COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Democrats won a key congressional seat and were defending two others in tight races in Ohio.
Twenty-one-term U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in House history, claimed victory over state Rep. Derek Merrin early Wednesday, but it was too early for The Associated Press to call the race. Kaptur faced the Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump in the closely divided 9th Congressional District that includes Toledo.
First-term Democrat Greg Landsman won reelection in Cincinnati, defending a pickup he made in 2022 under congressional maps newly drawn by Republicans. Fellow freshman Emilia Sykes of Akron was also defending her pickup, but that race was too early to call Wednesday morning.
Ohio's congressional map was allowed to go forward in 2022 despite being declared unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor the GOP. The Ohio Supreme Court cleared the district boundaries to stay in place for 2024 as part of a court settlement.
The Associated Press had not called the race, but Kaptur claimed victory in her reelection bid as she led Merrin by a narrow margin with most of the votes counted.
“I am inspired by the hardworking people across our district who fuel our economy every day and pledge to continue our work to grow jobs here at home, strengthen our manufacturing sector, and ensure dignity and stability for everyone who works hard and plays by the rules,” she said in a statement. “There is so much left to accomplish in our next term. Our best days lie ahead of us. It is time to put partisanship aside and get back to work for America’s ‘Big Middle.’”
Kaptur, 78, entered the 2024 election cycle as among the year’s most vulnerable congressional incumbents, placing Ohio’s 9th Congressional District in the middle of a more than $5 million campaign battle. Merrin, 38, was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
He drew statewide attention in 2023 when he aligned a GOP faction against House Speaker Jason Stephens after Merrin failed to win the speakership. The infighting, which continues, has risen to the level of litigation and contributed to an historic lack of legislative action this session.
During the House campaign, Merrin and his Republican allies targeted Kaptur on immigration and the economy. Democrats targeted Merrin on his support for abortion restrictions, including his work on a bill that would have made certain abortions felonies.
Landsman won reelection Tuesday in a closely divided southwestern Ohio district that Republicans had hoped to reclaim.
The result marked only the third time a Democrat has won Ohio’s 1st Congressional District since 1994. Landsman, 43, a former Cincinnati City Council member, won his first term in 2022, when he defeated 13-term Republican Rep. Steve Chabot.
Landsman, who is Jewish, drew attention late in the campaign when a group of pro-Palestine protesters set up an encampment outside his house. He decried the demonstration as harassment and said that it required him and his family members to get a police escort to enter and exit their Cincinnati home.
Landsman defeated Republican Orlando Sonza, a West Point graduate and former Army infantry officer who leads the county veterans services office. Sonza was endorsed by Republican Sen. JD Vance, the vice presidential nominee, GOP Gov. Mike DeWine and other top Ohio Republicans.
Sykes, 38, faced Republican Kevin Coughlin, a former state representative and senator, in a race that was too early for The Associated Press to call Wednesday, though she claimed victory with a slim lead.
Sykes spent eight years in the Ohio House, including as minority leader, before her first successful bid for the 13th District in 2022. She enjoys strong name recognition in her native Akron, which her mother and father have both represented at the Ohio Statehouse.
Sykes has campaigned on a message of unity as she sought to attract votes from Democrats, Republicans and independents and has made ample use of social media.
Coughlin, 54, has run as a moderate who would honor Ohio’s recently passed abortion rights amendment. He was supported by Johnson and Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan. Trump did not endorse anyone in the race.
Voters fill out their ballots at the Pleasant Township Fire Department on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Catawba, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A corgy named Daisy waits for her owner to vote at the Cincinnati Observatory on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A voter fills out a ballot at the Pleasant Township Fire Department on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Catawba, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Voters line up to enter their polling place at the Cincinnati Observatory on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A ballot question to enshrine Nevada’s abortion rights in the state constitution has received its first nod of approval from voters, who must also approve the measure in 2026 in order to amend the constitution.
The measure passed early Wednesday morning.
It’s a win for supporters in the state and elsewhere who are fighting to strengthen abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that made abortion legal nationwide for 50 years. It also comes more than 30 years after Nevada residents voted to legalize abortions until 24 weeks, with exceptions to save a mother’s life or to protect her health.
Here’s a closer look at the key ballot measures in Nevada, including abortion access:
Voters overwhelmingly voted to pass the abortion ballot measure.
“With these results, voters across party lines rejected misinformation and fear-mongering to send an unequivocal message: decisions about abortion should be made by women, their families, and their medical providers – not politicians," Lindsey Harmon, president of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, said in a statement.
If it again passes in 2026, the constitutional amendment wouldn't expand current access in the state, but supporters and organizers of the initiative say it will add an extra layer of protection.
State laws in Nevada are more vulnerable to change — the current 1990 law could be reversed by another voter referendum — but proposed amendments to the state constitution have to pass in two consecutive elections.
Las Vegas resident Laura Campbell, 36, said she supported the initiative to strengthen Nevada’s current abortion protections. Without it, Campbell said she isn’t sure she would be alive today.
At 27 weeks, she said she learned that her pregnancy was nonviable, meaning the fetus couldn’t survive outside her womb. Her doctor took her hand and promised to take care of her.
“I was able to come out of that healthy and able to get pregnant again,” Campbell said. A year later, she gave birth to her daughter, now 3. “I could have been a tragic story.”
Opponents said the ballot measure goes too far because it wouldn’t outright define “fetal viability” in the constitution.
Anti-abortion group Nevada Right to Life also said in a recent ad that the initiative was “deceptively worded” because it doesn't make clear that abortion is already legal in the state. A spokesperson for the group didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nevada voters rejected a measure to open up primary elections and implement ranked choice voting in general elections, which would have fundamentally changed elections in a key swing state.
The measure failed Tuesday.
Nonpartisan voters outnumber registered Democrats and Republicans in Nevada, while 42% of voters do not belong to one of the major parties. Supporters of the measure said opening up primaries would have given a voice to more than 1 million registered voters in the state who don’t have a say in the nomination of major-party candidates for Congressional races and statewide office.
The citizen-led initiative faced opposition from both Republican and Democratic party leaders who said the measure was too broad and that ranked choice voting was too confusing.
Meanwhile, voters gave a nod of approval to a Republican-led initiative that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls. Voters must again pass the measure in 2026 before the requirement can be added to the state constitution.
Nevada voted to abolish slavery and indentured servitude as a criminal punishment, which was still on the books in the state constitution. The measure passed Tuesday.
Supporters of the initiative said it was a step in the right direction for civil rights. The measure is aimed at protecting incarcerated people from being forced to work under the threat of punishment.
Nevada incarcerates about 10,000 people. Prisoners in the state are required to work or be in vocational training for 40 hours each week, unless they have a medical exemption. Some of them make as little as 35 cents hourly.
Nevada joins several other states — Colorado, Alabama and Tennessee — that have in recent years done away with exceptions for slavery and involuntary servitude, though the changes were not immediate.
In Colorado — the first state to get rid of an exception for slavery from its constitution in 2018 — incarcerated people alleged in a 2022 lawsuit against the corrections department that they were still forced to work.
“The momentum we’ve built in Nevada, coupled with our achievements in seven other states, strengthens our resolve to continue this work nationwide,” Jamilia Land, co-founder of the Abolish Slavery National Network, which advocated for the Colorado measure, said in a statement. “We are unwavering in our commitment to remove involuntary servitude from every state constitution.”
Associated Press reporter Sophie Austin contributed to this report.
Supporters of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Stephanie Smith, left, Sandi Steinbeck, center, and Thomas Brewer, right, cheer during a GOP election watch party at the Ahern Hotel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
A person attends a Nevada Democrats watch party on election night Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., walks off the stage after speaking during a watch party on election night Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Supporters of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Stephanie Smith, left, Sandi Steinbeck, center, and Thomas Brewer, right, cheer as Fox News calls the election for Trump during a GOP election watch party at the Ahern Hotel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
People vote at a shopping mall, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People wait in line to vote at South Valleys Library, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
A vandalized election sign is seen along Buffalo Drive on Election Day in Las Vegas, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
People stand in line to vote at the Reno Town Mall, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
Voting stickers are displayed on a table at a polling place inside City Hall, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People vote at the Reno Town Mall, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots on election day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
Betting odds on Presidential election results are displayed on screens along The Strip, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
