The battle between incumbent Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) and Democratic challenger Brandon Presley is setting up what could be a major moment in the state over the push to expand Medicaid. 

Mississippi is one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly called Obamacare. Under the ACA, states have been able to provide health care coverage for the working poor, with the federal government picking up most of the tab. It’s bolstered state budgets and prevented the kinds of hospital crises that Mississippi currently faces, where multiple rural hospitals have shuttered or are facing financial difficulties. 

Presley has vowed, if elected, he’ll expand Medicaid. Reeves has said he’ll continue to block expansion. The issue has become a major campaign point, dominating radio and TV ads. 

A recent poll found that 72 percent of Mississippi voters surveyed favored expanding Medicaid, and 92 percent of those voters surveyed said they are concerned about the hospital crisis. Expansion in Mississippi has been projected to provide coverage to an estimated 200,000 people. 

But no Democrat has been elected governor in Mississippi in more than two decades, and no Democrats currently hold statewide office. 

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race as a “lean Republican,” after initially rating it as a “solid Republican” match-up. Still, recent polls have shown Reeves with a strong lead, based on tracking from Real Clear Politics. 

Neighboring Louisiana expanded its Medicaid program when Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards took office in 2016. More than 735,000 people have been insured through the expansion as of last month, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. 

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) spoke with The Hill’s Caroline Vakil on Tuesday as voters head to the polls in the Buckeye State to weigh in on a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to enshrine abortion protections into the state constitution.  

“What I’m for is what can pass and protect the most lives in Ohio, and we’ll be eager to see what, if anything, the state legislature chooses to do on that pending, of course, the result of tonight’s election,” LaRose told The Hill. 

Pressed on where Republicans go from here, should the abortion ballot measure pass on Tuesday, LaRose noted: “There may be conversation about action at the federal level. I know that that’s something that has been discussed by the pro-life community but again, that would be speculation as far as what the next steps would be.” 

Gov. Mike DeWine (R), who’s made himself one of the faces for the campaign opposing the ballot measure, suggested in an interview late last month that “if we defeat this, then we’re all going to have to come back together as a state and come up with something that the majority of people can live with,” and cited exceptions for rape and incest that would be included.