Nov 05 2015
Republicans Win in Kentucky, Mississippi, Seattle Passes Model Campaign Finance, and Pot Loses in Ohio
GUEST: David Dayen, contributing writer to Salon, weekly columnist at The Fiscal Times, contributor to The Intercept.
Republican Matt Bevin beat Democrat Jack Conway on Tuesday to win the governorship of Kentucky. Bevin has vowed to end the state’s Obamacare programs. A Republican also won in Mississippi – incumbent Gov. Phil Bryant defeated Democrat Robert Gray. In that same state, a constitutional amendment designed to increase funding for public schools failed. Mississippi has some of the poorest public school districts in the nation.
Also, voters in Seattle and Maine both passed campaign finance measures. Maine law empowers small donors to have more leverage in elections, giving publicly funded candidates a more level playing field. And, in Seattle, voters passed a radical measure 60-40%, to give voters so-called “Democracy Vouchers” that they can distribute during election season. That measure is the first of its kind in the nation.
Finally Ohio voters rejected by a surprisingly large margin, a measure designed to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Issue 3 lost likely because voters repudiated what would have been a monopoly on cannabis cultivation in the state.
NOTE: And tomorrow we’ll address the Houston, Texas measure that overturned an anti-discrimination measure to protect transgender rights.
Follow Dayen’s work at daviddayen.tumblr.com.
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