The overperformances of Democrats in special elections so far in 2023 – up by an average of 10 percent against expected partisan lean of the jurisdictions observed – has a number of Republican strategists pissing their pants over what it might portend for next year, ABC News reports.

“If you’re looking at this plus-22 [pro-Republican] seat and you want to know why this guy won by a lot smaller percentage than what you would have thought … it’s because this issue is still there. Republicans still have to figure out how to address the abortion issue,” Wisconsin Republican strategist Brandon Scholz told ABC News. “I think you have to be very concerned.”

“You could probably make a connection a little bit to the presidential race, that there’s a lot of candidates in right now. There’s the Trump folks and folks that are backing somebody else, and the party’s not united nationally around one candidate right now, or at least not completely. Sometimes that affects turnout and funding,” said Pennsylvania Republican consultant Josh Novotney.

Chris Nicholas, another Keystone State Republican lackey said Democrats “thought [abortion] could juice their turnout, and they were they were successful in that regard. And they weren’t subtle about it at all. They’re just like, ‘We know this is a hot-button issue for us, and we’re gonna keep milking it till it runs dry.’ I think you’ll see that a lot in the fall and next year as well.”