Welcome to the Wednesday, April 17, Brew.
By: Ethan Sorell
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Voters in Arizona and eight other states may decide on abortion in 2024
- Nine candidates are running in the Republican primary in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District
- Candidate filing deadlines scheduled for the next two weeks
Voters in Arizona and eight other states may decide on abortion in 2024
In last Tuesday’s Brew, we looked at abortion-related ballot measures certified for the November ballot in Florida, Maryland, and New York. Today, we turn our attention to Arizona, which could become the next state to decide on abortion this year.
Arizona for Abortion Access reported gathering 506,892 signatures to place an initiative on the ballot that would create a state constitutional right to an abortion. Campaigns must gather at least the number of valid signatures equal to 15 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election – this year, 383,923 – to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Arizona.
If the campaign submits a sufficient number of valid signatures to the secretary of state by July 3, the amendment will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.
On April 9, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a law enacted in 1864 prohibiting abortion in most circumstances except to save the life of the mother. The law requires prosecution for “a person who provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman, unless it is necessary to save her life.”
The court’s ruling takes effect on April 23. The previous law permitted abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) supports the proposed ballot initiative. She said, “To the people across Arizona who are concerned about the future of abortion rights in our state, who are worried about their bodily autonomy, who don’t want to see the freedoms of their wives, sisters, and daughters restricted, you can make your two cents known at the ballot box, and I encourage you to do so.”
Cindy Dahlgren, a representative for the It Goes Too Far campaign opposing the abortion initiative, said, “Abortion is legal in Arizona up to 15 weeks, and we have common sense safety precautions to protect girls and women. It’s reckless to lose those safety precautions just to expand abortion beyond what most voters support.”
On April 15, Axios reported that Arizona House Republicans may put competing abortion measures on the Nov. 5 ballot. This measure might ask voters to uphold the Legislature’s ability to regulate abortion or to codify existing abortion restrictions. When there are competing measures on the ballot in Arizona, the one that gets the most “yes” votes wins, and supersedes the others on any points of conflict.
Eight other states may decide on abortion in 2024: Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota.
Where have abortion measures been on the ballot since Dobbs?
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade, seven abortion-related measures appeared on the ballot.
There were six abortion measures on the ballot in 2022 — the most on record for a single year. Measures were approved in California, Michigan, and Vermont. Measures were defeated in Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana. The most recent abortion-related ballot measure to be passed by voters was Ohio Issue 1, in November 2023.
Here are the next three notable dates regarding potential abortion ballot measures
- April 18: Signature deadline for the Colorado Abortion Ban Initiative (2024)
- April 26: Signature deadline for the Colorado Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative (2024)
- May 1: Signature deadline in Missouri
Click here for a complete list of ballot measure petitions, deadlines, and requirements.
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of 2024 abortion-related ballot measures and state context. You can follow abortion-related measure information on this page.
Nine candidates are running in the Republican primary in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District
Throughout the year, we’ll bring you coverage of the most compelling elections – the battlegrounds we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive. You can catch our previous coverage of other battleground races here.
Today, we’re looking at Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, where nine candidates are running in the May 7 Republican primary. Incumbent Rep. Victoria Spartz (R) and Chuck Goodrich (R) lead in polls and local media attention.
Spartz initially announced she would not run for re-election in February 2023. According to The Washington Post, “several campaign strategists have noted the difficulty she has had in regaining support from her constituents after Goodrich made inroads campaigning for the months while she was out of the race.”
Both candidates have criticized their opponents’ foreign policy, with Goodrich accusing Spartz of prioritizing Ukraine’s interests over the United States and Spartz accusing Goodrich of prioritizing China’s interests over the United States.
Spartz, first elected in 2020, is running on her record in Congress. Spartz says she is responsible for “12 bills signed into law and many policies developed from scratch” during her first two terms. Spartz says her upbringing in the Soviet Union guides her policy views. Spartz says, “Limited government is always better, and financial and healthcare decisions should be made by individuals in the free market, not bureaucrats and special interests.”
Goodrich is a member of the Indiana House of Representatives and the owner of Gaylor Electric. Goodrich says he is running to promote “conservative principles, personal responsibility, the dignity of every individual, and a truly free market.” Goodrich says he is focused on ending generational poverty by introducing a law in the state legislature allowing students to receive vocational training without affecting their family’s eligibility to receive benefits.
Also running in the primary are Raju Chinthala (R), Max Engling (R), Mark Hurt (R), Patrick Malayter (R), Matthew Peiffer (R), Lonnie Powell (R), and Larry Savage Jr. (R).
All 435 seats are up for election. Republicans have a 218 to 213 majority with four vacancies. As of March 2024, 42 members of the U.S. House announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place, click here.
Several independent election analysts, including the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales, and Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball, rated the district as a safe or solid Republican seat, meaning the winner of the Republican primary will likely win the general election.
Candidate filing deadlines scheduled for the next two weeks
With so many 2024 primary contests taking place, it is a great time to take a look at important upcoming filing deadlines that candidates need to be aware of to run in their state’s primary election. There are fewer upcoming state filing deadlines in the next two weeks (two) compared to our last couple of reports from April 1 (six) and March 18 (seven).
In order to get on the ballot, candidates must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether and how candidates appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level and apply to candidates running for state or congressional offices.
Two states have upcoming candidate filing deadlines in the next two weeks. The map and bulleted list below show which states have candidate filing deadlines between April 17 and April 30.
- Michigan: April 23 (statewide candidate filing deadline)
- South Dakota: April 30 (statewide deadline for unaffiliated candidates)
Looking back
The six states listed below had candidate filing deadlines scheduled in the past two weeks.
- Montana: April 9 (statewide filing deadline for write-in candidates)
- New York: April 4 (statewide candidate filing deadline)
- North Dakota: April 8 (statewide candidate filing deadline)
- Oklahoma: April 5 (statewide candidate filing deadline, including unaffiliated)
- Tennessee: April 4 (statewide candidate filing deadline, including unaffiliated)
- Virginia: April 4 (statewide candidate filing deadline)
Looking ahead
We’ll bring you all the information you need to know to run in next month’s contests, so stay tuned!