Arizona’s abortion law repeal comes as independents trust Biden more on issue
The ruling from Arizona’s highest court reinstating a near-total ban on abortions has catapulted the issue to the forefront in a 2024 swing state that has absorbed an influx of independent voters.
On Wednesday, after weeks of mounting pressure, the Republican-led state House of Representatives voted to repeal the law. The Senate, which also has a GOP majority, is poised to pass the measure and send it to the Democratic governor to sign.
The action showed how high the stakes are in Arizona. Donald Trump, who has taken credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, had said the law went too far. It also weighed on the minds of independent voters, who Republicans try to court through issues like migration and the southern border. In the Bloomberg News/morning Consult poll released this week, independents in Arizona said that on abortion, they trust President Joe Biden by 12 percentage points over his GOP rival.
“I don’t see a world where if abortion is the top concern for independent voters that it’s a good night for Republicans — no matter what’s done to mitigate it between now and November,” said Brian Seitchik, Trump’s Arizona state director in 2016 and regional political director in 2020. “Any time we as Republicans are not talking about inflation and the border, we’re losing.”
And the influence of independents has only grown since 2020. To capture Arizona’s prized electoral votes, one has to win Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. Those choosing not to identify with any party are outpacing new Republicans and Democrats respectively by nearly two to one, according to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.
Arizonans’ politically independent nature — a libertarian streak, some say — goes back decades to state champions like Republican U.S. Senators John Mccain and Barry Goldwater. Biden won independents over in 2020, the first Democrat to win
Arizona’s presidential contest this century. And voters in 2022 selected Democrats Katie Hobbs and Mark Kelly to be governor and senator.
To appeal to this core bloc of independents, Democrats must maintain a focus on the abortion issue, which also blunts conversation around the border and inflation. The move this week by some of the state’s Republicans attempts to dislodge it as an issue. The repeal would mean Arizonans will be able to have abortions until 15 weeks of pregnancy. That was the case before their court reinstated the 1864 restrictions, which was able to occur because the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 took away the nationwide right to the procedure.
As one independent voter illustrates, the abortion ruling didn’t automatically mean a vote for Biden. Ray Kimball is one of the thousands of new Phoenix-area residents who, after arriving in late 2022, declined to pick a party affiliation after being a lifelong Republican. He hasn’t decided on a presidential contender yet.