Four big sets of returns are coming in and things look a lot better today for liberal and progressive values than they did yesterday.
Teabagger initiative going down to defeat, handily.
Gay rights initiative receives strong support.
Right wing creationist thrashed in race for King County Executive.
Environmentalist running ahead in early returns for Seattle mayor.
More below.
Four big races in the State and the Seattle area.
Statewide:
Voters reject latest teabaggers tax gimmick. Initiative 1033 would have limited revenue increases for state, city and county governments to the rate of inflation and population growth. Additional money collected above the limit would be used to reduce property taxes. It’s toast. Early returns show it’s being rejected 56-44%, with a local TV station putting the numbers at 66-34%.
Opponents of this turkey included government officials, labor, unions, public employees and the business community. They mounted an effective campaign pointing out it would wreck schools, parks, nursing homes, libraries, child protective services and the like while putting Washington in the same financial bind as Colorado which earlier enacted a similar initiative.
Mark one down for the good guys.
Voters support gay rights. Referendum 71, which would expand benefits to gay couples, is being approved 52-48% in early returns. This referendum was an attempt by the "pro family" crowd to overturn state legislation providing gay couples with all rights short of marriage.
Not over yet, but it’s looking good.
King County/Seattle
Democrat wins race for King County Executive. Supposedly a non-partisan race, but Democrat Dow Constantine slaughtered Republican Susan Hutchinson in the race for King County Executive. Constantine, a dull, uninspiring wonk currently serving as King County Council chair was attacked by Hutchinson, a TV anchor with no experience in elective politics, as responsible for everything short of the war in Afghanistan. Blamed him for economic downturn, black hole in the county budget, and loss of second Boeing 787 assembly line to South Carolina. Effective attacks. Constantine’s campaign responded with ads pointing out Hutchinson’s lack of experience and tying her to Seattle’s creationist Discovery Institute and opposition to the science of global warming. Closed by warning "look out Sarah Palin" while Hutchinson gave a computer-generated wink. Even more effective.
Environmentalist leading in mayoral race. The big surprise of the night is that environmentalist Mike McGinn is leading businessman Joe Mallahan 51-49% in early voting.
McGinn and Mallahan edged out incumbent mayor Greg Nickles in a non-partisan 7-man primary some months ago. Nickles, a two-term incumbent, lost for a variety of reasons, including, most prominently, the city’s disastrous response to a snow storm last winter.
McGinn ran as an opponent of a state-county-city deal to replace the aging and dangerous Alaska Viaduct with a tunnel. Former statewide Sierra Club chair, he argued for taking down the viaduct and putting more than 100,000 cars on city streets during rush hour, combined with more mass transit.
Mallahan ran in support of the tunnel and touted his business experience as an executive with T-Mobile. Lot of support from labor and business (that tunnel will provide a lot of jobs). Argued that tunnel would not lead to cost over-runs on his watch.
About two weeks ago, McGinn switched his position on the tunnel. Said that although he still thought it not ideal, he would live with the decade-long decision process that led to it. Some thought that showed him waffling, but perhaps it brought him back into the race. No one anticipated this race being this close, not even McGinn, judging from his expression on local television.
This one’s probably still too close to call.
This is a blue state and King County and Seattle are undoubtedly among the bluest jurisdictions in the country. Still, the state can be pretty conservative. So, approval of R-71 and rejection of I-1033 is a big statement about mainstream opinion on gay rights and public services.
Election of Constantine and surprisingly good showing of McGinn? Probably required the dynamics of King County and Seattle to make those results possible.