What if they had an election…

…and our side won? Won a bunch. All over the place.

Like I said, yesterday was a good one for the good guys.

Key Republican issues and political strategies took hits from coast to coast. Voter suppression? Maine offered the first blow for liberty of the day, restoring the same-day voter registration that Republican legislators had taken from them. Mississippi, of all places, scored a hat trick of sorts, setting back the Republican anti-science, anti-choice and anti-woman agendas when they rejected Amendment 26, which would have granted "personhood" to embryos.

Republican ant-unionism was dealt a critical blow by Ohio voters, with 82 of 88 counties rejecting Gov. John Kasich's attack on public-sector workers right to organize and bargain collectively. Republican anti-immigrant champion Russell Pearse, President of the State Senate, was removed in a recall election after sponsoring legislation that provided a blueprint for devastation of agriculture in several states. (Another noteworthy Arizona outcome - both Tucson and Phoenix have Democratic Mayors for the first time in decades.)

Here in the upper left, voters approved stronger training and regulation requirements for home health care workers, took the state out of the retail liquor business (a probably good thing accomplished in a highly dubious fashion) and, so far, are rejecting Tim Eyman's effort to cripple our transportation infrastructure.

Our local elections have turned out to be a pretty status quo affair. Where the results are clear, they're clearly in favor of incumbents for the most part.

Sherril Huff will continue as King County Director of Elections with over 75% of the vote against a patently unqualified challenger. Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton has a margin of 33,000 votes over her opponent, but apparently won't be joined by fellow reformer Dean Willard, who trails incumbent Bill Bryant by a margin of 37% to 62%.

Here in Shoreline, that pro-incumbency trend holds, with City Councilmembers Chris Eggen and Doris McConnell having margins of over 60% after the second day of ballot counting. I'm afraid that means my friend Janet Way won't be returning to the Council, but the Janet I know is indefatigable, and it won't be long before she sets her eyes on a new target for her effective activism.

In the open seat for Shoreline City Council, Jesse Salomon is less than 500 votes behind former Planning Commissioner Robin McClelland, still too close to call in my view.

Our School Board incumbents, Mike Jacobs and Richard Potter, appear safe at this point.

After the Huff/Greene and Willard/Bryant races, the campaign that brought generated the most search engine interest according to my logs was for our local sewer service, the Ronald Wastewater District. Bob Ransom, a fixture in local politics for decades and a former School Board member and City Councilmember, took on longtime sewer commissioner Arne Lind, largely over the question of whether and how the city should absorb the district. Ransom says it's time, and that it can be done administratively. Lind is not so sure, and favors a public vote before any change is made. Ransom, with an overwhelming advantage in name recognition, is leading by a scant 311 votes in another race I won't be ready to call for a while.

So what happened where you are?

Speaking of Truth Surfer…

…that's the source for our latest Map of the Day entry for Map of the Day Week, and another difference between the upper left and Minnestota…



I'm kind of surprised, and considerably disappointed. What's wrong with us, anyway? We have a woman Governor, two women as Senators, scads of woman legislators and we're behind Mississippi in pay equity? Jeebus.

Truth is breaking out all over…

…among the Republican ranks. The Senior Woman From Maine...

In my view, the political environment that has made it inhospitable for a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania is a microcosm of a deeper, more pervasive problem that places our party in jeopardy nationwide.

True enough, though "jeopardy" may understate the case a bit, and "nationwide" may overstate it. Things may be rough for Republicans in ME, but I hear they're doing fine in MS.

Oops…

Between 125,000 and 150,000 voters were expected to cast ballots Tuesday, according to Pamela Weaver of the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office.

While the number would represent a 25 to 50 percent increase in turnout from the 2004 primaries, Weaver still described the voting rate as light to moderate.

With 99% of the precincts reporting, some 551,409 votes had been counted, 408,293 of them on the Democratic side of the ballot.

I wonder how Ms. Weaver would describe that?

Perspective.

Bad Obama news getting you down? Kos offers encouragement...

So officially, Obama has a 13-delegate advantage for the week even before Mississippi votes tomorrow. Throw in the unpledged delegate in Wyoming who will certainly be an Obama delegate, and unofficially, Obama notched a 14-delegate gain in this "week from hell" for him.

It seems to be the big news of the day…

…but it's hard for me to get worked up about Trent Lott's resignation from the Senate, apparently timed to allow him to evade pending restrictions on lobbying by former members. He'll be replaced, after all, by someone chosen by Haley Barbour, which means things won't be getting any better soon.

Good riddance, anyway, I suppose.