Author looks back at historically important race in abortion politics
Pullen-Mulligan race in 1990 was a turning point in state and federal races
A new book offers a retrospective of a vital state legislative contest that changed ballot counting and abortion politics forever.
Patrick Wohl, a former campaign staffer on races for federal and statewide elections and ballot initiatives, wrote Down Ballot: How a Local Campaign Became a National Referendum on Abortion. The story recounts the race between Republicans Penny Pullen and Rosemary Mulligan in the primary contest of a Chicago suburb. A coin toss decided it because it was so close. The book will be released on Jan. 24, 2023, but it is now available for pre-order.
“This campaign is kind of lore, I would say, in Illinois politics,” Wohl said.
Most people know about it because it was an essential reference and citation in the 2000 Bush v. Gore case that determined who became the president.
Wohl said there hadn’t been much written about the Mulligan-Pullen contest. He wanted to fill the gap in research.
“I actually did not know that the main issue in the campaign was abortion,” Wohl said. “So that made things even more relevant today, for sure, because there's a lot of parallels.”
Mulligan was the pro-choice candidate in the race, and Pullen was staunchly anti-abortion. Mulligan ran for the seat after the Supreme Court decided the Webster v. Reproductive Health Care case. The court upheld a Missouri law that imposed restrictions on using state funds, facilities, and employees in performing, assisting with, or counseling an abortion. The Supreme Court in Webster allowed states to legislate in ways forbidden under Roe v. Wade.
“It gave them much more leeway and sort of set up all of these conflicts in places across the country,” Wohl said. “Because this was one of the first campaigns after that decision.”
One of the more interesting aspects of the story is that this race was for the Republican nomination. Yet a pro-choice candidate won. It’s an indication that suburban women are generally supportive of abortion access. This aligns with what national democratic strategists have emphasized in presidential races. Wohl doesn’t think Republicans will generally support pro-choice candidates in the future.
“I still think there are lessons learned from this and those sorts of races,” Wohl said.
Wohl said it’s important to both study and stay up-to-date about what’s happening in state politics. He believes most people can’t name a state legislator, and a sizable number can’t name the governor of their state.
“Our state legislators, especially the people who are committee chairmen and chairwomen, have far more power and influence on your daily life than your average member of Congress, even though they get much more attention,” Wohl said. “So I think people are sort of realizing that with the abortion debate, and this is just a good example of that.”