By Mike Scarcella and Daniel Wiessner
WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Republicans lost state attorney general races to Democrats in key states in the November 3 midterm elections, with potential consequences for lawsuits related to abortion, transgender rights and other issues that the outgoing Republicans championed.
Democrats will take over state attorney general offices in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Texas.
Here are some of the pending lawsuits that could be affected by the election:
ABORTION AND
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
Texas is among the states suing the US Food and Drug Administration over its approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, arguing that the agency failed to thoroughly evaluate the drug's safety and effectiveness. Florida, where Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier won a new term on Tuesday, would be the remaining plaintiff if Texas withdraws from the case.
The Democratic Attorney General-elect in Kansas, Chris Mann, could withdraw the state from a separate challenge to regulations that expanded access to mifepristone, which would leave Missouri and Idaho as plaintiffs.
Texas has also filed numerous lawsuits against out-of-state providers for remotely prescribing mifepristone to Texas residents. Nathan Johnson, the Democrat elected Texas attorney general this week, told Reuters he will assess pending lawsuits that Paxton's office brought to determine whether or not he will support them. "Everything will be examined," Johnson said.
Johnson also could decline to defend the state’s near-total abortion ban in a lawsuit by the family of Tierra Walker, a Texas woman who died from a pregnancy-related condition after doctors refused to perform an abortion.
The state also could back away from at least three pending cases seeking to enforce a 2023 law banning gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors.
In Georgia, Democrat Tanya Miller's election could impact the state’s defense of HB 481, the 2019 law banning abortion after six weeks. Litigation over the ban is ongoing after the Georgia Supreme Court revived the law in 2024.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Another lawsuit that could draw scrutiny from Johnson, the Texas attorney general-elect, is his state's case against Kenvue, which alleges the Tylenol maker concealed purported links between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. Kenvue has denied any wrongdoing.
Doctors and medical groups consider acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, as the preferred treatment for pain and fever during pregnancy, and there is no firm scientific evidence of a link between its use and autism or ADHD.
Outgoing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, in 2023 in another lawsuit accused drugmaker Pfizer of misrepresenting the efficacy of its widely used COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer in a prior statement said its representations about its vaccine have been "accurate and science-based," and that Paxton's lawsuit had no merit.
Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who narrowly lost a reelection bid to Mann, also has sued Pfizer over similar claims.
ENVIRONMENT
Texas and 12 other Republican-led states are suing top asset managers including BlackRock, accusing them of violating antitrust law through climate activism that reduced coal production and boosted energy prices.
The lawsuit in federal court is one of the most prominent legal challenges to environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. Kansas is among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. BlackRock has denied any wrongdoing. Vanguard Group in February settled claims against it in the lawsuit for $29.5 million.
IMMIGRATION
The new attorney general in Texas could also drop the state's defense of SB4, a Republican-backed Texas law that allows state authorities to arrest and prosecute people suspected of illegally crossing the US-Mexico border. The New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in April allowed the law to take effect as a challenge proceeds.
In another matter, the US Supreme Court is weighing whether to take up Iowa’s appeal of a ruling blocking a law that would allow state officials to arrest and prosecute people who are in the US illegally. The state's attorney general-elect, Democrat Nate Willems, could decline to defend the law if the Supreme Court takes the case.
VOTING RIGHTS AND ELECTIONS
Paxton's office is appealing a Boston federal judge's order that stopped the Republican attorney general from continuing to pursue a lawsuit against Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue over its donation practices.
In June, US District Judge Richard Stearns granted ActBlue's request for a preliminary injunction after the platform argued that Paxton's lawsuit violated its free speech rights.
In Georgia, a federal judge is weighing a fight over the state’s congressional maps, which challengers said harmed Black voters. A federal appeals court in August vacated a 2023 ruling by the lower court that said the state’s Republican-backed plan illegally diluted Black votes in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
In a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge Steven Jones in Atlanta paused further action in the litigation, citing “impending changes” in the leadership of the state attorney general’s office.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES
At the US Supreme Court, the new Texas attorney general could revisit the state's defense of a Texas law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools. Several Texas families, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, have asked the justices to invalidate the 2025 state law.
A divided US appeals court in April ruled that Texas can require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. The Supreme Court has not decided whether to take up the case.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella and Daniel Wiessner, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Jonathan Spicer and Andrea Ricci)
