William: There is a lot
happening at the state level
this week, with a handful of
primary races heating up, and
action on abortion laws
happening across the country.
Kentucky and Pennsylvania both
have key primary races underway
-- one for a governor's race,
and another for the state
supreme court.
Meanwhile, in North Carolina, a
democratic governor squares off
with a Republican legislature
over a 12-week abortion ban.
To unpack the specifics in each
state, we're going to check in
with a few state reporters.
We'll start in North Carolina,
where WUNC's capitol bureau
chief Colin Campbell has been
reporting on the back and forth
on this controversial abortion
measure.
Thank you for being here.
Tell us about this bill that
governor cooper vetoed this
weekend.
What did it do?
Colin: The top line is it is a
ban on most abortions after 12
weeks.
They are still exceptions for
rape, life of the mother and
fetal abnormality.
There are also some new
requirements for imprisons
doctors visits that critics are
saying will make it harder for
women seeking abortion in the
first trimester to be able to go
through the process,
particularly in rural areas
where it's hard to get to a
doctor.
They've also paired in some
other things like paid parental
leave, funding for foster
families into this larger bill.
William: Governor cooper made
his veto this weekend in a very
public way at a rally this
weekend.
It seems like there is clear
messaging implied with that.
Colin: Absolutely.
I mean, this is a situation
where there's there's not a
whole lot of good that the
governor can convince
Republicans to break with their
party and sustain his veto here,
but certainly thousands showed
up in this rally and had a very
political undertone compared to
next year's election.
Certainly Democrats in north
Carolina feel like this is an
issue that can fire up their
base and potentially help them
flip some seats.
-- Flip some seats in the
legislature to their party in
the governor's mansion in
democratic hands coming to 2024.
William: So does the GOP super
majority in the legislature have
the votes to override this veto?
Colin: They have just a very
narrow majority thanks in part
to a particular Democrat who
switched parties and became a
Republican and voted for this
bill the first time around.
So as long as everybody's
sticking with how they voted the
first time, this bill was passed
by the legislature, that should
be overridden.
Votes are scheduled to take
place in both the house and
senate tomorrow, Tuesday.
So we could see this bill
becoming law within the next
couple of days here in north
Carolina and then taking effect
with the restrictions in July.
William: What does that mean?
My understanding is that north
Carolina let's just say this law
, goes into effect.
I know that North Carolina has
been having a lot of women from
neighboring states that do have
stricter abortion bans in place
coming to North Carolina, this
would seem to put North Carolina
off the map for that as well.
Colin: I think that's something
that all Republicans are
actually thinking of as they
created this particular law.
Certainly, if you're coming from
another state and you have to
make multiple doctor's visits,
even if you are seeking an
abortion prior to 12 weeks, that
makes it harder for someone
who's coming across from
Tennessee, to come into north
Carolina multiple times to jump
through the hoops to get the
procedure.
That they make North Carolina
less attractive as a destination
for people coming from other
southern states that have
stricter bans, even as it's
still less strict here than in
other states around us.
And further south that have more
six weeks or other types of
abortion bans on the books.
So we may see we'll see some of
that.
It may not be as great and and
some folks may have to drive
further north to be able to get
a quick and easy to access
abortion procedure.
William: Colin Campbell of WUNC,
thank you so much for being
here.
Colin: Thanks for having me.
William: Turning to Kentucky,
Republican voters will head to
the polls tomorrow in one of the
nations most contested races of
the year.
Kentucky is one of just 3 states
with gubernatorial elections
this cycle, along with Louisiana
and Mississippi, but with
Democrat Andy Beshear currently
in the governor's mansion, the
GOP is looking to secure all
levers of government in the
state.
Ryland Barton from Kentucky
public radio joins us now.
Thank you so much for being
here.
A bunch of Republicans want to
get in and get this nomination
to go after governor Beshear.
What are the main issues that
voters are talking about now?
Ryland: One of the big issues is
the fact that Andy Beshear, a
Democrat is governor in such a
, Republican state as Kentucky
has become in recent years,
and Republicans really feel like
this is their chance to topple
him during the general election
in November.
So there is a long line, about
12 Republicans have lined up to
for the chance to nomination
.
Three main contenders so far, a
lot of the arguments during the
race have focused on some of the
hot button national issues that
we've seen across the country
and in congress even.
A lot of anti trans messaging
and leaning into anti trans
policies that were passed during
Kentucky's legislative session
earlier this year and really
, accusing one another of being
the most liberal or so called
woke candidate within the
Republican primary.
So it has gotten a little nasty
towards the end of the race
here, a lot of mudslinging going
on and a couple of candidates
trying to capitalize on not
getting into that fight too.
William: And who are those top
candidates?
Ryland: So there's Daniel
Cameron, he's the Republican
attorney general.
He's been in office for four
years and he's the one who's
endorsed by former president
Donald Trump.
And then there's Kelly Kraft,
former ambassador to the united
nations during the trump
administration.
She was a prolific fundraiser
in Republican politics and
Kentucky and I think it's
notable that towards the end of
this race, they've been accusing
each of being the most -- who's
the less establishment candidate
.
Kelly Kraft going after Daniel
Cameron for being a protege of
senate minority leader Mitch
Mcconnell.
So again during the primary,
, there's this different kind of
language going on as to who can
be the most conservative.
They will have to pivot a little
bit for the general election.
But right now, it's gotten very
interesting.
A lot of money's already been
spent.
William: This is an off year
election, so there's not a lot
of other big races and big names
and the ticket to draw voters.
Do you think that that's going
to have a big impact on turnout?
Ryland: It really will.
And there's the long history of
this, because it always happens
in these odd numbered years.
So secretary of state's
predicting about 10% voter
turnout.
In 2015, last time there was a
crowded Republican primaries
, about 13%.
The winner in that race, Matt
bevin ultimately won that race
by about 83 votes.
That was really attributed to
the top two candidates getting
into a big fight where voters
kind of soured on them and and
it created the lane for that
third place candidate to win.
So a lot of people are watching
the results with some
trepidation because it really
could kind of go any way because
of the low voter turnout
expected.
William: Rylan Barton of
Kentucky public radio, thank you
so much.
Moving over to Pennsylvania,
which holds primary elections
tomorrow.
Voters from both parties will
choose their nominees to run to
fill a seat on the state supreme
court.
The 7 member court currently
consists of 4 Democrats and 2
Republicans, with one vacant
seat.
One candidate vying for the
Republican nomination is judge
Patricia Mccullough, who gained
notoriety for approving former
president trump's attempts to
halt the certification of
Pennsylvania's election results
back in following this all
2020.
Closely is Katie Meyer.
She's the government editor and
reporter with the investigative
newsroom, spotlight pa.
Thank you for being here.
Democrats and Republicans are
picking a candidate to run for
this seat.
What is the state of the race
right now?
Katie: There isn't a lot of
polling in these races so the
best sense we can get is from
spending, from the fundraising
the candidates have been able to
do and the Republican side has
been really lopsided.
The establishment pick has far
outraised her opponent.
She's gotten money from
establishment Republicans and
school choice donors.
A lot of her fundraisers --
funding has come from Doug
Mastriano and he was a pretty
far right candidate in very
entrenched in the sort of stop
the steal election results
denying movement in 2020.
William: Judge Mccullough is
part of the stop the steal
movement.
We saw former president Donald
Trump has continued despite all
evidence to the contrary, claim
the 2020 election was stolen
from him.
Is there a sense that GOP voters
in Pennsylvania are still
motivated by that story?
Katie: We did see some evidence
that is not a huge motivating
factor for Republicans and last
year's election.
Doug Mastriano, the GOP nominee,
Radley lost the general election
-- badly lost the general
election.
Certainly Republican leaders
have taken lessons from that.
They put a lot of effort into a
candidate they think has a
better shot of winning the
general election.
Mccullough hasn't gotten a lot
of traction from the
establishment.
That doesn't mean primary voters
won't go for that.
But she hasn't raised much.
William: How much does this
matter?
We know that there is an
incredible focus on the state
supreme court race in Wisconsin
but in this case the Democrats
already have a majority even if
the Republican were to win, even
if Mccullough were to win, how
relevant is that for the court?
Katie: It's relevant because in
a couple years there will be
more seats up and Republicans
would be in striking distance
especially if they win this
election.
In Pennsylvania the courts are
pretty partisan and they often
have a huge role to play in
choosing congressional maps when
we redistrict.
Resolving boundaries in
Pennsylvania election law,
because there are a lot of gray
areas deciding what balance can
be counted.
I would say these justices would
say they are not very partisan
and they are not supposed to be,
but people view these races as
partisan so that tells you
something.
Absolutely these elections,
especially a few years down the
line, will have great effect.
William: Katie, thank you so
much for being here.
Katie: Thanks for having me.
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