Pro-Life Advocates May Capture Senate From Pro-Abortion Lawmakers in Election

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 11, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Life Advocates May Capture Senate From Pro-Abortion Lawmakers in Election

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 11
, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Months ago, when political observers began examining the 2010 congressional elections, it appeared pro-life advocates had the potential to capture the House of Representatives but not the Senate. Now, both are in play as the Senate could change hands and see its top pro-abortion lawmakers defeated.

Should the November election turn out as polls indicate is possible, pro-life Republicans may very well capture the Senate from the pro-abortion Democrats who brought the nation abortion-funding ObamaCare and pro-abortion Supreme Court judges Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

Also, the top Democrat, pro-abortion Sen. Harry Reid, and the leading pro-abortion activist in the chamber, Sen. Barbara Boxer, could wind up on the losing side of the vote.

Republicans must win 10 seats currently held by Democrats to wrest control of the Senate form them.

With three weeks to go in the elections, voters in Arkansas, Indiana and North Dakota appear almost certain to turn pro-abortion seats into pro-life ones.

Another six seats controlled by abortion advocates — in Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin and West Virginia — are all currently trending Republican according to the latest polls.

Democrats could hope to salvage their control of the chamber by winning in competitive races where GOP seats are up for grabs in Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and Ohio — but polling data shows the pro-life candidates vying for those seats appear headed to victory.

That leaves four states as the true tossups that will determine which party controls the Senate: California, Connecticut, Delaware and Washington.

In California, pro-life candidate Carly Fiorina has trailed Barbara Boxer most of the election, though she came within one percentage point in August. The Fiorina camp plans a strong three-week television blitz in an effort to win the race.

In Connecticut, pro-abortion Democrat Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has a lead over pro-abortion Republican Linda McMahon. Ironically, even though she is not pro-life, a surprise McMahon victory here would increase the chances pro-life advocates would run the Senate — though she trails by 9 percent in the latest poll. (In Illinois, Republican candidate Mark Kirk is also pro-abortion.)

The Delaware race has a candidate pro-life advocates love — Christine O’Donnell — but some of the statements the Tea Party-backed candidate has made have come back to haunt her and she now trails by double digits.

If pro-life Republicans have any hope of running the Senate, they need to pick up a victory in California and in the state of Washington, where pro-life candidate Dino Rossi is now shown leading pro-abortion Sen. Patty Murray within the margin of error.

The Rasmussen polling firm has a similar analysis — showing a projected 48-48 tie with four states — California, Nevada, Illinois and Washington as the tossup states.

The polling firm believes Republicans will hold on to Colorado, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, west Virginia and Wisconsin but lose Connecticut and Delaware.

As such, Republicans must win three of the four Rasmussen tossups to achieve 51 votes and a majority of the Senate. It own polling data suggests Nevada, Illinois and Washington lean very slightly the GOP direction while California leans the other way.

 

Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com

Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report
Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.