Josh Hawley: Roe Will Give GOP More Electoral Strength

With Roe v. Wade overturned, social media has been flooded with posts by pro-choice US residents considering a move to another state. According to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, that's exactly what the GOP needs to happen. His prediction: "More and more red states are going to become more red, purple states are going to become red and the blue states are going to get a lot bluer. And I would look for Republicans as a result of this to extend their strength in the Electoral College. And that’s very good news.” He offered the prediction on a call with reporters, according to the Kansas City Star and MSN. "I really do think this is going to be a watershed moment in American politics. I think another period of transformative change in American politics is now upon us,” he said. "I think we will see a major sorting out across the country that is already underway. ... I think it'll probably redraw some demographic lines around the country." More on Hawley and his theory:

• Social conservatives vs. fiscal conservatives: Furthermore, Hawley said social conservatives would no longer need to work with fiscal conservatives, turning the Republican Party even further to the right. "For years on the conservative side of the ledger, social conservatives have been told that they had to form an alliance with the corporatists, the neoliberals, in order to get elected," he said. "I think that alliance is over today. There's no reason for social conservatives to go along with a corporatist agenda that frankly never had much support in the country."
• One mayor's reaction: Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted, “I was born here, for better or worse. I’m not going any damn place else and I hope enough like-minded people stay too, so that we change things here."
• Personal tie to the case: Erin Hawley, the senator's wife, is a lawyer who helped to shape the arguments in the Mississippi case that ultimately allowed the Supreme Court to overturn Roe, Axios reports.
• Is he right? Political strategist Simon Rosenberg says recent polling shows "there is no red wave" coming in the midterm elections this November, and that the overturning of Roe is likely to hurt Republicans, at least in the coming election.
• More on the midterms: CNN offers its analysis here (takeaway: the overturning of Roe is likely to have more of an impact at the state level); the AP offers its analysis here; and Time here.

(More Roe v. Wade stories.)