late-term abortion, stripping parental rights.” If passed, he said, it will have “opened a door to transgender surgeries, transgender mutilation of children.”
Nonpartisan legal experts say his remarks are rife with inaccuracies and falsehoods.
Vivek Ramaswamy says he's voting against abortion rights and marijuana legalization ballot measures in Ohio
Speaking to NBC News outside of a polling location, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he would vote against major ballot measures on abortion rights and marijuana legalization.
“I’ll be voting 'no' on both,” he said when asked about how he intends to vote on both issues, adding he thinks "it is appropriate for the abortion issue to be handled by states.”
“But I think it’s also important for the states to come up with the correct answer here," he added. "And I reject any constitutional measure, like the one being proposed today, that could be interpreted to allow abortion up to the life, up to the time of birth. That’s wrong.”
"Parental consent is also paramount," he said. "The fact that this would strip back parental consent rights, I do think parents have rights over minors to be able to help them make those right decisions."
Asked about the ballot measure on marijuana legalization, Ramaswamy said the issue should only be discussed at the federal level.
“I think that there’s room for reasonable discussion at the federal level about what these policies should be, but I don’t think we’re doing a service to the rule of law in this country, where we have continual departures" between state laws and federal law, he said.
“I am open to a rational discussion about what, for example, veterans who suffer from certain conditions of pain or PTSD might be have available to them. Let’s have that discussion at the federal level," he said. "That’s where the federal drug laws are. But right now, at the state level, I do not think it is healthy for our country to see further chaos and confusion and conflicts between state and federal law.”