President Joe Biden and the Democratic party are focusing heavily on abortion rights to gather support for the November elections, especially in Republican states that have imposed severe restrictions to the procedure.
One of the main areas of attention is Arizona, a battleground state that Biden closely won in 2020 and whose legislature recently imposed (and later repealed) a law banning practically all abortions in the state, even in cases of incest and rape.
However, even though abortion has so far proven to be a winning electoral issue, with pro-choice advocates winning every time enshrining rights was on the ballot since the overturning of Roe V. Wade in 2022, it is not looking to be the case for Biden at the moment.
A report by NBC News recalls a recent poll showing Biden behind Trump in the state (52% to 47%) even though almost two thirds of respondents said they would vote in favor a constitutional right to abortion and more trust Biden on the issue than Trump (48% to 37%).
Interviews with experts and pollsters also showed that local residents are currently prioritizing other issues, among them the economy and immigration. And there, Biden lags Trump. A New York Times/Siena College poll from this month showed that 61% have more confidence in Trump's handling of the economy, the figure being only 34% for Biden.
"Democrats know abortion is a 'good issue,' but here's the problem: It's leaning up against inflation, border security, which are, hands down, the top two issues for independents in Arizona," Mike Noble, CEO of polling firm Noble Predictive Insights, told the outlet.
Moreover, Republicans have an edge over Democrats when it comes to registered voters, with 35% of the electorate supporting the former and 29% doing so for the latter. That means Democrats will have to appeal to independents and some Republicans to repeat 2020's feat, and abortion is looking to be the tool of choice for that.
Arizona is among a handful of states moving toward putting abortion rights measures on the November ballot, but it has not yet been confirmed, as in Florida, Maryland and New York. State activists claimed in April that they had collected enough signatures to meet the threshold necessary to include the issue on the ballot, but authorities have yet to confirm that will be the case.
Other ten states are likely to take abortion rights measures on the ballot in November at the moment: Florida, Maryland and New York are confirmed, while Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri and Arkansas are still moving towards this.
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