Bad, good, and bad/good election results

It was a mixed day for the good guys (meaning Democrats and progressives) in Tuesday's various local and state elections this week.   Some were bad, some were good, and some were both bad and good at the same time.

1.  Bad;  Tea Party conservative Republican, wealthy businessman Mark Bevin beat Kentucky's Attorney General, Democrat Jack Conway, for the governor's race.   This puts in doubt one of the most successful health insurance programs in the country, which has proven to be a model under their Democratic Governor and which Conway would have supported.   Bevin has softened his earlier vow to get rid of it, which would have meant 400,000+ Kentuckians would have lost their health coverage.   But this can't be good for many reasons, including that Jack Conway would be a rising Democratic star in a less red state.

2.  Good:  In a Colorado recall election, voters ousted three Colorado School Board conservatives who were trying to rewrite history in the public schools' curriculum to conform to conservative beliefs.   This was a hard-earned grassroots effort that defeated a $1 million campaign chest for the conservative incumbents, much of it from the Koch brothers.

3.  Bad:  Houston voters rejected an LGBT rights bill.   Opponents had mounted a campaign playing on fear that trans rights would mean that men would dress up as women in order to go into women's rest rooms and attack women.

4.  Good:  Both the state of Maine and the city of Seattle passed ballot initiatives that chip away at the Citizens United anathema of unlimited campaign finance by corporations and wealthy individuals.   Both make it easier for candidates using public financing to compete.

5.  Bad/Good:   Voters in Ohio rejected a constitutional amendment that would have legalized both recreational and medical marijuana.   Even by legalization supporters, it was considered a deeply flawed bill, because it gave exclusive commercial rights to a selected group of facilities.    Proponents are encouraged that this will pave the way for a more common sense bill in 2016, at a more propitious time when presidential candidates will also be on the ballot.

6.  Good:   Pennsylvania voters elected Democrats to all three State Supreme Court positions, giving the Democrats a majority on that court, which plays a major role in redistricting Pennsylvania's Congressional Districts, as well as the state legislative districts.  In a state that leans Democratic in presidential elections, Republicans control 13 of the 18 seats in congress due largely to the way district lines are drawn.

7.  Bad:  Coss County, Oregon voters passed a ballot initiative that requires the sheriff to block the enforcement of gun laws that he considers unconstitutional.

8.  Good:   Kentucky Secretary of State, Democratic Allison Lundergen Grimes, was re-elected;  and Democrat Andy Beshear, son of Kentucky's current governor, won the race for Attorney General -- both by very narrow margins.

 9.  Bad:  Republicans kept control of the Virginia state senate, despite Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliff's active campaigning for hotly contested seats, hoping to have at least one legislative house to help him pass bipartisan legislation.

All in all, it was an election day of mixed results -- and it once again tells us that Democrats don't seem to get energized unless there is also a presidential election.    As one commentator said on MSNBC Tuesday night:   "Republicans go to the polls every two years;   Democrats go to the polls every four years."

We shouldn't let that lull us into complacency for 2016.   It's going to be a close election.

Ralph