Eyman initiative and R-71: How we voted
There’s no suspense – Washington voters last month approved Referendum 71 upholding the state’s new “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law, and trounced Tim Eyman’s latest ballot measure, Initiative 1033 dealing with revenue limits and property tax relief. The statewide and county-by-county numbers have been posted since election night.
But how did your congressional district and your legislative district come down on these two hot-button issues? The 2009 General Election abstract released Friday provides those answers. We see, for instance, that R-71 passed in six of the nine congressional districts – 1, 2,6, 7, 8, and 9, including landslides in Seattle-area districts. The two Eastern Washington districts, 4 and 5, rejected the measure, as did the 3rd, a political swing district in Southwest Washington that will have an open congressional seat in 2010.
I-1033, which lost by 16 points statewide, narrowly carried the 3rd and 4th districts, but lost elsewhere, including the reliably conservative 5th.
Legislative district totals generally followed the rule of thumb that Eastern Washington and outlying districts, ex-urban and rural districts in Western Washington tend to be more fiscally and socially conservative. Both measures picked up decisive verdicts in the urban districts, particularly Seattle and districts nearby. The 43rd on Capitol Hill, for instance, was 10:1 for the domestic partnership bill (42,641 to 4,271) and whacked Eyman 38,099 to 5,632. The once strong Republican redoubts east of Lake Washington, such as the 45th and 48th, voted the liberal positions, and the 44th and 47th were true swing-district voters.
Turnout numbers and registration figures also show up on the recap sheets. Excel sheets are available for those who want to drill down …