Marilyn Lands, a Democrat who made protecting abortion rights and IVF a centerpiece of her campaign has won a special election to the Alabama Legislature in a district that Donald Trump carried in the last presidential election.
Lands reacted on X with, "Alabama women have spoken-thank you District 10!!"
Alabama women have spoken—thank you District 10!!https://t.co/qu4GuPon9P
— Marilyn Lands (@MarilynForAL) March 27, 2024
She vowed to help repeal Alabama's near-total ban on abortion. Land also has fought for the state's Right to Contraception Act which would enshrine the right to use and distribute contraception.
Lands beat Republican Teddy Powell by about 25 percentage points, the Washington Post reported. Donald Trump won the district by a single percentage point in 2020.
The suburban district represents parts of the cities of Madison and Huntsville, which is home to the Army's Redstone Arsenal and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, according to the Associated Press.
Lands ran for the seat in 2022 but lost by seven percentage points to Republican David Cole.
The legislative seat became open again after he resigned from his seat. He pleaded guilty to a fraud charge after renting a tiny space to run for office in a district where he didn't live, WAFF-TV reported.
While it was a local election, national Democrats who have attempted to portray the state GOP as too extreme on abortion celebrated the results.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams called the victory a "political earthquake in Alabama" in a post on X.
Congrats @MarilynForAL! There has been a political earthquake in Alabama tonight.
— Heather Williams (@Heather4Dems) March 27, 2024
This was the first real test of voter backlash following the court decision threatening IVF, and they showed up in force. Marilyn ran courageously and unabashedly as a defender of repro freedoms. https://t.co/9VkRdS26UC
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in mid-February that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their "extrauterine children," the Associated Press reported. The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics.
Facing public pressure to get IVF services restarted, Alabama lawmakers earlier this month moved closer to approving protections for fertility clinics that shut down after the ruling.
