Democrats for Life of America said Tuesday that 97% of its endorsed candidates won their races in last week’s election, which raises the question: Is there such a thing as a pro-life Democrat?
Certainly not in Congress, unless you count Rep. Henry Cuellar — and his record is mixed. But anti-abortion Democrats made it clear that they’re far from extinct by racking up victories in their bids for seats in state legislatures and county commissions.
Democrats for Life endorsed 39 candidates in the Nov. 5 election, and 37 of them won outright. Of the remaining two, one candidate lost, and the other — Sharon Weston Broome — is moving to a run-off in the race for mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana.
That’s an impressive win-loss percentage, especially in a year that saw the Democratic Party lose the White House and the Senate after doubling down on abortion rights as a campaign issue.
“While Democrats lost from sea to shining sea last week, pro-life Democrats won — 97% of our endorsed candidates won last week,” said Democrats for Life President Kristen Day in a Tuesday statement.
“Our party will have a fight over its future in the coming days and weeks, and here’s the truth: We are the best new way forward for the Democratic Party and America,” she said.
Most of the endorsed candidates captured legislative seats in Alaska, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, while a half-dozen won local contests for positions such as county executive, county commissioner and sheriff.
The state electing the most pro-life Democrats was Rhode Island, where 15 state House and Senate candidates were swept into office. Second was Massachusetts, which saw seven state legislators win their races.
Mr. Cuellar, the only congressional Democrat who describes himself as pro-life, won his congressional reelection bid in Texas, but he was not endorsed by Democrats for Life.
Ms. Day said her organization considers the congressman to be pro-life, commending him for “his willingness to stand up for the most vulnerable,” but cited two votes to the contrary.
“Unfortunately, Congressman Cuellar voted against two important measures: one requiring schools to inform pregnant students about available on-campus resources, and another allowing pregnancy support facilities to access TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] funds to assist families,” she said.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America gave him a grade of “F” for his votes in 2023 and 2024. He did vote for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, but his overall record was at odds with the group on 10 of the 13 measures on its scorecard.
Last week’s election saw pro-lifers snap their losing streak on abortion-rights ballot initiatives, defeating three of the 10 abortion-rights amendments on state ballots.
Voters also approved a Nebraska amendment backed by Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts that codified Nebraska’s current 12-week abortion limit, and defeated a competing Right to Abortion Initiative that would have added abortion rights to the state constitution.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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