rocket fuel for what is typically a low-key primary in the summer. the amendment to strip abortion protection was defeated by nearly 20 points. a resounding backlash against those pushing more abortion restrictions in the wake of the supreme court decision on roe. here is some of the reaction when the results came in. [ cheers and applause ] ? so grateful and overjoyed in this moment now. i m really proud our state came through and decisively won. i just decided i know and my loved ones can get the health care we need and deserve. i m astounded. but it wasn t just the margin that raised eye brows. the turnout was historic. more than 900,000 kansasan cast ballots in the sweltering heat. nearly double the primary turnout in 2018 and almost triple what it was in 2014. all this in a state that is overwhelmingly republican and with no major contested democratic races to entice the voters to the polls. only abortion. what does it mean for reproductive rights in other stat
not only did you see people come out. i m interested to even go further into the data. four out of 10 voters in rural kansas was supportive to access of abortion services. this is a statement about what people are willing to do to make sure they can hang on to rights that right now across the country and state after state and they re getting more extreme limiting access even more. that s a real red flag to republicans. it s no surprise that in this campaign, the tactics that were used to try to get folks to change the constitution, even those campaigns knew they wanted to confuse the issue because they knew that people are very much in favor of access to abortion services and having women and families have the right to decide this, not government. thing is an important point for every campaign out there to take a good look at what happened here on engagement as well as the actual votes that came from
speak to, you know, why these messages might have been deleted. whether it was incompetence or something more nefarious that seems to be seen. you have the cipallone issue. some people might look at this. it s more of the same. pat already testified to the january 6th committee, but the two settings, the january 6th committee and federal grand jury are as different as night and day. the j-6 committee doesn t have any real power or a viable path to test and overcome a privilege once it s asserted. the grand jury has a direct path to promptly reserve the assertion of any privilege by a witness. all we do, and i litigated lots of privileges when witnesses would claim them in the grand jury, we go to the chief judge
all this in a state that is overwhelmingly republican and with no major contested democratic races to entice the voters to the polls. only abortion. what does it mean for reproductive rights in other states? what does it mean for the midterms? as one-long time activist told me, quote, it s going to be a major issue on every ballot moving forward. i want to bring in dr. burns who has been covering the story for us. jason candor served as missouri s secretary of state. he s with the veteran s project. and our kansas city affiliate amanda was the national political director for hillary clinton s 2006 campaign. we have nbc national political correspondent steve kornacki. karen, let me start with you. you live here. you ve been reporting here. watching it from afar, the secretary of state seemed absolutely shocked by the
it s not over. as you know, amanda, it s the game that got them the supreme court ruling. so what are you expecting from this fight as it moves forward? i think it will continue to intensify on both sides. what we learned is where the public is, at least in kansas. it s quite clear. that s the part that is important for campaigns out there. i think jason is right. the democratic party is learning how to talk about the issue. it s something nobody talks about. then when they have the vote behind closed doors, they actually present their opinions and perspectives, their desire to have services in that kind of voting booth center. we, as democrats, have to figure out how to talk about this. i ll add it s important culturally in the latino community and black and brown communities on how we figure out how to talk about abortion services culturally. i think that s a key piece as we move to the general election. there s no doubt here that the message that democrats have been saying for a l