In November, there won’t be a Democrat running against incumbent GOP Rep. Kelly Armstrong for North Dakota’s sole congressional seat. The former nominee, Mark Haugen, announced earlier this month that he would drop out of the race … to make room for Cara Mund, a 28-year-old former Republican congressional intern and 2018 Miss America who last week officially qualified for the race as a pro-abortion access independent. The details of Mund’s late bid were surprising for political observers, especially when big-name North Dakota Democrats suggested their candidate leave the race as she jumped in. But it’s her candidacy, some of those same state Democrats say, that reflects a more important reality: After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the politics of abortion access have roiled races even in deeply conservative parts of the country — and abortion supporters appear increasingly galvanized while abortion opponents have seen some of their potential electoral victories, in Kansas and elsewhere, limited.
