A costly campaign by abortion-rights advocates for state Supreme Court seats yielded mixed results in Tuesday's election, with Republicans expanding their majority on Ohio's court while candidates backed by progressive groups won in Montana and Michigan.
One of the most expensive and closely watched Supreme Court races in North Carolina, where a Democratic justice campaigned heavily on abortion rights and Republicans hope to expand their majority, remained too early to call Thursday.
Groups on both the right and left spent millions in the leadup to the election hoping to reshape courts that'll be battlegrounds for voting rights, redistricting, abortion and other issues.
Abortion-rights supporters touted victories in states that Donald Trump won, saying it's a sign that reproductive rights will be key in judicial campaigns after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. In states like Montana and Arizona, state courts may soon be tasked with interpreting how abortion-rights amendments voters passed this week would impact existing laws.
“State Supreme Court judges don't really have anything to say about the economy, but they certainly do have something to say about reproductive rights and voting rights and democracy and what your life is going to be like from a right to liberty perspective in your state," said Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer for the American Civil Liberties Union. “So I think we have a real opportunity to define these judges and this level of the ballot by reproductive rights.”
The ACLU spent $5.4 million on court races in Montana, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio. Planned Parenthood and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee earlier this year announced they were collectively spending $5 million, focusing on court races in those states, as well as in Arizona and Texas.
Conservative groups also spent heavily in those states, but with ads focusing on issues other than abortion such as immigration and crime.
In Ohio, all three Democrats running for the state Supreme Court lost their race. The victory gives Republicans a 6-1 majority on the court. A county judge in October struck down the state’s six-week abortion ban and the state Supreme Court is expected to hear more cases aiming to undo regulations that, for example, require 24-hour waiting periods or in-person appointments for patients.
“Ohioans made a strong statement tonight that will keep the court under Republican control for years to come,” said Dee Duncan, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee's Judicial Fairness Initiative, which spent nearly $1 million on the race.
Michigan Democrats won two seats on the state’s Supreme Court, expanding their majority to 5-2. While the elections are nonpartisan, parties nominate the candidates.
“With the liberal majority protected, Michigan Dems’ hard work past and future will not be threatened by the MAGA fanatics that threaten our values here in Michigan,” Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes said in a statement.
In North Carolina, Justice Allison Riggs trailed narrowly Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin in their race for an eight-year term on the state’s highest court. The Associated Press has not called the race, for which nearly 5.5 million ballots have been counted. Tens of thousands of additional provisional and absentee ballots still had to be reviewed by county election officials, and the trailing candidate could seek a recount if the final margin is narrow enough.
Riggs' campaign focused on reproductive rights, running ads that said Griffin could be a deciding vote on the 5-2 majority Republican court for further abortion restrictions. Griffin had said it was inappropriate for Riggs to talk about an issue that could come before the court.
Heated bids for a pair of seats on Montana's court were a split decision, with county attorney Cory Swanson defeating former U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry Lynch for chief justice. State judge Katherine Bidegaray defeated state judge Dan Wilson for another open seat on the court.
Progressive groups backed Lynch and Bidegaray, casting the races as key to protecting abortion rights in a state where Republicans control the Legislature and the governor's office. Republicans who complained about the court's rulings against laws that would have restricted abortion access or made it more difficult to vote supported Swanson and Wilson.
A longshot effort by abortion-rights advocates to unseat three justices on Texas' all-Republican Supreme Court fell short, with Jimmy Blacklock, John Devine and Jane Bland winning reelection. The three were part of unanimous rulings rejecting challenges to the state’s abortion ban.
In Arizona, two justices won retention elections despite efforts to oust them over the court decision that cleared way for a long-dormant 1864 law banning nearly all abortions to be enforced. The state Legislature swiftly repealed it, and voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion access up to fetal viability, typically after 21 weeks.
Conservatives also won in Oklahoma, where voters removed one of three Supreme Court justices appointed by a former Democratic governor who were up for retention. A 5-4 ruling by the court last year overturned a portion of the state’s near total ban on abortion. It was the first time any Oklahoma appellate judge had been removed through a retention election.
An Arkansas justice who wrote a blistering dissent when the court's Republican-backed majority blocked an abortion rights measure from the ballot was elected chief justice. That race, however, won't change the court's majority.
The next big battleground comes next year in Wisconsin, where a race will determine whether liberals maintain their 4-3 majority on the court. The open race for retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley's seat comes after the court flipped from conservative control in a 2023 election marked by record-breaking spending.
“It doesn’t seem like state Supreme Court elections are going to go back to the way they were 10 years ago anytime soon,” said Douglas Keith, senior counsel in the judiciary program at the Brennan Center, which has tracked spending on state court races.
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Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Washington, Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana, and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.
This story was first published on Nov. 7, 2024. It was updated on Nov. 11, 2024 to correct that an an Ohio county judge, not the state Supreme Court, struck down the state’s six-week abortion ban.
FILE - Boxes containing signatures supporting a proposed ballot measure to scale back Arkansas' abortion ban are delivered to a room in the state Capitol, July 5, 2024, in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo, File)
FILE - Abortion rights supporters gather for a "pink out" protest organized by Planned Parenthood in the rotunda of the Wisconsin Capitol, June 22, 2022, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Harm Venhuizen, File)
FILE - Stephen Parlato of Boulder, Colo., holds a sign that reads "Hands Off Roe!!!" as abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
COLLEGE PARK, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 5, 2024--
IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), a leader in the quantum computing and networking industry, today announced the delivery of IonQ Forte Enterprise to its first European Innovation Center at the uptownBasel campus in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Achieved in partnership with QuantumBasel, this major milestone marks the first datacenter-ready quantum computer IonQ has delivered that will operate outside the United States and the first quantum system for commercial use in Switzerland.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205805000/en/
Forte Enterprise is now online servicing compute jobs while performing at a record algorithmic qubit count of #AQ36, which is significantly more powerful than the promised #AQ35. With each additional #AQ, the useful computational space for running quantum algorithms doubles. A system with #AQ36 is capable of considering more than 68 billion different possibilities simultaneously. With this milestone, IonQ once again leads the industry in delivering production-ready systems to customers.
“The successful commissioning of Forte Enterprise in Europe – on schedule and at an even higher performance level than announced previously – demonstrates IonQ’s commitment to driving global quantum adoption through technological leadership and operational excellence,” said Peter Chapman, CEO and President of IonQ. “Achieving #AQ36 is a significant leap forward, opening new possibilities for applications including logistics, finance, pharmaceuticals, chemistry and artificial intelligence.”
“Offering the state-of-the-art Forte Enterprise quantum computing platform to our ecosystem will accelerate the development of quantum applications across a range of fields,” said Damir Bogdan, CEO of QuantumBasel. “By collaborating with IonQ, we’re positioning the uptownBasel campus as a leader in quantum innovation, fostering breakthroughs that address real-world challenges.”
IonQ’s next generation commercial quantum systems such as Forte Enterprise are optimized for data center environments, sporting a rack-mounted form factor, low energy profile, and minimal environmental isolation requirements.
Building on a History of Excellence
Today’s IonQ Forte Enterprise system commissioning represents the culmination of IonQ’s engineering innovation, operational excellence, and enterprise-grade production capabilities.
“This milestone reflects the hard work and ingenuity of teams across IonQ and QuantumBasel,” said Dr. Dave Mehuys, VP of Production Engineering. “We aligned our system build with on-site datacenter construction and IonQ’s manufacturing and production teams leveraged their decades of expertise to bring this groundbreaking system online faster than anticipated.”
Pioneering a New Era of Computing
IonQ’s record-breaking achievement of #AQ36 signals the company’s dedication and success in advancing quantum performance. Forte Enterprise expands the potential for driving groundbreaking research in areas such as quantum chemistry and machine learning.
“IonQ’s ability to deliver Forte Enterprise with #AQ36 reflects our growing capabilities to execute on our mission to drive significant quantum advancements globally,” said Dr. Dean Kassmann, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Technology at IonQ. “Each step we take demonstrates our commitment to bringing quantum computing from the lab to practical, impactful, and commercial uses.”
A Quantum Leap for Europe and Beyond
IonQ’s first European Innovation Center will allow the company to service its European customers out of its QuantumBasel location and to drive research and development of next generation quantum applications in Europe.
As part of its partnership with IonQ, QuantumBasel will offer its ecosystem– including enterprises, research institutes, startups, and universities – direct access to the #AQ36 Forte Enterprise system.
With datacenters now in the Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Basel, Switzerland areas, IonQ has firmly established a global data center footprint, reinforcing its position as a leader in quantum technology.
To learn more about IonQ’s latest innovations, visit www.ionq.com.
About IonQ
IonQ, Inc. is a leader in quantum computing that delivers high-performance systems capable of solving the world’s largest and most complex commercial and research use cases. IonQ’s current generation quantum computer, IonQ Forte, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems, boasting 36 algorithmic qubits. The company’s innovative technology and rapid growth were recognized in Fast Company’s 2023 Next Big Things in Tech List and Deloitte’s 2023 Technology Fast 500™ List, respectively. Available through all major cloud providers, IonQ is making quantum computing more accessible and impactful than ever before. Learn more at IonQ.com.
About QuantumBasel
QuantumBasel is a competence center for quantum computing and AI and drives access to commercial quantum computing to foster innovation. QuantumBasel places particular emphasis on technological neutrality and is Switzerland’s first commercial quantum computing hub, providing access to hardware from IBM, D-Wave and IonQ. QuantumBasel’s team of quantum and data scientists trains and supports companies, conducts projects in quantum computing and AI, and collaborates closely with universities and academic institutions. Through an internationally connected ecosystem, QuantumBasel provides access to advanced know-how and technologies, enabling companies in industrial production, logistics, finance, energy, life sciences, and start-ups to achieve innovations they cannot develop independently. www.quantumbasel.com
IonQ Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Some of the forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words. Statements that are not historical in nature, including the terms “adoption,” “advancing,” “advancements,” “collaborating,” “commitment,” “demonstrates,” “development,” “groundbreaking” “milestone,” “next generation,” “optimized,” “potential,” “significant leap forward,” “state-of-the-art,” “will,” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include those related to the company’s technology driving commercial quantum advantage in the future, the timing of delivering to customers IonQ Forte Enterprise systems, the planned increase to the footprint of the uptownBasel campus in Arlesheim, Switzerland, the company’s ability to establish public-private partnerships, the ability for third parties to implement IonQ’s offerings to increase their quantum computing capabilities, access to IonQ’s quantum computers, the ability to test and execute quantum applications on IonQ’s quantum computers, the opportunity to test and optimize novel quantum-enhanced algorithms for computational challenges on IonQ’s quantum computers; the problems that can be solved by IonQ’s quantum computers, the advantages of IonQ's approach to the manufacturing of IonQ’s systems, IonQ’s quantum computing capabilities and plans, and the scalability and reliability of IonQ’s quantum computing offerings. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: changes in the competitive industries in which IonQ operates; the ability of IonQ to protect its intellectual property; changes in laws and regulations affecting IonQ’s business; IonQ’s ability to implement its business plans, technical roadmap, and other expectations, identify and realize partnerships and opportunities, and to engage new and existing customers; or market adoption of quantum computing solutions and IonQ’s products, services and solutions. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company’s filings, including but not limited to those described in the “Risk Factors” section of IonQ’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other documents filed by IonQ from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and IonQ assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. IonQ does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations. IonQ may or may not choose to practice or otherwise use the inventions described in the issued patents in the future.
(Graphic: Business Wire)
IonQ European Innovation Center - Arlesheim, Switzerland (Photo: Business Wire)
