Abortion rights messaging proved to be a winning issue during Tuesday night’s off-year elections and it could help President Joe Biden’s reelection as it struggles to defend itself against worrying polls in hypothetical rematches against former President Donald Trump.

Polls from the New York Times-Siena College showed Trump leading Biden in five out of six key battleground states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania – prompting Democratic fretting over the 2024 elections. A CNN poll released Tuesday night showed Trump leading Biden 49% to 45%, another troubling sign. But positive signs from across the nation on Tuesday may give Biden a narrative strategy to counteract Trump, should he win the GOP nomination.

In bellwether Virginia, Republicans lost control of both chambers in the state legislature, severely thwarting Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s hopes of enacting a 15-week abortion restriction. Youngkin had argued that if Virginians gave him legislative trifecta, he could pass conservative policies he can’t enact currently due to Democrats controlling the state Senate.

Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership, told the Washington Examiner the results were “disappointing,” but it wouldn’t damper Youngkin’s ability to run for president in 2028 should he want to seek higher office.

“Clearly, abortion is still top in voters’ minds. And I would say it’s really women’s healthcare,” Chamberlain said. “I’ve told the members of Republican Main Street Partnership this for two years and we’re trying to figure it out. We need an answer to the abortion issue.”

Voters in swing state Ohio passed the Issue 1 ballot measure, which enshrines abortion into the state’s Constitution, giving Democrats another win since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year. Reproductive rights have proven to be an effective messaging strategy for Democrats in the wake of Roe being struck down in June 2022. In addition to Ohio, California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont have all passed measures to protect access to abortion or blocked attempts to restrict abortion. It could once again help Biden during his reelection bid.

Despite worrying poll numbers, Biden will once again run on protecting access to reproduction next year. Mere hours after Issue 1 passed, Biden released a statement praising the results. “Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that put the health and lives of women in jeopardy, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors and nurses for providing the health care that their patients need and that they are trained to provide,” Biden said.

“This extreme and dangerous agenda is out-of-step with the vast majority of Americans,” he continued. “My Administration will continue to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law once and for all.”

In another positive sign for Democrats, Kentucky Republican gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron lost his race against incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear, whom he sought to tie to Biden. Beshear’s win proves that despite Biden’s high disapproval numbers, the incumbency advantage and popularity of Beshear were enough to propel him to reelection.

An official with Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign, tied Cameron’s loss to Trump who had endorsed him in the race.

“Are you tired of losing yet?” said Zack Montanaro, a spokesman for the super PAC.

Another 2024 rival, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, mocked Trump over Cameron’s loss.

“Trump endorsed candidate Daniel Cameron loses the Governor’s race in DEEP RED Kentucky. Another loss for Trump,” Christie said. “The losing will only end for Republicans if we rid ourselves of Donald Trump. Trump – loser in ’18, ’20, ’21, ’22 and now ’23.”

Some Democrats cited abortion as another reason for Beshear’s win, including Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota.

“Abortion is a kitchen table issue – period,” she said. “Republicans don’t have a messaging problem, they have a policy problem.”

Beshear’s campaign released an effective abortion ad against Cameron in September of a Kentucky girl’s story of being raped when she was 12 years old. “This is to you, Daniel Cameron,” Hadley said. “To tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable.”

Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison referenced abortion rights in his congratulatory statement to Beshear. “While his Trump-endorsed MAGA Republican opponent supported extreme abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest, Kentucky voters delivered a major rejection of that anti-choice agenda,” he said.

Trump has often bragged about appointing the three Supreme Court justices who helped tilt the high court to a conservative majority paving the way to overturn Roe. But he has often dithered around endorsing a federal abortion ban prompting criticism from conservatives.

Yet he hasn’t demurred from his position. At a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa, in September, Trump warned that abortion restrictions that exclude rape, incest, or the health of the mother may harm the GOP in the elections. “Without the exceptions, it is very difficult to win elections. We would probably lose the majorities in 2024 without the exceptions, and perhaps the presidency itself,” Trump said.

In a bright spot for Republicans, incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi won his reelection bid against Democrat Brandon Presley, who put up a competitive fight but couldn’t win a heavily Republican state as Mississippi. Reeves was an unpopular governor, but, like Beshear, incumbency had its advantage.

“Reeves ran a pretty strong campaign. He had pretty strong backing from the RGA (Republican Governor’s Association); the last-minute endorsement from Trump, I think, helped a little bit,” said Steve Hilding, a Republican strategist and vice president of political consulting firm McShane. “But I think he performed a series campaign. Reeves campaigns like it was a very serious election, and not like something that can be played around with.”

McShane, like Chamberlain of the RMSP, cautioned against any national narratives from Tuesday night around abortion, yet he did concede that Democrats overperformed.

“I think Democrats have realized that there is a big campaign to be had in advocacy and talking about issues and educating voters,” McShane said, referencing the Ohio abortion ballot measure. “They saw Ohio is kind of the right battleground for this. And they kind of took this fight by the horns and kind of showed that their voter base can be mobilized based on single issues and educating voters on single issues.”