Marilyn Lands, an Alabama Democratic candidate for the state House, overwhelmingly won her race Tuesday while campaigning on abortion issues and her personal experience, multiple outlets reported.
Lands won 62.4 percent of the vote of Alabama’s 10th district while campaigning on abortion rights and access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) “in a rare purple district,” Axios reported Tuesday. (RELATED: Sen. Katie Britt Reacts To Scarlett Johansson’s ‘SNL’ Impersonation)
“Our Legislature’s no-exceptions abortion ban is making Alabama an unsafe place to start a family,” Lands’s campaign website reads, also stating that she supports repealing the no-exception ban and expanding health care access.
“Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation,” she declared in a victory statement Tuesday.
Lands tweeted a video Feb. 20 that went into her own personal story about abortion that occurred roughly two decades prior.
I’m sharing my abortion story because Alabama’s no exceptions abortion ban is putting lives at risk. We must repeal this legislation, and if I’m elected on March 26th, I’ll work tirelessly to do just that.
Learn more at https://t.co/VQKTW9Ivob pic.twitter.com/n7fZDB2Eqx
— Marilyn for Alabama (@MarilynForAL) February 20, 2024
“I faced the hardest decision of my life,” Lands said in the video about when the doctor informed her that the baby she was carrying had serious genetic defects that likely meant it would not survive.
“When I heard the news and I really understood the full impact of the news, the rug had been pulled out from underneath us. I just could not have imagined how this could have happened … it seemed so unfair,” she said.
Lands recalled that “all three doctors” advised her to “terminate the pregnancy” since her health was at risk.
The race was followed closely by Democrat’s nationwide.
“Marilyn Lands’ victory demonstrates that voters aren’t going to sit idly by while MAGA Republicans lay the groundwork for a national abortion ban,” the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Jaime Harrison said, Axios noted.
“We’re going to see this issue continue to play out not just in this race, but in every race that we have going forward,” Heather Williams, the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), said, the outlet reported. A memo dated March 20 by the DLCC confirmed that Democratic leadership was closely following these kinds of races.