Abortion rights ballot measures are popular

Abortion rights ballot measures are popular, but that hasn't fully translated into Democratic support

LAS VEGAS — Shannon Bilbray Axelrod, a Democratic member of the Nevada Assembly, stood at the head of a conference table Wednesday night, thanking volunteers for their hard work. But the volunteers weren’t there to boost her campaign for Clark County commissioner.

They were urging voters to support “Question 6,” a measure farther down the ballot that would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution.

The effort to pass Question 6 is not explicitly tied to a political party or campaign, but Axelrod was confident the measure could boost her own bid in a Democratic-leaning county.

“They have to go all the way down the ballot” to get to Question 6, Axelrod said. “So that’s helpful.”

But it remains a major question whether Axelrod and other Democratic candidates in battleground states across the country will be able to ride these abortion-related initiatives to victory in next month’s election as many in the party have hoped.

Constitutional amendments to expand or protect abortion access will be put in the hands of voters this fall in 10 states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada and the Senate battlegrounds of Montana and Florida.

Polls show that the ballot measures are broadly popular in many of the states, findings that are in line with the success similar initiatives have had in other areas of the county following the backlash to the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

But the surveys also reveal a noticeable gap in support between the pro-abortion rights amendments and the Democratic presidential and Senate candidates who are campaigning on a pro-abortion rights platform.