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7 Non-Presidential Races to Watch in 2024

November 5, 2024

With election day upon us, all eyes are focused on the White House — but voters will determine a host of races nationwide that hold importance for Christians. As the nation has fixated on the top office, here are some of the most important contests taking place down ballot, and what they may mean for our country.

1) Control of the Senate

After two disastrous midterms, Barack Obama declared in 2014 he would try to keep enacting his agenda through executive actions using his pen and phone. But to create a lasting legacy, the president will need partners in Congress. To be effective, congressional leaders will need a large enough majority to muscle the president’s priorities (and their own) through each chamber — something rarely possible in today’s evenly-divided legislative branch.

Pollsters agree that Republicans are all-but certain to retake control of the Senate. Joe Manchin’s retirement in West Virginia long ago paved the way for Democrat-turned-Republican Governor Jim Justice (and Babydog) to even the balance of power. But races in neighboring Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as Montana, likely seal Chuck Schumer’s future transition to Senate minority leader.

Ohio’s referendum on Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown seems poised to become the most expensive Senate race of all time, with an estimated $440 million price tag. Brown, the gravel-voiced liberal who has persevered through Ohio’s evolution to a dependably Republican state thanks to his blue-collar image, could likely cling to power during a midterm election. However, Brown has told donors that President Donald Trump’s popularity in a state that has twice given him an eight-point margin of victory may be insurmountable.

Republican challenger Bernie Moreno’s campaign ads have emphasized Trump’s endorsement, the border crisis, economic pain, and especially focused on Brown’s support for the transgender agenda. “Sherrod Brown is for they/them. Bernie Moreno is for you,” says one ubiquitous Moreno ad. Meanwhile, Brown has increasingly hyped Kamala Harris’s message of abortion-on-demand by highlighting Moreno’s pro-life record and off-the-cuff comments. A Moreno victory would prove the salience of the transgender issue, pared with a popular presidential candidate, can overcome abortion fearmongering in a state that virtually abolished pro-life protections just one year ago.

Pennsylvania’s Senate race may signal the direction of the 2020 election. Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey Jr. once called himself a pro-life Democrat, but after the Dobbs decision, he got assimilated into his party’s overwhelming pro-abortion consensus. Recent polls show the race tied, and one shows Republican challenger Dave McCormick eking out a small lead. Casey remains the favorite, but his loss would indicate a massive Republican turnout in Pennsylvania, a must-win for the Harris campaign. Given Trump’s apparent lead in other eastern seaboard swing states, a Pennsylvania victory would likely determine the presidential election. If Dave McCormick wins the Senate, Donald Trump wins the presidency.

2) Control of the House of Representatives

In the House of Representatives, Republicans cling to an eight-seat majority, on paper. But vacancies and defections leave Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) with an often-unmanageable caucus. Oddsmakers give the Democrats a 50-50 chance of reclaiming the House, thanks to numerous races in New York state, where Republicans must defend seats in districts that supported Joe Biden in 2020. These races, and California Rep. Mike Garcia’s race, are the GOP’s greatest vulnerabilities.

Conservatives should cast a weary eye on the attempted return of former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones, a far-Left “progressive” who identifies as gay. In Congress, he rhetorically aligned with The Squad, moving the Democratic Party’s Overton Window ever further leftward, even apparently demeaning the power of prayer. “Enough of your thoughts and prayers. Enough!” said Jones at one point. “If the filibuster obstructs us, we will abolish it. If the Supreme Court objects, we will expand it.” Jones, a foe of Israel who lost the 2022 primary to now-Rep. Dan Goldman, now seeks to return to office by challenging Republican Michael Lawler in his Lower Hudson Valley district. Polls show Lawler, who won the seat in 2020, leading Jones by five points.

3) 10 States Vote on Life

Life is on the ballot in 2024. After the 2022 Dobbs decision clarified that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a “right” to abortion, 10 states will feature an abortion-focused voter referendum. Only one is a pro-life protection. Nine of the 10 would write abortion-on-demand into their respective state constitutions.

Nebraska has dueling pro-life and pro-abortion ballot measures. Initiative 434 would protect most children from abortion in the second or third trimesters, excluding those conceived in rape or incest, or when required by “medical emergency.” But Initiative 439 would legalize abortion until viability (approximately 22 weeks), with a broad exception allowing abortionists to carry out an abortion after that point for any reason he deems necessary to protect the “health” of the mother. Nevada Question 6 also creates the right to an abortion “until fetal viability or when necessary to protect the health” of the mother.

Arizona’s Proposition 139 would create a fundamental “right” to abortion under the state constitution, repealing all pro-life protections for children, including the state’s 15-week abortion limit and parental consent laws. Similar ballot initiatives will appear in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.

As in previous elections, the taxpayer-funded abortion industry has vastly outspent the pro-life position. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has publicly campaigned against Amendment 4, allowing abortionists to kill an unborn child in many cases after fetal viability and overturning the state’s 15-week and heartbeat protections. In many other states, pro-life initiatives have been the subject of Republican politicians’ neglect and indifference.

4) 3 Marriage Initiatives

Voters in three states — California, Colorado, and Hawaii — will vote on whether to formally repeal state laws defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Citizens democratically voted to enshrine the natural and biblical definition of marriage into their state constitutions in these and dozens of other states, only to see their votes overturned by a poorly constructed Supreme Court decision in 2015.

With the law’s new definition of marriage exercising a pedagogical effect for the last 10 years, a generation has come to accept and promote the redefinition of marriage. These referenda would endorse the Supreme Court’s activism and give their formal stamp of approval to sexual activity the Bible defines as sinful and death-dealing (Romans 1:22-32).

5) 8 States Vote to Protect U.S. Elections from Noncitizen Voters

Voters in eight states will vote on ballot measures assuring that only U.S. citizens vote in U.S. elections.

Iowa’s Amendment 1 would also allow 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the general election to vote in the primary election. Missouri’s Amendment 7 would also prohibit ranked-choice voting — a measure that will be on the ballot in five states and the nation’s capital. Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and the District of Columbia would institute RCV — a system that may allow a candidate who could never have won a majority of votes to win elective office — while Alaska is voting to repeal RCV.

A recent Gallup poll showed a 83% supermajority of Americans believe voters should have to furnish proof of U.S. citizenship before voting in any U.S. election. The eight states voting to protect U.S. elections from foreign interference are Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

6) 5 States Vote on Legalizing Marijuana or Psychedelics

After a decade of “Just Say No” and DARE programs, marijuana legalization slowly swept the nation after George Soros dedicated billions of dollars to changing the public perception of cannabis. Today, many erroneously believe the addictive substance — which inflicts a panoply of physical, mental, and emotional harms — actually cures diseases up to and including cancer. Now that 24 states have legalized marijuana, the same process is being used to present psychedelic drugs as therapeutic. Five states will now vote to legalize recreational marijuana or psychedelics.

Florida, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota will vote on recreational marijuana. (Nebraska features a second referendum to establish the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to regulate the nascent weed industry.) Massachusetts’ Question 4 would legalize psychedelics and establish a state commission to oversee the industry.

Voters in Massachusetts may want to review the record of Oregon, where voters legalized small amounts of hard drugs, including LSD. Voters adopted Measure 110 in 2020, which lowered criminal penalties and promoted treatment as an alternative to incarceration. As The Washington Stand’s Dan Hart reported: “After the implementation of Measure 110, drug overdose deaths in Oregon reached never before seen heights, rising 61% compared to 13% nationally. An average of three people died per day in the state due to overdose.” Far-Left Governor Tina Kotek (D) signed a bill recriminalizing hard drugs on April 1.

7) 3 States Vote on School Choice

Voters in three states will vote on whether to offer students the option of choosing an education beyond their local public school. Two states would expand school choice, while one would restrict students’ choices.

Colorado Amendment 80 would amend the state constitution to read that “each K-12 child has the right to school choice.” Kentucky Amendment 2 allows state funding to follow students outside the public school system. But Nebraska Referendum 435 — endorsed by the state’s largest teachers union, the Nebraska State Education Association — would remove a $10 million scholarship program for students to attend private schools.

Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.



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