The Spirit of Virginia political action committee run by Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin kicked off a $1.4 million ad buy defending the Republican position on abortion — marking the first serious effort to counter Democrats by any Republican politician since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned both the 1973 Roe v. Wade and the 1992 Casey decisions that created the so-called right to an abortion.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch captured the reluctance of Republicans to mention abortion in its article about the ad:
On the campaign trail, Republican candidates at times downplay the abortion issue, saying voters aren’t telling them that abortion is a major issue in the campaign.
Democrats say it is the top issue they hear about, with fears that Youngkin’s proposal to bar most abortions after 15 weeks is stalking horse for an outright ban or the still tighter limits some other states have enacted.
“I have been really clear — I am supportive of a bill to protect life at 15 weeks when a baby can feel pain, with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. Fifteen weeks. That’s where we are,” Youngkin said.
“That’s what we’re going to work for — to protect life at 15 weeks.”
Team Youngkin posted the ad on X (formerly Twitter):
Here’s the truth: Virginia Dems support no limits on abortion. pic.twitter.com/AKV4dYgeau
— Team Youngkin – Spirit of Virginia (@TeamYoungkin) October 10, 2023
Youngkin has raised more than $12 million for Spirit of Virginia PAC this cycle, some of it out of his own pocket. The governor has committed himself, and his donors, to the mission of winning control of both houses of the commonwealth’s General Assembly. Going into the November 7 election, Republicans control the House of Delegates with a 52-48, but Democrats control the State Senate, 22-18. All seats are up this off-cycle.
Not only is Youngkin attacking the Democrats’ rhetorical strength, he also deftly is taking pressure off of Virginia Republicans, by having his PAC produce the ad and making himself the center of it.
Youngkin is limited to one term, so if he can successfully score a trifecta, capturing both legislative chambers, along with the governor’s mansion, he can present himself to a national audience as the man who turned purple Virginia back to red – and a potential presidential candidate to challenge President Donald J. Trump.
Democrats launched their abortion messaging in January with an ad with the narrator asking: “Will Virginia pass an extreme abortion ban?”
If anything, Youngkin’s new ad was a response to that ad.
Republicans abandoned abortion messaging in 2022 midterms
The Tech for Campaigns studied Facebook advertising for all of 2022, which offers insights into Republican hesitancy to address the issue of abortion rights. In the study, Democrats outspent Republicans on abortion messaging 14-to-1.
Planned Parenthood accounted for 63 percent of all Facebook abortion advertising in 2022.
The study also found that several of the top 50 Republican advertisers on Facebook spent nothing on abortion messaging. The Republican National Committee spent just more than $1 million on Facebook advertising but only $20,000 on abortion advertising, roughly 2 percent.
The New York Times Aug. 14, 2022, article “Why Abortion Has Become a Centerpiece of Democratic TV Ads in 2022″ describes how everyone from Democratic consultants to White House staffers recognized that Republicans were rhetorically overextended and had caught in a salient, ripe for a pincher movement by the left.
There are risks to focusing so heavily on abortion at a moment when Americans are also expressing intense anxiety over the economy. But Democrats are plowing ahead, particularly in key Senate races.
They have spent more than $2 million on ads targeting Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, for his position on abortion; $1.6 million on ads against Mehmet Oz, the Republican candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania; and $1.8 million on Adam Laxalt, the Republican Senate nominee in Nevada who recently wrote an op-ed defending his stance on the issue.
More abortion ads have aired in the Senate races in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Arizona and Washington — and even in Connecticut and Maryland, two states with secure Democratic incumbents.
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Neil W. McCabe is a staff reporter for The Virginia Star.
