Why it matters: It’s long-standing practice for candidates in both parties to tweak their rhetoric for general election audiences, but this year’s message gymnastics is next-level.

Some GOP candidates are also narrowing their focus to voter fraud conspiracies about the 2020 election and other far-right or Trump-centric issues.

Enlarge: Big wins in an abortion referendum in Kansas and a special House election in New York, in which Democrat Pat Ryan made abortion a central issue, have emboldened Democrats.

Republicans initially argued that abortion would not significantly boost Democrats. But in battleground states in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona and North Carolina, GOP candidates are scrubbing abortion language from campaign websites and adapting rhetoric on the trail.

Details: Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters has removed language that said, “I’m 100% pro-life,” according to NBC News.

House candidates Tom Barrett of Michigan, Christian Castelli of North Carolina and Barbara Kirkmeyer of Colorado also removed the language from their websites. (Kirkmeyer’s campaign said it “recently completed a complete redesign of Barb’s website. Rather than tackling multiple issues, we’re focusing on the three issues voters are most interested in.”) Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen changed the copy on his website to tone down his pro-abortion message, removing lines that include: “Believes in the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death.” . In Oregon, GOP gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan has cleaned up her website’s issues page, which had previously promoted animal lovers. However, her campaign says she is not “hiding from her views”. Her opponent, Betsy Johnson, recently ran an ad calling Drazan “too extreme for Oregon” because “Drazan wants to make abortion illegal.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Nevada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Oregon are running pro-abortion ads.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has dropped a list of Republicans who have changed their position on abortion and are placing a billboard at the Michigan state fair against the GOP candidates’ “extreme agenda” on the issue. Meanwhile, the Pelosi-aligned House Majority PAC is preparing a round of abortion-focused ads that accuse the party of trying to curtail rights and freedoms.

What they say: “We’re going to make sure voters see and hear what Republicans said in their own words — and if they try to hide from their record, it will only reinforce that they can’t be trusted,” the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee said spokesperson Nora Keefe. The other side: Republicans say if it were up to Democrats there would be no restrictions on abortion, saying that’s extreme.

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Nicole Morales told Axios that the majority of Americans “do not support the Democrats’ extreme agenda on taxpayer-funded abortion, and Republicans are just exposing their lies.”

Zoom Out: Abortion isn’t the only issue Republicans are trying to send between now and November.

Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has deleted 14 videos from his Facebook page in which he promoted far-right positions, including referring to climate change as “pop science.” “Maryland Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox has deleted his account on Gab, a social media platform known as an online hub for hate speech and white nationalists, and his campaign website no longer notes his fight against the certification of the presidential election results of 2020”. Washington Post. In Wisconsin, GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels deleted his endorsement of Donald Trump, removing the words “endorsed by Trump” from his website bio. (He later added the words again after being called.)

title: “Gop Candidates Clean Up Their Abortion Campaign Websites Trump Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-04” author: “Wanda Owen”

Why it matters: It’s long-standing practice for candidates in both parties to tweak their rhetoric for general election audiences, but this year’s message gymnastics is next-level.

Some GOP candidates are also narrowing their focus to voter fraud conspiracies about the 2020 election and other far-right or Trump-centric issues.

Enlarge: Big wins in an abortion referendum in Kansas and a special House election in New York, in which Democrat Pat Ryan made abortion a central issue, have emboldened Democrats.

Republicans initially argued that abortion would not significantly boost Democrats. But in battleground states in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona and North Carolina, GOP candidates are scrubbing abortion language from campaign websites and adapting rhetoric on the trail.

Details: Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters has removed language that said, “I’m 100% pro-life,” according to NBC News.

House candidates Tom Barrett of Michigan, Christian Castelli of North Carolina and Barbara Kirkmeyer of Colorado also removed the language from their websites. (Kirkmeyer’s campaign said it “recently completed a complete redesign of Barb’s website. Rather than tackling multiple issues, we’re focusing on the three issues voters are most interested in.”) Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen changed the copy on his website to tone down his pro-abortion message, removing lines that include: “Believes in the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death.” . In Oregon, GOP gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan has cleaned up her website’s issues page, which had previously promoted animal lovers. However, her campaign says she is not “hiding from her views”. Her opponent, Betsy Johnson, recently ran an ad calling Drazan “too extreme for Oregon” because “Drazan wants to make abortion illegal.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Nevada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Oregon are running pro-abortion ads.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has dropped a list of Republicans who have changed their position on abortion and are placing a billboard at the Michigan state fair against the GOP candidates’ “extreme agenda” on the issue. Meanwhile, the Pelosi-aligned House Majority PAC is preparing a round of abortion-focused ads that accuse the party of trying to curtail rights and freedoms.

What they say: “We’re going to make sure voters see and hear what Republicans said in their own words — and if they try to hide from their record, it will only reinforce that they can’t be trusted,” the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee said spokesperson Nora Keefe. The other side: Republicans say if it were up to Democrats there would be no restrictions on abortion, saying that’s extreme.

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Nicole Morales told Axios that the majority of Americans “do not support the Democrats’ extreme agenda on taxpayer-funded abortion, and Republicans are just exposing their lies.”

Zoom Out: Abortion isn’t the only issue Republicans are trying to send between now and November.

Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has deleted 14 videos from his Facebook page in which he promoted far-right positions, including referring to climate change as “pop science.” “Maryland Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox has deleted his account on Gab, a social media platform known as an online hub for hate speech and white nationalists, and his campaign website no longer notes his fight against the certification of the presidential election results of 2020”. Washington Post. In Wisconsin, GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels deleted his endorsement of Donald Trump, removing the words “endorsed by Trump” from his website bio. (He later added the words again after being called.)

title: “Gop Candidates Clean Up Their Abortion Campaign Websites Trump Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-08” author: “Katie Harmon”

Why it matters: It’s long-standing practice for candidates in both parties to tweak their rhetoric for general election audiences, but this year’s message gymnastics is next-level.

Some GOP candidates are also narrowing their focus to voter fraud conspiracies about the 2020 election and other far-right or Trump-centric issues.

Enlarge: Big wins in an abortion referendum in Kansas and a special House election in New York, in which Democrat Pat Ryan made abortion a central issue, have emboldened Democrats.

Republicans initially argued that abortion would not significantly boost Democrats. But in battleground states in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona and North Carolina, GOP candidates are scrubbing abortion language from campaign websites and adapting rhetoric on the trail.

Details: Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters has removed language that said, “I’m 100% pro-life,” according to NBC News.

House candidates Tom Barrett of Michigan, Christian Castelli of North Carolina and Barbara Kirkmeyer of Colorado also removed the language from their websites. (Kirkmeyer’s campaign said it “recently completed a complete redesign of Barb’s website. Rather than tackling multiple issues, we’re focusing on the three issues voters are most interested in.”) Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen changed the copy on his website to tone down his pro-abortion message, removing lines that include: “Believes in the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death.” . In Oregon, GOP gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan has cleaned up her website’s issues page, which had previously promoted animal lovers. However, her campaign says she is not “hiding from her views”. Her opponent, Betsy Johnson, recently ran an ad calling Drazan “too extreme for Oregon” because “Drazan wants to make abortion illegal.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Nevada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Oregon are running pro-abortion ads.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has dropped a list of Republicans who have changed their position on abortion and are placing a billboard at the Michigan state fair against the GOP candidates’ “extreme agenda” on the issue. Meanwhile, the Pelosi-aligned House Majority PAC is preparing a round of abortion-focused ads that accuse the party of trying to curtail rights and freedoms.

What they say: “We’re going to make sure voters see and hear what Republicans said in their own words — and if they try to hide from their record, it will only reinforce that they can’t be trusted,” the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee said spokesperson Nora Keefe. The other side: Republicans say if it were up to Democrats there would be no restrictions on abortion, saying that’s extreme.

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Nicole Morales told Axios that the majority of Americans “do not support the Democrats’ extreme agenda on taxpayer-funded abortion, and Republicans are just exposing their lies.”

Zoom Out: Abortion isn’t the only issue Republicans are trying to send between now and November.

Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has deleted 14 videos from his Facebook page in which he promoted far-right positions, including referring to climate change as “pop science.” “Maryland Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox has deleted his account on Gab, a social media platform known as an online hub for hate speech and white nationalists, and his campaign website no longer notes his fight against the certification of the presidential election results of 2020”. Washington Post. In Wisconsin, GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels deleted his endorsement of Donald Trump, removing the words “endorsed by Trump” from his website bio. (He later added the words again after being called.)

title: “Gop Candidates Clean Up Their Abortion Campaign Websites Trump Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Tammy Weaver”

Why it matters: It’s long-standing practice for candidates in both parties to tweak their rhetoric for general election audiences, but this year’s message gymnastics is next-level.

Some GOP candidates are also narrowing their focus to voter fraud conspiracies about the 2020 election and other far-right or Trump-centric issues.

Enlarge: Big wins in an abortion referendum in Kansas and a special House election in New York, in which Democrat Pat Ryan made abortion a central issue, have emboldened Democrats.

Republicans initially argued that abortion would not significantly boost Democrats. But in battleground states in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona and North Carolina, GOP candidates are scrubbing abortion language from campaign websites and adapting rhetoric on the trail.

Details: Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters has removed language that said, “I’m 100% pro-life,” according to NBC News.

House candidates Tom Barrett of Michigan, Christian Castelli of North Carolina and Barbara Kirkmeyer of Colorado also removed the language from their websites. (Kirkmeyer’s campaign said it “recently completed a complete redesign of Barb’s website. Rather than tackling multiple issues, we’re focusing on the three issues voters are most interested in.”) Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen changed the copy on his website to tone down his pro-abortion message, removing lines that include: “Believes in the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death.” . In Oregon, GOP gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan has cleaned up her website’s issues page, which had previously promoted animal lovers. However, her campaign says she is not “hiding from her views”. Her opponent, Betsy Johnson, recently ran an ad calling Drazan “too extreme for Oregon” because “Drazan wants to make abortion illegal.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Nevada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Oregon are running pro-abortion ads.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has dropped a list of Republicans who have changed their position on abortion and are placing a billboard at the Michigan state fair against the GOP candidates’ “extreme agenda” on the issue. Meanwhile, the Pelosi-aligned House Majority PAC is preparing a round of abortion-focused ads that accuse the party of trying to curtail rights and freedoms.

What they say: “We’re going to make sure voters see and hear what Republicans said in their own words — and if they try to hide from their record, it will only reinforce that they can’t be trusted,” the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee said spokesperson Nora Keefe. The other side: Republicans say if it were up to Democrats there would be no restrictions on abortion, saying that’s extreme.

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Nicole Morales told Axios that the majority of Americans “do not support the Democrats’ extreme agenda on taxpayer-funded abortion, and Republicans are just exposing their lies.”

Zoom Out: Abortion isn’t the only issue Republicans are trying to send between now and November.

Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has deleted 14 videos from his Facebook page in which he promoted far-right positions, including referring to climate change as “pop science.” “Maryland Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox has deleted his account on Gab, a social media platform known as an online hub for hate speech and white nationalists, and his campaign website no longer notes his fight against the certification of the presidential election results of 2020”. Washington Post. In Wisconsin, GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels deleted his endorsement of Donald Trump, removing the words “endorsed by Trump” from his website bio. (He later added the words again after being called.)