What was that about I‑1125 being “too close to call”?
Now that most of Washington’s thirty-nine counties have released updated returns with freshly tabulated ballots, we can project even more confidently that Tim Eyman’s I‑1125 is headed down to defeat.
A second county, Spokane, has now flipped from the Yes column to the No column, only hours after another eastern Washington county, Adams, became the first to change sides. Meanwhile, the No on I‑1125 vote in key swing counties like Snohomish and Whatcom continues to go up, strengthening the overall vote against Tim Eyman’s latest scheme to wreck government statewide.
It’s nice to see the margin widening, but it’s even nicer to see the No on I‑1125 camp becoming more geographically diverse. A sizable chunk of southeast Washington is now united with northwest Washington against I‑1125, and at least a handful of other counties are on the verge of going from Yes to No as well.
The No on I‑1125 forces now comprise Whatcom, San Juan, Skagit, Island, Snohomish, Kitsap, King, Thurston, Jefferson, Adams, Whitman, Spokane, and Garfield counties. The No vote is, not surprisingly, strongest in San Juan and King, which are the state’s most progressive counties.
The Yes vote is generally strongest along the border with Oregon. Voters in Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark, Skamania, Klickitat, Benton, and Walla Walla counties are voting for I‑1125 by large margins. However, with the exception of Clark (home to Vancouver) and Benton (home to the Tri-Cities), most of these counties are home to relatively few people, and their firm backing of I‑1125 is more than equaled by King County’s firm rejection of I‑1125.
Speaking of Martin Luther King Jr. County, the no vote there has now topped 61%, and it looks like it might go even higher in the next few days.
I‑1125 is also passing in northeastern Washington, but not by impressive margins. In Pend Oreille County, which borders British Columbia on one side and Idaho on another, support for I‑1125 stood at only 52%. The Yes vote in neighboring Ferry and Stevens counties was higher, but not by too much.
One Comment
Hurray for Spokane County!