Republicans across the country suffered a crushing defeat in the transgender battle that they thrust into the national spotlight just two years ago.

GOP candidates in Virginia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kansas suffered major losses Tuesday night in several local elections where voters rejected anti-trans policies by voting against Republicans in school board races.

Elections, especially in Virginia and Ohio, should convince pro-life Republicans of their need to come up with a different strategy when it comes to abortion. A no-exceptions mandate, or strictly limiting the procedure, isn’t working, partly because a new generation of younger people seems less predisposed to curtailing it.

Once again, American voters in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision that last year nullified a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion have told the Republican Party what they think of its crusade to restrict reproductive freedom: Get lost.

Republicans on Long Island, New York, scored a historic victory on Tuesday night, solidifying gains they have made in the area and providing a small bright spot in an otherwise disappointing night nationwide.

Republican Ed Romaine defeated Democrat Dave Calone on Tuesday to become the first Republican to win the Suffolk County executive position in 20 years.

Romaine won with 56% of the vote by a margin of 26,000 votes, The Associated Press projected.

Even before Tuesday’s elections, many progressives insisted the question of whether protecting abortion rights wins elections was already asked and answered. Democrats made abortion rights the centerpiece of their campaign advertising during the 2022 midterms, a cycle where Democrats outperformed expectations, kept control of the US Senate, and staved off a red wave. Polls last year also found abortion rights to be a significantly motivating issue for both independent and Democratic voters.

After promising in 2016 that "for every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two centrist Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia," Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has had the last laugh repeatedly, and election night 2023 is no exception.