Pro-abortion rights, anti-abortion groups eye Nassau, Suffolk voters in 2024 elections
Republican Reps. Anthony D'Esposito of Island Park and Nick LaLota of Amityville, shown in March, are expected to be targets of pro-abortion rights groups in 2024. Credit: Howard Schnapp
WASHINGTON — In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded federal abortion protections, liberal and conservative groups have focused on the ruling’s possible impact in the 2024 elections, with groups on both sides of the issue viewing New York’s suburbs, including Nassau and Suffolk counties, as a key battleground.
Liberal groups including EMILY’s List and House Majority PAC that back Democratic candidates who oppose the Supreme Court ruling on June 24, 2022 have vowed to provide money and other resources to flip House seats won by Republicans such as Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (Island Park), Nick LaLota (Amityville) and George Santos (Nassau/Queens).
Conservative groups such as National Right to Life have pledged to support GOP candidates and whoever emerges as the Republican presidential nominee in an effort to protect the abortion decision by the court's conservative majority.
“Years ago, the advice to candidates always was ‘Don't talk about abortion … You can't win with it.’ I think Democrats now think they can win with it and they're gonna keep raising it and pushing it,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
The issue of abortion access has helped Democrats win support in key elections in Wisconsin, Michigan and Kansas. But in New York's midterms last year, the issue did little to tip the scales for congressional Democratic candidates in competitive suburban districts such as those on Long Island.
D’Esposito, LaLota and Santos won their open seats despite attempts by Democratic challengers to tie them to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling last year.
The court ruling overturned two cases that long had upheld federal abortion protections — Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood. Court conservatives wrote that the cases “must be overruled,” because the “Constitution makes no reference to abortion.”
New York Republicans essentially drowned out Democratic messaging on abortion access with a steady drumbeat depicting Democrats as soft on crime, said Larry Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University’s Center for Suburban studies.
“The Republican message succeeded in overwhelming whatever momentum the Democrats had with Dobbs,” Levy said. “This is not to say that abortion and Trumpism and other issues that played well for Democrats in other parts of the country did not concern Long Island voters. It’s just that fear of crime and inflation — threats to their personal and financial security — were much more immediate to their lives than abortion rights.”
Heading into 2024, liberal PACs, including EMILY’s List and NARAL-Pro Choice America, have vowed to ramp up efforts in New York to win back the six House seats won by Republicans in districts carried by President Joe Biden in 2020. Four were suburban seats held previously by Democrats.
EMILY’s List, a political action group that typically backs women Democratic candidates, announced in February it had placed D’Esposito, LaLota and Santos on the group’s “On Notice” list of 22 Republican “top targets to defeat in the 2024 election cycle.”
NARAL Senior National Political Director Ryan Stizlein said her group believes the road to winning back a Democratic majority in the House “leads right through" New York.
“We will be looking really closely at these races and the candidates and in plans to invest in those races, for sure,” Stizlein said.
All three freshman House Republicans from Long Island said during the 2022 campaign that they would not support a federal ban on abortion, asserting states should decide abortion policy.
Asked about the push by pro-abortion rights groups to unseat D'Esposito, his spokesman, Matt Capp, said: “Abortion is enshrined in state law in New York, and Congressman D’Esposito will continue to oppose any federal attempt to implement a nationwide abortion ban or limit access to abortion care in New York.”
LaLota spokesman Will Kiley said LaLota “believes in exceptions in the case of rape and incest and to save the life of the mother, and also like most Americans, he opposes abortion after the first trimester.”
Santos in a statement said he was "committed to the 10th Amendment." He was referring to the constitutional amendment asserting the federal government only has the powers outlined in the Constitution and all other unlisted powers and rights belong to the states or the American people.
Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, a group opposed to abortion that has chapters in all 50 states, said that while the group would not comment on specific plans in New York, it would work to support candidates who oppose public funding for abortion providers. After the Dobbs decision, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the state would direct $35 million to abortion providers.
“So certainly our people in various states that have what we would consider very radical extreme laws on abortion are going to try to do something, and maybe it's just bringing up the fact that parents have a right to be involved in that decision with a minor daughter,” Tobias said. “It might be getting tax dollars out of the abortion business … so certainly, we're going to be working in the states and continue to do what we can to pass pro-life laws if we can.”
David Garrow, a legal historian who has written extensively on U.S. abortion policy, said as the 2024 elections approach, polls show most Americans hold moderate views on abortion, but political discourse so far has been dominated by “absolutists.”
Garrow said years of polling show most Americans would agree on a ceiling on abortions of 12 to 16 weeks, "with exemptions for rape, incest, [and] serious health consequences for the health of the mother.
"The absolutists on both sides control the discussion, and that really harms the quality of representation that people get on this," Garrow said of the difficulty in enacting moderate policies on the issue.
WASHINGTON — In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded federal abortion protections, liberal and conservative groups have focused on the ruling’s possible impact in the 2024 elections, with groups on both sides of the issue viewing New York’s suburbs, including Nassau and Suffolk counties, as a key battleground.
Liberal groups including EMILY’s List and House Majority PAC that back Democratic candidates who oppose the Supreme Court ruling on June 24, 2022 have vowed to provide money and other resources to flip House seats won by Republicans such as Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (Island Park), Nick LaLota (Amityville) and George Santos (Nassau/Queens).
Conservative groups such as National Right to Life have pledged to support GOP candidates and whoever emerges as the Republican presidential nominee in an effort to protect the abortion decision by the court's conservative majority.
“Years ago, the advice to candidates always was ‘Don't talk about abortion … You can't win with it.’ I think Democrats now think they can win with it and they're gonna keep raising it and pushing it,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
WHAT TO KNOW
- In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded federal abortion protections, liberal and conservative groups have focused on the ruling’s possible impact on the 2024 elections.
- Groups on both sides of the issue view New York’s suburbs, including Nassau and Suffolk counties, as a key battleground.
- But in the 2022 midterm elections, the issue did little to tip the scales for Democratic House candidates in competitive suburban districts in New York.
The issue of abortion access has helped Democrats win support in key elections in Wisconsin, Michigan and Kansas. But in New York's midterms last year, the issue did little to tip the scales for congressional Democratic candidates in competitive suburban districts such as those on Long Island.
D’Esposito, LaLota and Santos won their open seats despite attempts by Democratic challengers to tie them to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling last year.
The court ruling overturned two cases that long had upheld federal abortion protections — Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood. Court conservatives wrote that the cases “must be overruled,” because the “Constitution makes no reference to abortion.”
Crime issue eclipsed abortion in key NY races
New York Republicans essentially drowned out Democratic messaging on abortion access with a steady drumbeat depicting Democrats as soft on crime, said Larry Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University’s Center for Suburban studies.
“The Republican message succeeded in overwhelming whatever momentum the Democrats had with Dobbs,” Levy said. “This is not to say that abortion and Trumpism and other issues that played well for Democrats in other parts of the country did not concern Long Island voters. It’s just that fear of crime and inflation — threats to their personal and financial security — were much more immediate to their lives than abortion rights.”
Heading into 2024, liberal PACs, including EMILY’s List and NARAL-Pro Choice America, have vowed to ramp up efforts in New York to win back the six House seats won by Republicans in districts carried by President Joe Biden in 2020. Four were suburban seats held previously by Democrats.
EMILY’s List, a political action group that typically backs women Democratic candidates, announced in February it had placed D’Esposito, LaLota and Santos on the group’s “On Notice” list of 22 Republican “top targets to defeat in the 2024 election cycle.”
NARAL Senior National Political Director Ryan Stizlein said her group believes the road to winning back a Democratic majority in the House “leads right through" New York.
“We will be looking really closely at these races and the candidates and in plans to invest in those races, for sure,” Stizlein said.
All three freshman House Republicans from Long Island said during the 2022 campaign that they would not support a federal ban on abortion, asserting states should decide abortion policy.
Asked about the push by pro-abortion rights groups to unseat D'Esposito, his spokesman, Matt Capp, said: “Abortion is enshrined in state law in New York, and Congressman D’Esposito will continue to oppose any federal attempt to implement a nationwide abortion ban or limit access to abortion care in New York.”
LaLota spokesman Will Kiley said LaLota “believes in exceptions in the case of rape and incest and to save the life of the mother, and also like most Americans, he opposes abortion after the first trimester.”
Santos in a statement said he was "committed to the 10th Amendment." He was referring to the constitutional amendment asserting the federal government only has the powers outlined in the Constitution and all other unlisted powers and rights belong to the states or the American people.
Anti-abortion groups set sites on public funding
Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, a group opposed to abortion that has chapters in all 50 states, said that while the group would not comment on specific plans in New York, it would work to support candidates who oppose public funding for abortion providers. After the Dobbs decision, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the state would direct $35 million to abortion providers.
“So certainly our people in various states that have what we would consider very radical extreme laws on abortion are going to try to do something, and maybe it's just bringing up the fact that parents have a right to be involved in that decision with a minor daughter,” Tobias said. “It might be getting tax dollars out of the abortion business … so certainly, we're going to be working in the states and continue to do what we can to pass pro-life laws if we can.”
David Garrow, a legal historian who has written extensively on U.S. abortion policy, said as the 2024 elections approach, polls show most Americans hold moderate views on abortion, but political discourse so far has been dominated by “absolutists.”
Garrow said years of polling show most Americans would agree on a ceiling on abortions of 12 to 16 weeks, "with exemptions for rape, incest, [and] serious health consequences for the health of the mother.
"The absolutists on both sides control the discussion, and that really harms the quality of representation that people get on this," Garrow said of the difficulty in enacting moderate policies on the issue.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
