Amid Abortion Fight, Democrats Gain Momentum In Midterm Elections

The Washington Post: Post-Roe Special Elections Show Potentially Encouraging Signs For Democrats 
Democrats and nonpartisan analysts said Wednesday that they saw fresh signs for the party in power to be more optimistic about the midterms after a special election in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade. But they acknowledged that with three months left in the campaign, President Biden and his party continue to face substantial political hurdles. The result in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, where Republican Brad Finstad defeated Democrat Jeff Ettinger, caught the attention of party strategists and nonpartisan analysts looking for clues about the mood of the electorate. Finstad led Ettinger by four points with 99 percent of the vote tallied Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Donald Trump won the district by about 10 points in 2020. (Itkowitz and Bronner, 8/10)

Politico: GOP Midterm Hurricane Gets Downgraded
It’s hard to believe, given how poorly things have been going for Democrats this year. But the midterm election landscape is suddenly looking a lot less grim. Democrats recently inched ahead of Republicans on the generic ballot, a leading indicator of midterm performance. Kansas demonstrated the salience of Roe v. Wade. And on Tuesday night, a Minnesota special election became the second consecutive contest to suggest Democratic candidates may be better positioned to compete in November than once expected. (Siders, 8/10)

The Washington Post: Democrats Close The Gap In Two Post-Roe V. Wade Special Elections 
Two months ago, Republicans hailed the takeover of a Democratic seat in a South Texas special election as proof of their 2022 momentum. Ten days later, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and since then there have been more and more signs that this momentum might not be all it was cracked up to be. That culminated Tuesday in Democrats over-performing in the second straight special election since Roe was overturned, in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District. Similar to Nebraska’s 1st District just days after the court’s action, Republicans still held the conservative-leaning seat but by a smaller margin than they’d like and by a smaller margin than in 2020. (Blake, 8/10)

Axios: National Democrats Say They're "All In" On Hobbs In Arizona's Race For Governor 
The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) says it's going all in to help Katie Hobbs become governor, though it's unclear how much the group will spend on her race — or whether it's willing to match its Republican counterpart. The DGA recently transferred $1.5 million to the Arizona Democratic Party, and the party began running a TV ad against Lake this week. The ad criticizes Lake for her opposition to abortion rights, accuses her of having an extreme position on guns and emphasizes her support for baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. (Duda, 8/10)

In related news —

USA Today: Poll: Most Voters Want A Chance To Support Abortion On State Ballots
Americans overwhelmingly would like to be able to vote on an abortion measure on their state ballot, an exclusive USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds. And if they had the chance, they would oppose efforts to ban the procedure by almost 2-1. The survey, taken in the aftermath of the stunning defeat in Kansas last week of a proposal to remove abortion rights from the state constitution, is more evidence of a backlash to the Supreme Court's decision that allows states to sharpen restrictions on abortion or bar it entirely. (Page, 8/10)

The Texas Tribune: Most Texas Voters Say Abortion Should Be Allowed In Cases Of Rape Or Incest
Most registered voters in Texas oppose a complete ban on abortion but are split on the extent to which abortion should be available, according to a June poll conducted by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. (Lau, 8/10)