What Went Down During The May 17 Primary Elections

Only ten percent of the vote is reported, but Jeremy Shaffer looks like he’s pulling ahead in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania’s 17th District. He’s tried to position himself as more moderate on some issues, and has said he probably would have voted for Biden’s infrastructure bill, and has also said he thinks it should be up to the states to decide on abortion. His opponents are positioning themselves as more conservative, but have been trailing in fundraising and endorsements, and are behind in the early vote.

Like our colleagues said, there’s plenty of evidence that moderates win elections. But increasingly they’re getting discouraged and not running. This is especially the case among Republican women, as Danielle Thomsen, a political scientist at the University of California, Irvine, has written. So you have to ask if moderate (women) are opting out, who is opting in?

Holly, that’s interesting but not surprising. I’ve been speaking with a lot of experts who’ve told me that most Americans don’t know a lot about what the abortion laws are and generally didn’t think Roe would be overturned. If it is, which it looks like it will be, I wonder if the issue will increase in importance for some voters.