• Susie Lee is one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the U.S. Congress. She has refocused her re-election campaign on abortion rights.
• The overturning of Roe-v-Wade has given her a political lifeline, Democratic strategists say.
• Nevada congresswoman Barbara Lee’s district is located in a state with one of the highest inflation rates in the nation (14.9 percent) Republican challenger April Becker claims that Democrats are exploiting abortion to “distract” voters from their most important issues, the price of food and petrol.

LAS VEGAS, 20th July – Susie Lee, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the U.S. Congress, has spent the year waging a difficult re-election campaign while contending with skyrocketing prices and President Joe Biden’s abysmal support ratings.

Then, on June 24, the famous Roe v. Wade decision from 1973 was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps throwing the Nevada lawmaker a lifeline as she runs for a third term in this November’s midterm elections.

Within 24 hours, Lee released the first ad of her campaign, a $500,000 TV and digital attack on her pro-life Republican opponent on the issue of abortion rights in an effort to energise voters and turn around what appeared to be a devastating election year for Democrats.

The advertisement proclaims, “We have a stark choice in the race for Congress.”

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In an effort to win back suburban voters who have lost faith in her party due to high food and gas prices and an unpopular president, Lee, like dozens of other endangered Democratic incumbents throughout the country, has refocused a large portion of her campaign on abortion rights.

Some Democratic party members claim that the overturning of Roe-v-Wade has given them a political lifeline, giving them a foot in the door of voters who would otherwise be unwilling to listen to them due to high inflation, despite what they perceive as weak messaging by national party leaders on Biden’s policy accomplishments.

However, according to party strategists and experts, the debate over abortion rights is unlikely to be sufficient to prevent Democrats from losing control of the U.S. House of Representatives and perhaps even the Senate.

While there has been a three percentage point shift in favour of Democrats in national opinion polls since the court’s decision, according to Democratic pollster Brian Stryker, “inflation is still by far and away voters’ top concern.”

Kyle Kondik, a nonpartisan political analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said he recognised the urgency with which Democrats had turned their attention to abortion rights, but added that he was unsure whether this was making much progress.

Parts of suburban Las Vegas are included in Lee’s district, which is located in a state with one of the highest inflation rates in the nation (14.9 percent). Lee has been fighting the problem in her swing district for months, repeatedly pleading with her party’s congressional leaders to take additional action to reduce food and gas prices as well as supply chain issues.

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She told Reuters that she is now concentrating on abortion as much as the economy because she believes that it will inspire women.

Republican challenger April Becker claimed that Democrats like Lee were exploiting abortion to “distract” voters from their most important issues, the price of food and petrol.

According to Becker, who opposes abortion except in instances of rape, incest, and if the mother’s life is in danger, “I don’t blame her for trying to change the issue.”

She stated that she does not support a nationwide abortion ban, like many Republicans in Congress do, and that she has no plans to attempt to change the abortion rights that were established in Nevada by a referendum in 1990.

In Lee’s district, Democratic volunteers, activists, and women’s rights organisations said that the Supreme Court’s ruling has given them more motivation to prevent a Republican victory this November.

Democratic local clubs in the Las Vegas area have seen a spike in membership, according to club leaders. Friends who are typically uninterested in politics have contacted Deidre Radford, co-president of the Red Rock Democratic Club, requesting to help with phone banks and SMS campaigns for Lee and other Democrats.

On July 27, Radford will host a “Roe, Roe, Roe Your Vote” event. According to Radford, the abortion debate has raised club membership from approximately 150 to about 190.

According to Sue Burtch, co-executive director of the Nevada National Organization for Women, a gathering to protest the decision on the day it was announced was arranged in just three hours as opposed to the weeks that are often required for such protests.

Burtch added, “The Supreme Court did us a favour and given us a talking point.

The repeal of federal abortion rights breaks through citizens’ frequent political aversion and reluctance to participate. It provided local volunteers with a chance to contact voters with a genuine situation that might affect their families, according to Burtch.

When asked about the Supreme Court decision, some activists complained that Democratic leaders had been too coy on the subject in light of Republican attacks on abortion rights.

“The Democratic Party’s messaging has been inconsistent. It has been mild. Republicans are excellent communicators, “added Burtch.

When asked about the anger Burtch and other activists had voiced, Lee reacted angrily.

They ought to be furious with Republicans, she argued.

Some of the eight local Democratic employees and pro-abortion activists who spoke with Reuters acknowledged that the abortion issue might not be enough to maintain the Democratic Party in control of Congress and that Democrats continue to struggle with rising prices.

According to Lani Paz, president of the Southwest Democratic Club, “everyone feels the pressure at the gas pump, the bite every time you go to the grocery store.”