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Competitiveness is a cornerstone of American politics, so much so that it’s been called a blood sport at times. And, as in any competition, winners and losers always emerge.

Fox News Digital takes a look at some of the biggest political losers of 2023.

Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s re-election campaign, which culminated in her loss to current Mayor Brandon Johnson, was marked by several self-inflicted wounds.

The former Democratic mayor took the brunt of criticism directed at city officials over the city’s rising rate of violent crime. Lightfoot also faced bipartisan blowback for her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including clashes with progressives and the teachers union.

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Youngkin’s upset victory in 2021 over former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe set him on a path to political stardom. The parental rights-focused Republican governor was almost immediately touted as a future presidential candidate, even possibly as early as 2024. 

But he staked his national reputation on Republicans winning the full Virginia legislature in November, even suggesting a 15-week abortion limit would be on the table if the commonwealth went red. 

Democrats, however, ended up flipping the Virginia House of Delegates while retaining control of the state Senate.

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One Virginia Democrat who did not fare well in the latest election cycle, however, is Gibson, the nurse practitioner whose promising campaign for a swing seat in the House of Delegates was derailed by revelations laid bare just weeks before Election Day.

The Washington Post first reported that Gibson and her husband broadcast sex acts on social media, accepting tips in exchange for lewd requests. 

She wound up losing the Richmond-area seat by less than 1,000 votes.

Rep. Tlaib, D-Mich., the only Palestinian-American in Congress, has long been a critical voice against the Israeli government, part of a small but growing faction of progressives bucking Democrats’ traditional pro-Israel stance. 

However, she’s isolated herself this year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent military response, going further than most with her reaction to the war in Gaza. 

Her response to the crisis resulted in a formal House censure along bipartisan lines in November. 

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Embattled former House Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., dominated headlines with an array of colorful scandals, from federal charges that included wire fraud to allegations he was responsible for the cancer death of a military veteran’s dog. 

Santos’ backstory quickly unraveled when he got to Congress, and it was found he lied about his college degree, work and ancestry. 

But criminal charges related to misuse of campaign funds were the final nail in the coffin for Santos’ House career, and he was expelled by a two-thirds majority vote Dec. 1.

This year has seen the country’s octogenarian commander in chief dealing with an impeachment inquiry as he continues to struggle with low poll numbers.

Despite traveling the country touting key victories, mainly his bipartisan infrastructure bill, Biden is still working to convince voters he is fit for another four years in the White House.

In addition to questions about his age and whether he profited from his role as vice president, Biden is also dealing with progressive outrage over his support for Israel in its war on Hamas. 

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It’s culminated in early voter polls that show gloomy forecasts for his re-election prospects over the last several weeks.

McCarthy began his 2023 with a marathon 15 rounds of voting across three days, the world watching him wrangle a divided House GOP Conference to eventually win the speaker’s gavel.

On Dec. 14, McCarthy was giving his final speech to a House floor filled with less than a dozen lawmakers, mostly his allies.

He told reporters later that day it was a “bittersweet” ending to his career in Congress, which saw him make history in October as the first ousted speaker of the House. He announced in December he would leave Congress altogether.

McCarthy chalked it up to personal vendettas during a final exit interview with reporters later that day, but he remained optimistic. 

“I loved every minute, good or bad,” he said.

But while he made Fox News Digital’s list of 2023’s political losers, McCarthy could ascend again.

He intends to remain a significant figure in the GOP fundraising sphere and is almost certain to be a hot commodity in Washington, D.C., for some time. He didn’t rule out a return to government either.

For a prominent pro-life group, recent setbacks at the ballot box have not tampered spirits for the future of the movement to create a culture that protects unborn life in the womb.

The March for Life — the organization and the annual event that attracts tens of thousands of people (at least) from across the country each January — has grown significantly in the 50 years since the first march in 1974.

Activists assembled on the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which effectively made abortion legal in every state across the country. Since then, the march always had Roe as its chief point of protest, but in the year and a half since the Supreme Court overturned Roe’s precedent in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the energy surrounding the march has not waned.

“The march for life was born in a moment after Roe was overturned, and there was a lot of confusion about choosing life, and the unborn child,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini told Fox News Digital in an interview. “We think this particular moment calls for these marches, and that the pro-life grassroots needs strengthening and even a little direction right now. That’s where we see the state march program as being so critically important.”

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In the past five years, the March for Life has expanded to the state level, hosting annual rallies in cities across the country organized by state chapters of the national organization.

The state-level expansion is moving fast. In 2018, March for Life Virginia held an inaugural march. In 2023, eight states held marches, and next year March for Life will be in 17 states, and Mancini has plans to be in every state in the union in the next six years or so.

Following the Dobbs decision in June 2022, pro-life leaders and conservative politicians have sought to redirect activism to state-level political battles and focus on creating a “culture of life.” March for Life’s goal, Mancini said, is to create a world where “abortion is unthinkable.”

That effort is as much about helping women with unexpected pregnancies as it is about changing laws around abortion.

“There’s so much confusion about what it means to be a woman, and frankly, what it means to be pro-life. The heart of pro-life is supporting women and wanting what’s best for them,” Mancini said.

The political fight over abortion does not appear to be going away, and pro-life leaders are far from giving up on pushing for state or national pro-life legislation.

However, pro-life causes have had a series of setbacks in statewide ballot initiatives in the past two elections. Most recently, Ohio voted to enshrine a right to access abortion into its state constitution in November.

“With the ballot initiatives, we’re learning a lot,” Mancini said. “As we’re moving and changing culture, we’re going to have lessons along the way.” 

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As many pro-life leaders have pointed out, Mancini noted that public opinion surveys show most Americans are not in favor of completely unrestricted abortion.

“For at least 12 years strong, 7 out of 10 Americans would limit abortion at most to the first three months of pregnancy. And that’s not our national law,” Mancini said. “Some states do enact protective laws of life prior to that moment, which is wonderful, but our national law is not in line with most of Europe.” 

The theme of the 2024 March for Life is “with every woman, for every child.” It aims to address the confusion and show that being pro-life is not only about political fights without regard to the difficulties of an unplanned pregnancy.

“We see two patients when someone is facing an unexpected pregnancy, and we want both of those patients to fully flourish.”

The Charlotte Lozier Institute released a report earlier in December about the impact nearly 3,000 pro-life pregnancy centers across the nation have had serving women.

The report showed that in 2022 alone, the network of mostly locally-run pregnancy centers provided nearly 800,000 new client consultations, 700,000 pregnancy tests, half a million ultrasounds, and hundreds of thousands of STI tests, parenting classes and sexual risk avoidance education.

Pregnancy centers also provided “after-abortion support” to 20,000 clients.

The centers also delivered $358 million worth of material support for new mothers, including cribs, strollers, diapers, baby formula and car seats, the report said.

Mancini said there was a distinction between advocacy for abortion access, and the pro-life movement. Abortion access tends to prey on women’s fears, implying that those carrying an unplanned pregnancy are not capable of bearing or raising children, Mancini said.

“The pro-life movement is the opposite,” Mancini said. “We want to encourage and support women, come alongside them and strengthen them; and tell them ‘you can do this. You have what it takes to do this. This is going to be hard, but it will be beautiful, and we will be here with you.'”

A Tennessee elementary school’s plan to allow the Satanic Temple to host an after-school program in its library is facing backlash from the students’ parents and family members, one of whom insists the program is equipped to “negatively impact” children.

The Satanic Temple plans to host its first After School Satan Club (ASSC) in Cordova, Tennessee, on Jan. 10, 2024, at Chimneyrock Elementary School.

A flyer for the event describes the Satanic Temple as a non-theistic religion recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a church. The church views Satan as a literary figure who represents a “metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny and championing the human mind and spirit.”

They added that the “Satan Club” will not attempt to convert students to any religious ideology. Instead, the Satanic Temple encourages “children to think for themselves.”

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One parent who asked that their identity remain anonymous due to the circumstances told Fox News Digital that she is “concerned and anxious” over the school’s decision to play host to the group next year.

“This program has great potential to negatively impact children at school there,” the parent said. “At a time when our kids should be growing and learning to be better people, this comes along. The name itself is just out of touch with what most of us want our kids exposed to.”

“My kid won’t be attending, and I hope other mothers and fathers out there will be mindful before allowing their children to participate,” the parent added. “We’re better than this – as a group, as a community, and hopefully as a school.”

The parent, who said her child expressed no interest in attending the program ever since they were made aware of it, said she hopes to see the school reverse its decision on allowing the program to take place in the school library.

“My child’s school library isn’t for this kind of program,” the parent said. “My suggestion to the Satanic Temple would be to find somewhere else, maybe more accepting, to take this.”

Ashley, who only provided her first name for interview purposes, is the aunt of a student who attends the school and said she hopes to see the program get canceled before it “perverts the minds of innocent children.”

“My niece isn’t much into religion, but that’s OK because she’s still young,” Ashley told Fox News Digital. “What isn’t needed is a group claiming to help kids think for themselves that pushes a view that Satan isn’t a bad thing, I’m just not OK with that.”

ASSC will provide teachers help to prepare “fun activities” centered on their seven fundamental tenets: benevolence, empathy, critical thinking, problem-solving, creative expression, personal sovereignty and compassion.

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“All After School Satan Clubs are based on activities centered around the Seven Fundamental Tenets and emphasize a scientific, rationalist, non-superstitious worldview,” the event’s flyer stated.

The ASSC, which was requested by a parent at the school, was running at eight schools last year. Four schools are currently running ASSC this school year. 

After being made aware that a parent had requested the after-school program, Ashley questioned, “What parent does that?”

“This, to me, is only creating a wedge between those of different faiths and backgrounds. That’s the part I’m not OK with,” Ashley added. “Students shouldn’t be subject to this information, no matter what it’s being disguised as.”

“ASSC only goes where it has been invited to give an alternative club to the other religious clubs already operating on school campus,” June Everett, a spokesperson for ASSC, told Fox News Digital.

“Districts from last year have updated their policies to keep both the GNC and ASSC out, and some of the GNC’s have not returned for this school year – hence the reason we aren’t active in those schools,” Everett, the ASSC campaign director said.

She added, “Our active clubs are in California, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and soon to be Tennessee.”

Everett explained further that school officials would not send out a permission slip for the club “due to an enforced flyer policy,” even though the school had previously sent out permission slips for the Child Evangelism Fellowship’s Good News Club that operates on campus, before school hours.

School district officials said they’re committed to upholding the First Amendment for all nonprofit organizations seeking to use their facilities outside of school hours.

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“The Satanic Temple, recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) public charity, falls under this policy and has the same legal rights to use our facilities after-hours as any other nonprofit organization.”

The co-founder and spokesman for the Satanic Temple told Fox News Digital last week that the group started the ASSC as an alternative to other religious groups that were “proselytizing” to children.

“We started the after-school program in 2016, and since then we’ve had a number of them in operation in various places, some of them still in operation, some of them not for whatever reason,” said Lucien Greaves.

“People don’t understand a lot of the pro-social values we rally around,” he added. “We want people to know we’re active in the communities, and we’re doing productive things.”

Greaves described the kind of activities that the ASSC would facilitate in this after-school program as a self-directed learning process that entails playing games, solving puzzles, activities, and other things that are educational for the kids – where they can choose which ones they want to work with.

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The Satanic Temple originally constructed a complex curriculum and consulted people in the field of education, but then changed it after realizing that it had become too elaborate.

“We really wanted to build something that would be a fruitful endeavor for the kids,” Greaves said.