FiveThirtyEight’s top politics stories this week

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Popular In Politics] Thursday, August 17, 2023 [1. Everything You Need To Know About The Ohio Ballot Measure That Could Block Abortion Rights]( [Ohioans will vote Tuesday on whether amendments to the state constitution should require at least 60 percent of the vote to pass. Advocates and opponents both see the election as crucial to the fate of an abortion-rights amendment that will go before voters in November.]( The campaign over Issue 1 in Ohio has been provocative, to say the least. One ad argues that the ballot measure is necessary to prevent children from getting gender-affirming care without their parents’ consent. Another features a steamy sex scene — interrupted by a Republican congressman who steals a condom out of a couple’s hands. [Read more]( [2. Could A Democrat Actually Win Mississippi’s Governorship?]( [tate-reeves-ap-4-3]( It may be the dog days of August, but elections never sleep. Today in Mississippi, voters head to the polls to pick their nominees for state and legislative offices, including governor and lieutenant governor. And Ohioans will vote on a ballot measure that would raise the threshold for passing future constitutional amendments (such as one on abortion rights this November) from a simple majority to 60 percent (my colleague Nathaniel Rakich has more on the Ohio vote). [Read more]( [3. A Special Election In Ohio Shows Voters Still Care About Abortion]( [AP23221050007697_4x3]( Abortion rights in Ohio passed their first test on Tuesday. But the final exam could still be a challenge. [Read more]( [4. Ron DeSantis Wants To Win Over Parents — But He’s Focusing On The Wrong Issues]( [US-NEWS-EDU-FLA-BLACKHISTORY-MI]( In every election cycle, a new kind of mom voter emerges. Sometimes those mythical mothers — soccer moms, security moms, rage moms — represent an actual voting constituency, but other times, they end up being figments of candidates’ imaginations. And in the 2024 Republican primary, it may end up being more of the latter. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: What Makes The Fulton County Indictment Different For Trump]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.