But this year, abortion is on the ballot, with party control of the closely divided chambers of the legislature determining whether Virginia will lose its status as the last Southern state where abortion is mostly legal and accessible. Democrats, meanwhile, see the races as critical not only to sustaining abortion rights in swing-state Virginia but as a test of how powerful the issue remains nationally. Predicting winners is always difficult in state legislative races, but especially hard in Virginia. Where Democrats have an edge, experts say, is on the motivating factor of abortion rights. Since Dobbs, pro-abortion rights voters have become more energized, Rackaway says, since they're trying to regain something they lost in the Supreme Court ruling.

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Persons: Danica Roem, Danny Diggs, Glenn Youngkin, Youngkin's, Chapman Rackaway, Youngkin –, Zack Roday, Dobbs, Steven Farnsworth, University of Mary Washington, Ohioans, Andy Beshear, Daniel Cameron, Jaime Harrison, Harrison, Kyle Kondick, Biden, Youngkin, Farnsworth, –, Rackaway, you've, Diggs, Roday doesn't, they've, Roday, Heather Williams Organizations: Senate, Republican, Gov, Old Dominion, Republicans, Radford University, U.S . Senate, GOP, Youngkin's PAC, Jackson, Health Organization, University of Mary, Democratic, Bluegrass State, Democratic National Committee, Center, Politics, University of Virginia, Virginia, Democrats, The Washington Post, –, National Democrats, Democratic Legislative, Republican National Committee, Republican Party of Virginia, Campaign Locations: Northern Virginia, Virginia, Southern, Old, Dobbs – California , Kansas , Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Kentucky