I haven’t seen this mentioned yet but the most extreme members of each party, the activists, are largely who chooses who ends up on the ballot because they are the groups motivated to vote in the Primaries. Republican primary voters mostly believe abortion should be illegal so if a candidate wants to be on the ticket in the general election then that is the group they have to win over. This puts the Republicans in a tough position in 2024 since their position on abortion is so out of step with the majority of the country, especially independents who will likely be the deciding votes on who gets the office.