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The National Republican Coalition for Choice participates in a pro-choice demonstration in Washington, D.C., on April 1, 1992. Photo: Viviane Moos/Corbis via Getty Images

Last week, the Womens Health Protection Act, which would have codified abortion rights, died in in the Senate by a vote of 51 to 49. All 210 House Republicans and all 50 Senate Republicans voted against the legislation. This surprised no one, but its actually odd in several ways. When Roe v. Wade came down in the early 1970s, a majority of the GOP was pro-choice. It took decades for Republican officials to become almost monolithically opposed to abortion rights. But pro-choice Republican voters didnt entirely cease to exist, and this could become a problem for the party if, as expected, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the right to abortion at the end of this term.

Though polling on the issue is notoriously slippery, our best guess is that a little over a third of Republicans disagree with their party on whether to outlaw abortion (while about one-quarter of Democrats disagree with their party on the topic). These Americans have virtually no representation in Congress with the limited exceptions of Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Though both GOP senators support some abortion rights, they still opposed the WHPA and are against dropping the filibuster to preserve abortion rights.

Ironically, abortion rights as we know them are, to a considerable extent, the product of Republican lawmaking at every level of government. The most obvious examples are the two Supreme Court decisions that established and reaffirmed a constitutional right to abortion. Of the seven justices who supported Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that struck down pre-viability-abortion bans, five were appointed by Republican presidents, including the author of the majority opinion, Harry Blackmun, and thenChief Justice Warren Burger. All five justices who voted to confirm the constitutional right to pre-viability abortions in 1992s Planned Parenthood v. Casey were appointed by Republican presidents as well.

These pro-choice Republicans werent just rogue jurists (though their alleged perfidy has become a deep grievance in the anti-abortion movement). Todays lock-step opposition to abortion rights among GOP elected officials took a long time to develop. Indeed, before Roe, Republicans were more likely to favor legal abortion than Democrats. In New York and Washington, two of the four states that fully legalized pre-viability abortions in 1970, Republican governors Nelson Rockefeller and Daniel Evans were at the forefront of abortion-rights efforts. They werent fringe figures; Rockefeller went on to become vice-president of the United States under Gerald Ford. Pre-Roe, various other Republican officials supported more modest efforts to ease abortion bans; among them was thenCalifornia governor Ronald Reagan, who signed a bill significantly liberalizing exceptions to an abortion ban in 1967.

The anti-abortion movements strength in the Republican Party grew steadily after Roe in part because of a more general ideological sorting out of the two major parties as liberals drifted into the Democratic Party and conservatives were drawn into the GOP. To put it another way, there has always been ideological polarization in American politics, but only in recent decades has it been reflected in parallel party polarization. But that doesnt fully explain the GOPs shift on abortion policy.

Beginning in 1972 with Richard Nixons reelection campaign, Republicans began actively trying to recruit historically Democratic Roman Catholic voters. Soon thereafter, they started working to mobilize conservative Evangelical voters. This effort coincided with the Evangelicals conversion into strident abortion opponents, though they were generally in favor of the modest liberalization of abortion laws until the late 1970s. All these trends culminated in the adoption of a militantly anti-abortion platform plank in the 1980 Republican National Convention that nominated Reagan for president. The Gipper said he regretted his earlier openness to relaxed abortion laws. Reagans strongest intraparty rival was George H.W. Bush, the scion of a family with a powerful multigenerational connection to Planned Parenthood. He found it expedient to renounce any support for abortion rights before launching his campaign.

Still, there remained a significant pro-choice faction among Republican elected officials until quite recently. In 1992, the year Republican Supreme Court appointees saved abortion rights in Casey, there was a healthy number of pro-choice Republicans serving in the Senate: Ted Stevens of Alaska, John Seymour of California, Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas, William Cohen of Maine, Bob Packwood of Oregon, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, John Chafee of Rhode Island, Jim Jeffords of Vermont, John Warner of Virginia, and Alan Simpson and Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming. Another, John Heinz of Pennsylvania, had recently died.

Partisan polarization on abortion (which, of course, was taking place among Democrats as well) has been slow but steady, as Aaron Blake of the Washington Post recently observed:

Ina 1997 study, Carnegie Mellon University professor Greg D. Adams sought to track abortion votes in Congress over time. His finding: In the Senate, there was almost no daylight between the two parties in 1973, with both parties voting for pro-choice positions about 40 percent of the time.

But that quickly changed.

There was more of a difference in the House in 1973, with Republicans significantly more opposed to abortion rights than both House Democrats and senators of both parties. But there, too, the gap soon widened.

Including votes in both chambers, Adams found that a 22 percentage- point gap between the two parties votes in 1973 expanded to nearly 65 points two decades later, afterCaseywas decided.

By 2018, every pro-choice House Republican had been defeated or had retired. The rigidity of the party line on abortion was perhaps best reflected in late 2019, when a House Democrat with a record of strong support for abortion rights, Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, switched parties. Almost instantly, Van Drew switched sides on reproductive rights and was hailed by the hard-core anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List for voting consistently to defend the lives of the unborn and infants.

With the 2020 primary loss by Illinois Democratic representative Dan Lipinski, a staunch opponent of abortion rights, theres now just one House member whose abortion stance is out of step with his party: Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar, who is very vulnerable to defeat in a May 24 runoff.

If the Supreme Court does fully reverse Roe in the coming weeks, making abortion a more highly salient 2022 campaign issue, the one-third of pro-choice Republican voters may take issue with their lack of congressional representation. Will the first big threat to abortion rights in nearly a half-century make them change their priorities? Or will they still care more about party loyalty and issues like inflation? Perhaps nothing will change for most of these voters. But in close races, the abandoned tradition of pro-choice Republicanism could make a comeback to the detriment of the GOPs ambitious plans for major midterm gains.

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How the GOP Abandoned Pro-choice Republicans - New York Magazine

Also in The Atlantic, David Graham pondered the different vibes projected by Representative Conor Lamb, who lost the Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania, and John Fetterman, who won: Lamb seems like a candidate created in a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee lab: Hes young, Kennedy-handsome, a Marine and former federal prosecutor who looks born to wear suits. By contrast, Fetterman looks like he was hacked together from spare parts in an oil-streaked Pittsburgh chopper garage. (Jeannie MacDonald, Portsmouth, N.H.)

In his Esquire newsletter, Charles Pierce responded to the revelation that hundreds of Native American children had died in government-sponsored schools by writing: Sooner or later the angry angel of history was coming to our door. (Louise Machen, Cody, Wyo.)

In The Times, Ross Douthat assessed Elon Musks messy and unresolved ascent toward ownership of Twitter by alluding to Icarus: Sometimes you leap and have a birds wings to bear you upward. Sometimes, though, all you have is its disintegrating feathers or, still worse, not its plumage but its tweets. (Pete Andrews, Chapel Hill, N.C.)

Bret Stephens wrote: The problem the G.O.P. has had for some time now is that in many states and districts, not to mention the presidential contest, the candidate most likely to win a primary is least likely to win a general election. Republican primaries are like holding a heavy metal air guitar contest in order to compete for a place in a jazz ensemble. (Jeff Merkel, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Paul Spitz, Cincinnati, among others)

And Vronique Hyland rhapsodized about a fashion dump of discarded garments and accessories that were there for the taking: When I walked into curated, antiseptic boutiques, I felt starved for novelty. Surveying the Swap Shops jumble, I saw infinite possibilities. Even the most dated clothes seemed ready to spring to life, like actors of a certain age waiting to be rediscovered by Quentin Tarantino. (Jeannie Naujeck, Durham, N.C., and Pam DeAngelus, Cedar Grove, N.J.)

To nominate favorite bits of recent writing from The Times or other publications to be mentioned in For the Love of Sentences, please email me here, and please include your name and place of residence.

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Opinion | Republicans Are Officially the Stop the Steal Party Now - The New York Times

Lee esta historia en espaol.

Republicans in Texas will decide next week who will be their nominee for commissioner of the Texas General Land Office: either Trump-endorsed candidate Dawn Buckingham or GOP historian Tim Westley.

The winner in the May 24 runoff will be a step closer to helm the agency in charge of managing the states 13 million acres of land, as well as the distribution of disaster aid and help for the states veterans.

Since 2015, the position has been held by Republican George P. Bush. But that will soon change now that he is running for Texas attorney general.

Whoever wins will face the winner of the Democratic runoff between Jay Kleberg and Sandragrace Martinez in November. (Read about the Democrats running for land commissioner.)

Dawn Buckingham

The frontrunner in the Republican race is Buckingham. Shes currently a state Senator from Lakeway, outside of Austin. In Marchs eight-person Republican primary, Buckingham was the clear leader, receiving about 42% of the votes.

She has also secured big endorsements, including the coveted support of former president Donald Trump.

Her campaigns website prominently states shes a proven conservative: anti-abortion and someone who has championed border security.

The Texas Newsroom made multiple interview requests with Buckingham's campaign, but she was never made available for this story. In a February interview with the conservative outlet Texas Scorecard, Buckingham explained how she views the land commissioner position.

The Land Office is literally the tip of the spear to defend our border with the state lands that are on the border, our history, and oil and gas against what the liberal left is trying to do, Buckingham said.

On the campaign trail, she held multiple stops with Lt. Governor Dan Patrick where they pushed back against the Biden administration lifting Title 42 a policy that allows for the immediate expulsion of asylum seekers and other migrants at the southern border on public health grounds.

In her interview with the Texas Scorecard she said shell do whatever needs to be done to stop migrants from crossing the border illegally. But Buckingham hasnt been specific in terms of policies.

When asked how the agency can improve disaster recovery, she said, Theres been a lot of articles about how we probably have a lot of room to improve in our hurricane recovery. So, we'll be looking at that very seriously.

How the General Land Office under Bush has handled disaster recovery has been a sticking point among Democrats and Republicans.

Last year, the agency announced that the city of Houston and Harris County werent included in the first round of federal relief funding related to recovery efforts after Hurricane Harvey. The agency backtracked its decision afterward.

Tim Westley

Disaster recovery is one of the things Buckinghams runoff challenger, Tim Westley, wants to specifically address.

Its not OK when we have an example of Hurricane Harvey hitting and we have people that are still reeling from the effects of it years later, Westley told The Texas Newsroom. One of the goals I have immediate goals is to make sure that we have liaisons in all of the locations across Texas where people can reach them.

Westley is the historian of the Republican Party of Texas. He said his background as a historian and veteran motivated him to run.

In the March Republican primaries, Westley got second place with just 15% of the votes.

Westley said he wants to use the role of land commissioner to help preserve history across the state. One of the examples he gave was the Alamo Cenotaph in San Antonio.

Also known as The Spirit of Sacrifice, the Alamo Cenotaph is a monument near the front of the Alamo in San Antonio to honor those who fought in the Battle of the Alamo.

During his tenure as land commissioner, George P. Bush came under fire for wanting to redevelop the site, and proposing relocating the Cenotaph because of its deteriorating condition.

But for Westley, the monument must stay.

Love it or hate, its still history, Westley said. If we dont protect the history, then its easy to be rewritten and that's not what we want.

Buckingham told the Texas Scorecard she would also not move the Cenotaph anywhere.

Westley has carried on a low-key campaign, laying out more specific plans on how to tackle the issues under the purview of the General Land Office.

Contrary to Buckingham, he hasnt talked much about securing the border or being pro-life.

I address those issues but there's not a direct impact that the land commissioners office has on those, Westley said. Am I pro-life? Absolutely Im pro-life. With that being said, those issues are going to be more on the legislative side. This is an executive position.

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Meet the two Republicans running for Texas land commissioner - KUT

CIBOLO, Texas A Black conservative and a rising star in the Republican Party, Wesley Hunt is almost certain to be elected to Congress this fall in a majority-white district in and around Houston.

The district is new, one of two added in Texas after the 2020 census, and was drawn in large part for Mr. Hunt, an example of Republican lawmakers crafting safe seats out of Texas diversifying suburbs rather than going after incumbent Democrats.

That safety has enabled Mr. Hunt, a regular on Fox News supported by top Republicans like Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, to focus his attention on something bigger than his own election: his conviction that the Republican Party needs more conservatives who look like him if it is going to survive.

Diversity in the Republican Party is not the best, Mr. Hunt, 40, said in an interview. If you dont have people like me, and women, step up and say, actually, its OK to be a person of color and to be a Republican, then were going to lose the next generation.

Mr. Hunt has been traveling far beyond his Texas district, raising money and giving support to conservative Black and Hispanic candidates, and talking frankly about the need for Republican officeholders to better reflect the nations changing demographics. He is part of a growing Republican effort to diversify its roster of candidates and undercut Democrats among voters they have long counted on.

On a recent evening, Mr. Hunt showed up more than two hours west of Houston at a political event for a young Hispanic woman, Cassy Garcia, in the town of Cibolo, a Republican area in the fast-changing farmlands outside San Antonio. Ms. Garcia is running in a longstanding Democratic district held by Representative Henry Cuellar that runs from around San Antonio down to the border with Mexico.

He was very interested in our race, said Ms. Garcia, a former aide to Senator Ted Cruz. It means everything that Wesley is invested.

Mr. Hunt introduced himself to the mostly white audience and went over his background West Point graduate, Apache helicopter pilot, staunch conservative speaking loudly to the small crowd under a corrugated metal roof as if projecting into a room far larger than the cinder block bar he found himself in.

The stop at Ms. Garcias event in Cibolo was part of Mr. Hunts effort to support a diverse slate of upstart Republican candidates like John James in Michigan, Jeremy Hunt in Georgia and Jennifer-Ruth Green in Indiana. Each of those candidates, like Ms. Garcia, faces a considerably more difficult race this fall than Wesley Hunt does.

He believes in helping to change the face of the G.O.P., Tim Edson, a political consultant on Ms. Greens campaign, said of Mr. Hunt. I also think he recognizes that by helping others, it can help him hit the ground running and be effective in Congress.

If Mr. Hunt wins, as expected, he would be the third Black Republican in the House, joining Representatives Byron Donalds in Florida and Burgess Owens in Utah, who also represent majority white districts. Even as Republicans have made recent inroads, particularly with Hispanic voters in Florida and Texas, Democrats still outperform them in minority communities.

Unusual among not-yet-elected candidates, Mr. Hunt has already created a political action committee to make donations to others, which he named Hellfire PAC in a nod to his focus on helping those who are military veterans. Mr. Hunt has also been able to cultivate a roster of donors, raising nearly $4 million so far for his own run.

He is running in an area along Interstate-10 known as the energy corridor because of its high concentration of oil and gas businesses, executives and employees. To the extent that Mr. Hunt has firm policy goals, they revolve around questions of domestic energy production. In the interview, he said he hoped to be viewed as the energy congressman.

This is Mr. Hunts second try for Congress, having narrowly lost a bid to unseat Representative Lizzie Fletcher, a Democrat representing parts of western Houston and Harris County.

But rather than creating a more favorable rematch against Ms. Fletcher, a relatively moderate incumbent, during the redistricting process last year, Republican mapmakers redrew her district to make it safer, and created a new one Texas 38th Congressional District that would be a virtual lock for Republicans for the foreseeable future. The district would have overwhelmingly re-elected former President Donald J. Trump. (Mr. Hunts Democratic opponent will be chosen in Tuesdays runoff election.)

Instead of getting two seats that should be majority-minority districts, which should be majority Hispanic districts, they drew that seat to make it easier for Wes Hunt to be a member of Congress, said Odus Evbagharu, the head of the Harris County Democratic Party.

He added that the fact that Mr. Hunt is Black could be seen as an asset, particularly when it comes to attracting suburban white Republican voters.

It helps combat the notion that the Republican Party is racist: Hey, look, we have a white district, but were running a Black man in it, said Mr. Evbagharu, who is Black.

Mr. Hunt said nothing had been given to him, pointing to his dominant performance in the Republican primary in March in which he bested a field of 10 candidates without a runoff.

But he does not avoid the topic of race. Among the campaign advertisements from his first run is a spot highlighting his familys history of enslavement.

What I never want to do is ignore the clearly checkered past that weve had in this country, he said in the interview at a corner table at Avalon Diner, a preferred breakfast spot for Houston power brokers. I want to talk about the hope that we have that a descendant of a slave is now going to be a congressman in a predominantly white, Republican district. In Texas. Thats pretty cool.

Mr. Hunt is used to standing out in white spaces, starting at the elite private school he attended in Houston, more than an hours drive from his childhood home in a predominantly white northern suburb.

Why are these midterms so important? This years races could tip the balance of power in Congress to Republicans, hobbling President Bidens agenda for the second half of his term. They will also test former President Donald J. Trumps role as a G.O.P. kingmaker. Heres what to know:

What are the midterm elections? Midterms take place two years after a presidential election, at the midpoint of a presidential term hence the name. This year, a lot of seats are up for grabs, including all 435 House seats, 35 of the 100 Senate seats and 36 of 50 governorships.

What do the midterms mean for Biden? With slim majorities in Congress, Democrats have struggled to pass Mr. Bidens agenda. Republican control of the House or Senate would make the presidents legislative goals a near-impossibility.

What are the races to watch? Only a handful of seats will determine if Democrats maintain control of the House over Republicans, and a single state could shift power in the 50-50 Senate. Here are 10 races to watch in the Houseand Senate, as well as several key governors contests.

When are the key races taking place? The primary gauntletis already underway. Closely watched racesin Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia will be held in May, with more taking place through the summer. Primaries run until September before the general election on Nov. 8.

Go deeper. What is redistrictingand how does it affect the midterm elections? How does polling work? How do you register to vote? Weve got more answers to your pressing midterm questions here.

When I got to St. Johns in middle school, I was one of two Black kids in my entire grade, Mr. Hunt said. But I was elected class president in eighth grade! he said, laughing.

He said it was around that time he decided he was a Republican. He voted for Barack Obama in the Democratic primary in 2008, though he said he did so as part of an effort, promoted by Rush Limbaugh, to stoke disarray in Democratic ranks that election. In many ways President Obama is actually why somebody like me even exists, he said, adding that he voted for Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate, in the general election.

Mr. Hunt would go on to a military career, following the example of his father, who had been in the Army, and his two siblings, who like Mr. Hunt went to West Point.

During his time at West Point, Mr. Hunt said, he lived in barracks named for Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, and said he would never want its name changed. I loved walking in there and thinking to myself, there was a time when this general fought against the rights of people that looked like me, yet here I am, he said. If it were named anything different, I wouldnt have that perspective.

His views on most issues are well within the mainstream of Texas Republicans, attracting support from business conservatives and an endorsement in the primary from Mr. Trump. He supports recent restrictions on voting opposed by Democrats. He opposes transgender girls participating in youth sports as just not fair, and agrees with Gov. Greg Abbott that medically prescribed treatments for transgender children constitute child abuse.

For his supporters, Mr. Hunt is evidence that whom they vote for is driven by policy and ideology and not by what a candidate looks like.

I hate this whole identity race stuff, said Cody McCubbin, who works in the oil and gas industry and has held events for Mr. Hunt. Personally I dont care what people look like. Its all about whats between your ears.

Still, Mr. Hunt said he often found himself fielding questions from his white friends about race, such as the moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage during the Academy Awards in March. My phone blew up immediately, asking whats your take on this, he said. It was the ask-a-Black-guy moment. You always get one, and Im totally fine with that.

At the campaign event in Cibolo, the heat rose to near 100 degrees just before sundown. Mr. Hunt arrived, looking the part of a congressman in a fitted navy suit, pocket square and American flag lapel pin. He was beaming after what he said had been a successful meeting with executives at Valero, a San Antonio-based oil and gas company a big, big meeting for us, he said.

In his remarks endorsing Ms. Garcia, Mr. Hunt praised her support of more restrictions on abortion, more border fortifications, more gun rights and more support for schools. She joked that she had recently been on Fox News, but added, I cant get on prime time like you, Wesley.

Sam Hines sat at the bar with his father and uncle. A police officer from the nearby town of Adkins, Mr. Hines, 29, came to the event to support Ms. Garcia shes almost like a foil for A.O.C., he said, referring to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congresswoman in New York. He said he went away impressed by Mr. Hunt, whom he had never seen before.

Its good to have minority candidates be successful in the Republican Party, said Mr. Hines, who is white. It appeals to a broader base than a lot of people realize.

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Wesley Hunts Advice for the Republican Party: Update Your Look - The New York Times

Pennsylvania Republicans have nominated state senator Doug Mastriano to be the next governor. Mastriano is one of the most radical gubernatorial candidates ever to receive a major party nomination.

Many Republicans have indulged Trumps claims that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election. But few have gone as far as Mastriano has to try to justify Trumps fever dream.

On 25 November, Mastriano staged a faux legal hearing in Gettysburg, in which Giuliani played prosecutor before a panel of Republican state senators and representatives. Mastriano introduced a number of poll watchers who told unsubstantiated stories of phantom ballots, hacked machines, and dead voters, which they claimed had all led to an election stolen from Trump.

Five days later, after all of Trumps legal challenges had failed and the Pennsylvania secretary of state had formally certified Biden the winner, Mastriano introduced a resolution urging Congress to ignore the official results. His plan was for the Pennsylvania legislature to ignore millions of votes and directly appoint electors pledged to Trump.

Ultimately, Mastrianos resolution didnt go anywhere in the Republican-controlled state legislature because Pennsylvanias Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, did not yield to demands to call a special session. But Mastriano was not deterred. On 10 December 2020, Mastriano signed on to an amicus brief supporting Texass effort to convince the US supreme court to throw out the results in Pennsylvania and several other states. That effort also failed.

In the lead-up to 6 January 2021, Mastriano was reportedly in regular communication with Donald Trump. On the day, Mastriano was at the US Capitol and was captured on video walking through police lines with a crowd of people.

In a statement, Mastriano said that police lines did shift throughout the course of the day and he followed those lines as they existed. (In February, Mastriano was subpoenaed by the January 6 committee. It is unclear if he complied.)

In July 2021, Mastriano sent a letter to several counties requesting information and materials needed to conduct a forensic investigation of the 2020 general election and the 2021 primary. Mastrianos conduct, however, was so extreme that he was removed from the process by the Republican leadership of the Pennsylvania senate. The senate president, Jake Corman, said that Mastriano was only ever interested in politics and showmanship and not actually getting things done.

During his candidacy for governor, Mastriano has been clear that he will use his power including his authority to appoint the Pennsylvania secretary of state to influence the administration of future elections. He said the following on 30 March:

Im Doug Mastriano, and I get to appoint the secretary of state whos delegated from me the power to make the corrections to elections, the voting logs and everything. I could decertify every machine in the state with the stroke of a pen via the secretary of state. I already had the secretary of state picked out. Its a world-class person that knows voting integrity better than anyone else in the nation, I think, and I already have a team thats gonna be built around that individual.

Yesterday, with Trumps endorsement, Pennsylvania Republicans put him one step closer to the governors mansion.

In April, Mastriano spoke at a far-right Christian conference, Patriots Arise for God and Country, which was organized by Francine and Allen Fodsick, self-described prophets who have long promoted QAnon, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. At the outset of the event, organizers played a video claiming the world is experiencing a great awakening that will expose ritual child sacrifice and a global satanic blood cult. The QAnon conspiracy alleges that top Democratic officials and celebrities are Satan-worshipers running a secret child sex-trafficking ring. The video also featured allegations that 9/11 was a false flag, vaccines are genocide therapy, and Hitler faked his death.

Last year, the Fodsicks promoted Mastriano on promotional material for the event, but Mastriano said he would not attend. At the time, a spokesman said Mastriano strongly condemns the Q anon conspiracy theory and never committed to speak at this event but sadly was used to help promote it with his picture on the invite.

Last month, Mastriano attended as a featured speaker, using his remarks to complain about the persecution and oppression he was subjected to for contesting the 2020 presidential election. The Fodsicks auctioned a portrait of Trump for $4,000 during the event, with the proceeds going to Mastrianos campaign. This year, his campaign did not respond to a request for comment by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In a 31 March appearance at the PA Pro Life Coalition, Mastriano said supporters of abortion rights wanted to wipe out Black and Latino communities. He said he believed thats a baby from Day 1 at conception. Mastriano said my objective, of course, is to save life at conception and not play games.

In a 27 April debate, Mastriano said opposition to abortion is his No 1 issue. The first bill he introduced in the Pennsylvania senate was a heartbeat bill which would ban abortion after six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. But Mastriano said that, as Pennsylvanias governor, he would work our way toward a total abortion ban from conception. Mastriano made clear that he doesnt support any exceptions to abortion bans for rape, incest or life of the mother.

Mastrianos position on abortion reflect his Christian nationalist worldview. Christian nationalism, the New Yorker reports, is rooted in the idea that God intended America to be a Christian nation. During his time as a military intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan he developed a dim view of Islam. He has frequently spread Islamophobic memes online, including a conspiracy theory that Ilhan Omar, the Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, directed fellow-Muslims to throw a five-year-old over a balcony.

After retiring from the military and successfully running for office in 2019, Mastriano began attending events held by a movement called the New Apostolic Reformation. Members of the New Apostolic Reformation believe that God speaks to them directly, and that they have been tasked with battling real-world demons who control global leaders. (Mastriano says he has not worked directly with the group.)

In the legislature, Mastriano has supported a bill that would have mandated teaching the Bible in public schools and would have made it legal for adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples.

Judd Legum is the founder and author of Popular Information, an independent newsletter dedicated to accountability journalism, where this post originally appeared

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Republicans just nominated one of the most radical governor candidates in history - The Guardian