2011 US Election Day roundup

[kochman]

I-1183 passed here in Washington, meaning the government liquor stores will be shut down and shops will be able to sell it, although I don't seem to understand fully the proposition as I see alcohol in grocery stores all the time. Maybe I'll see and get to try some Absinthe next year

Wasn't that just wine & beer before?
Or maybe even beer?

I remember only being able to buy the hard stuff in package stores...
Wine and beer were more prevalent.

 

[Me,myself,and,I]

Yeah, much as I hate abortion, the personhood amendment would have been a disaster.

 

[say1988]

If you can't get abortion banned in Mississippi (and you lose 5:4),

If it was just banning abortion it probably would have easily passed.

It is the(probably) unintended side effects of blocking IVF, several forms of brith control, and other legal issues (such as negligence by women not knowing they are pregnant).
Basically the law was horribly written if blocking abortion, especially voluntary abortion, was the only goal.

 

[JollyRoger]

The great thing about the Ohio vote was seeing all the conservative blogs whine about the excessive spending against the measure by unions and other entities. Thanks Chief Justice Roberts and those in the majority in Citizens United for making that possible.

 

[Wilks johnson]

Any links to how much each of these won/lost by?

Good thread, btw.

As far as Ohio's Collective Bargaining law goes, it failed 61% to 39%.

http://www.cleveland.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/11/ohio_voters_overwhelmingly_rej.html

Also, cool interactive map about all 3 issues on Ohio's ballot this year. Just the typical county by county stuff.

http://vote.sos.state.oh.us/pls/enrpublic/f?p=130:15:0

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I believe that the only thing on the ballot here was whether to extend a 1% sales tax to fund k-12 education or allow it expire. Officials had pretty much promised to raise property taxes to make up the difference if the sales tax extension failed, so the vote would not really matter that much to the schools. Since voters in these kinds of elections tend to be older homeowners rather than those who pay a large portion of their income in sales taxes, the measure passed easily. I was leaning somewhat against it, but did not care enough to go vote.

In some parts of the state they also voted on whether to allow alcohol sales on Sundays. I believe that they held that vote earlier where we live. I think I heard that it was very close in one jurisdictions but easily passed everywhere else. The biggest opponents were liquor store owners who liked having a day off and believed that they would end up losing money because it would reduce their Saturday night sales and make them have to pay people to keep the shop open and extra day.

 

[JollyRoger]

Why must they so openly flaunt their lifestyle? Do they not know the ballot box is a sacred feminine object meant to receive a symbolically masculine ballot?

Mike Laster -- first openly gay man on Houston City Council

Adam Ebbin elected first openly gay state Senator in Virginia

Bruce Harris was elected mayor of Chatham Borough, N.J. He's likely the nation's first openly gay, African American, Republican mayor.

Openly gay Ryan Mello elected to Tacoma, Wash., City Council

Right wing bigot Paul Scott recalled in Michigan. He was not a nice young man.

Cincinnati elects first openly gay city council member.

The Iowa Independent reports that the "final" results in the balance-of-power state Senate special election race went to the Democrat, Liz Mathis. With 55.8 percent of the vote, she bested Republican Cindy Golding, who received 43.52 percent of the vote. Mathis's victory means the state Senate stays in Democratic control, stopping an attempt at reversing marriage equality in the state.

Charlotte, NC elects first openly gay official.

Traverse City, Mich., votes to retain LGBT-inclusive city nondiscrimination ordinance

Indianapolis gets first gay city council member.

Holyoke, MA elects 22 year old gay mayor, nation's youngest mayor.

Houston re-elects lesbian Mayor Annise Parker | Biggest U.S. city with a gay mayor

With more than 99 percent of the precincts counted, out lesbian Houston Mayor Annise Parker appears to have won re-election with no run-off, defeating five challengers. With 50.85 percent of the vote for Parker, her nearest challenger stands at 14.81 percent of the vote.

Tim Eustace becomes 2nd openly gay member of N.J. Legislature

Gay candidate Daryl Finizio elected mayor of New London, Conn.

Lesbian wins election to Missoula, Montana, City Council

Gabriel Giffords intern, gay hero Daniel Hernandez Jr., elected to Tucson, Ariz. school board

http://gay.americablog.com/2011/11/ton-of-gay-wins-at-ballot-box-yesterday.html

 

[Arwon]

Good to see that 58% of the good people of Mississippi voted that women are persons.

 

[kochman]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577030481545613916.html

Obama agenda clobbered in the key state of VA

 

[JollyRoger]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577030481545613916.html

Obama agenda clobbered in the key state of VA

Virginia is not key. It is one of the most conservative states he won. If he takes Ohio, he wins unless the GOP is taking back states a lot less conservative than Virginia.

 

[Glassfan]

Ohio voters overwhelmingly voted to repeal Senate Bill 5, which would have removed collective bargining from public unions, ended tenure for k12 teachers, and instituted merit pay. This was likely the biggest win for organized labor nationwide in years, and a major political defeat for an already very unpopular Republican gov, John Kasich.

Everyone wants government to solve the fiscal problems, but nobody wants to be personally billed for it. The repeal of SB5 was certainly a victory for the well-paid and bennefitted public sector unions, who outspent supporters by tens of millions of dollars, but it was a defeat for Ohio. The state budget crisis will now continue.

PPP did some polling in Ohio after the election and found Obama beating everybody by 9-15%, because of a plugged in labor sector. Obviously, election night in 2012 is going to be tougher sledding...QUOTE]

The presidential polls are meaningless until after the national party conventions. When there is an actual Republican candidate with united party backing it will be a different story. And incidently, if I'm reading the tea-leaves correctly, Mr. Obama is not neccessarily a shoe-in for the Democratic candidacy. There's a lot of pissed-off Democratic constituencies he's been alienating.

 

[JollyRoger]

And incidently, if I'm reading the tea-leaves correctly, Mr. Obama is not neccessarily a shoe-in for the Democratic candidacy.

Obama does not have an opponent for the nomination.

 

[Glassfan]

Obama does not have an opponent for the nomination.

He certainly will by the primaries. Especially if the economy tanks. Also, traditional Democratic back-room-politiking could screw him. I agree he's the likeliest candidate.

 

[JollyRoger]

He certainly will by the primaries. Especially if the economy tanks. Also, traditional Democratic back-room-politiking could screw him. I agree he's the likeliest candidate.

There are two current "challengers" - some progressive historian and Randall Terry, a pro-life nutcase that most certainly is not a Democrat. That is about as stiff as the competition will get.

 

[downtown]

Everyone wants government to solve the fiscal problems, but nobody wants to be personally billed for it. The repeal of SB5 was certainly a victory for the well-paid and bennefitted public sector unions, who outspent supporters by tens of millions of dollars, but it was a defeat for Ohio. The state budget crisis will now continue.

SB5 had to do with a lot more than just removing bargaining rights...it would be eliminated tenure and instituted mandatory merit-pay systems for Ohio teachers, based on a system that has not been developed yet. I've personally worked with a lot of folks in Ohio's conservative BOE...I wouldn't trust them to tie shoes, let alone develop a working assessment system. You'd have to be nuts to support it.

I think folks are okay with making concessions, but they don't want to lose their ability to get a better deal when times are better. Kasich was more focused on killing a major democratic constituency in Ohio, rather than solving the budget crisis.

 

[kochman]

Virginia is not key. It is one of the most conservative states he won. If he takes Ohio, he wins unless the GOP is taking back states a lot less conservative than Virginia.

VA is key, it's demographics have been shifting in the most recent elections... especially as the government, which populates the most populous part of the state, northern VA, grows by leaps and bounds...

 

[downtown]

Yeah, I actually think Obama has a better chance of keeping VA than Ohio.

 

[kochman]

Yeah, I actually think Obama has a better chance of keeping VA than Ohio.

I agree with that, but either way, they are both key!
So is FL, and several others...

Most of the states that generally go R, that Obama won, they are almost without fail going to vote against him (unless the R's snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory by nominating the wrong person, very possible)...

Battleground states are going to be especially tough for him too...

 

[Cutlass]

What makes Ohio so conservative? It's rustbelt, and nearly north eastern, yet it seems more far western in politics.

 

[downtown]

What makes Ohio so conservative? It's rustbelt, and nearly north eastern, yet it seems more far western in politics.

Well, only part of it is "nearly northeastern". Cleveland and Youngstown are pretty liberal places, given their high minority populations and strong ties to organized labor. The entire southeastern part of the state takes consists of appalachian mountain foothills, and is closer to West Virgina than Cleveland. The Cincinnati Metro area is also fairly "southern"...it's old money and very very socially conservative. As a whole, outside of the "C" cities, Ohio is pretty rural too.