Democrats Bet Big That Abortion Could Flip a ‘Safely Red’ House Seat in Wisconsin

A special election in November, timed with the general election, will determine who will occupy Mike Gallagher’s vacated eighth-congressional-district seat in Wisconsin from November onward. Republican voters in Wisconsin decided on Green Bay gas-station entrepreneur Tony Wied in the special election’s August 13 primary, opting for him over state legislators Roger Roth and André Jacque. Wied, having cleared the field by just under six points after receiving Donald Trump’s blessing, will have his work cut out for him as he faces Democratic candidate Kristin Lyerly, an ob-gyn practicing in Northern Minnesota with past Planned Parenthood affiliations. Lyerly agreed to an interview with National Review.

Kristin Lyerly joined the Zoom call from her office in Minnesota. Wearing scrubs and on call during the length of our interview — delayed a day after the successful delivery of a baby boy had compelled a rescheduling — the Democratic contender for the eighth is an attractive, obviously intelligent blonde woman in her fifties, the mother of four boys. . . . She’s also unbothered to confirm that she has practiced abortions, and has done so in Wisconsin until Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and a latent Wisconsin law kicked in that forbade the practice.

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Luther Ray Abel

Luther Ray Abel is an Associate Editor for National Review. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Luther is a proud native of Sheboygan, Wis.

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A special election in November, timed with the general election, will determine who will occupy Mike Gallagher’s vacated eighth-congressional-district seat in Wisconsin from November onward. Republican voters in Wisconsin decided on Green Bay gas-station entrepreneur Tony Wied in the special election’s August 13 primary, opting for him over state legislators Roger Roth and André Jacque. Wied, having cleared the field by just under six points after receiving Donald Trump’s blessing, will have his work cut out for him as he faces Democratic candidate Kristin Lyerly, an ob-gyn practicing in Northern Minnesota with past Planned Parenthood affiliations. Lyerly agreed to an interview with National Review.

Kristin Lyerly joined the Zoom call from her office in Minnesota. Wearing scrubs and on call during the length of our interview — delayed a day after the successful delivery of a baby boy had compelled a rescheduling — the Democratic contender for the eighth is an attractive, obviously intelligent blonde woman in her fifties, the mother of four boys. . . . She’s also unbothered to confirm that she has practiced abortions, and has done so in Wisconsin until Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and a latent Wisconsin law kicked in that forbade the practice.