Election Day yields few surprises
Today was primary election day in several states, including Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Kentucky. The results are in, and there are very few surprises.
In Pennsylvania, state treasurer Bob Casey trounced his two primary opponents, Chuck Pennacchio and Alan Sandals, capturing 85% of the vote. Casey now heads to the general election, where he hopes to topple vulnerable GOP Sen. Rick Santorum .
The GOP establishment in Harrisburg (Pennsylvania's capital) took a heavy beating, as 13 incumbents were defeated, including both of the state Senate's top Republicans.
In Oregon, incumbent Gov. Ted Kulongoski won the Democratic primary with 54% of the vote. His two challengers, Jim Hill and Pete Sorensen, split the rest of the vote.
Ron Saxton emerged as the winner in the Republican primary and will face Kulongoski in the fall. And as predicted, all of Oregon's incumbent representatives in the U.S. House won their primaries easily.
Here in King County, the city of Redmond's levy lid lift is (sadly) failing by a large margin, with 61% opposed. Unless the city asks again for a revenue increase, public services such as police and fire are likely to suffer. Two other levies - one in Des Moines, the other in Shoreline - are passing.
UPDATE: Unsurprisingly, the opposition to Redmond's Proposition 1, which has apparently failed (as mentioned above) was led by right wing activists such as David Carson, a SoundPolitics regular who has absurdly whined about the city building "a massive monument to Mayor Ives in the new City Hall".
Carson is apparently one of those Tim Eyman types who thinks that we can have it all and not pay for it. No matter, this is a progressive community - we can figure out a solution to maintain quality public services.
Redmond's city leadership shouldn't be discouraged. You won't always win approval from voters - ask the KCLS board, which has experience in that area.
In Pennsylvania, state treasurer Bob Casey trounced his two primary opponents, Chuck Pennacchio and Alan Sandals, capturing 85% of the vote. Casey now heads to the general election, where he hopes to topple vulnerable GOP Sen. Rick Santorum .
The GOP establishment in Harrisburg (Pennsylvania's capital) took a heavy beating, as 13 incumbents were defeated, including both of the state Senate's top Republicans.
In Oregon, incumbent Gov. Ted Kulongoski won the Democratic primary with 54% of the vote. His two challengers, Jim Hill and Pete Sorensen, split the rest of the vote.
Ron Saxton emerged as the winner in the Republican primary and will face Kulongoski in the fall. And as predicted, all of Oregon's incumbent representatives in the U.S. House won their primaries easily.
Here in King County, the city of Redmond's levy lid lift is (sadly) failing by a large margin, with 61% opposed. Unless the city asks again for a revenue increase, public services such as police and fire are likely to suffer. Two other levies - one in Des Moines, the other in Shoreline - are passing.
UPDATE: Unsurprisingly, the opposition to Redmond's Proposition 1, which has apparently failed (as mentioned above) was led by right wing activists such as David Carson, a SoundPolitics regular who has absurdly whined about the city building "a massive monument to Mayor Ives in the new City Hall".
Carson is apparently one of those Tim Eyman types who thinks that we can have it all and not pay for it. No matter, this is a progressive community - we can figure out a solution to maintain quality public services.
Redmond's city leadership shouldn't be discouraged. You won't always win approval from voters - ask the KCLS board, which has experience in that area.
