In most states, the big elections will come next year. But on Tuesday, voters in a few states elected governors and legislators, some cities selected mayors, and a variety of major issues were being settled at the ballot box. The elections were expected to be low-turnout affairs but nonetheless could provide a test of public opinion on such topics as marijuana, gay rights and the emerging “sharing economy,” which includes services that allow individuals to rent out rooms in their homes via the Internet:
GOVERNORS
Businessman Matt Bevin becomes only the second Republican in four decades to win the governor’s seat in Kentucky, defeating the Democratic attorney general in a race that acted as something of a referendum on health care and gay marriage.
He will succeed Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, who is termed out of office.
Bevin describes himself as a Christian conservative and defended Kim Davis, the county clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
He opposed the state’s expansion of Medicaid, the government health insurance program for lower-income people, which was made possible by President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Bevin wants to replace it with a health care plan requiring more money from participants.
His Democratic opponent, Jack Conway, supported the Medicaid expansion. As attorney general, Conway also opted not to appeal when a federal judge ordered Kentucky to recognize same-sex marriage, a year before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized it nationwide.
In the only other governor’s race, Republican Phil Bryant won a second term as Mississippi governor, easily defeating two candidates who ran low-budget campaigns.
Democrat Robert Gray is a long-haul truck driver who spent slightly more than $3,000 to run for Mississippi’s top job.
The Reform Party’s Shawn O’Hara, who has sought several statewide offices unsuccessfully in the past 20 years, spent about $300 to challenge Bryant.
The 60-year-old governor spent about $2.7 million. He campaigned by saying he has focused on creating jobs and making specific changes to education policy, such as creating charter schools and emphasizing reading skills in early grades.
LEGISLATORS
Just three states had general legislative elections Tuesday, although at least 10 others will hold special elections to fill vacant seats.
In Virginia, a swing state, Democrats failed in an expensive bid to take control of the state Senate and empower Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in negotiations with Republicans who control the state House.
Republicans had a 21-19 advantage. A gain of just one seat by Democrats could have flipped control, because Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam would serve as the tiebreaker.
The nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project says three particularly competitive state Senate races are on track to break the prior record for the state’s most expensive legislative contest.
Republicans are better positioned to maintain majorities in the Virginia House and in Mississippi’s two chambers. Democrats held on to their majority in the New Jersey Assembly and actually picked up a seat.
MAYORS
More than 300 cities held mayoral elections, including the nation’s fourth- and fifth-largest cities: Houston and Philadelphia.
In Houston’s nonpartisan election, seven candidates campaigned to succeed term-limited Mayor Annise Parker, with two moving on to a Dec. 12 runoff. State Rep. Sylvester Turner, the top vote-getter, will face businessman Bill King.
In Philadelphia, where Democrats hold a 7-1 voter registration edge over Republicans, Democrat Jim Kenney, a former city councilman, defeated a Republican business executive to succeed term-limited Mayor Michael Nutter. Kenney had pledged to intensify the fight on poverty and provide universal pre-kindergarten.
Other large cities holding mayoral elections include San Francisco; Indianapolis; Columbus, Ohio; and Charlotte, N.C.
COURTS
Democrats won all three open seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a race that attracted at least $11.5 million in campaign contributions.
Democrats now lock in a majority for at least the next 10 years. That potentially could influence the next round of legislative and congressional redistricting in an important swing state.
GAY RIGHTS
Houston voters rejected a measure to grant non-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people. The referendum on a city ordinance passed last year had drawn support from the White House and Apple Inc. Opponents included a coalition of conservative pastors who contended it would infringe on their religious beliefs against homosexuality. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, had gone to Twitter to urge Houston to “vote Texas values, not @HillaryClinton values.” With same-sex marriage now legal nationwide, nondiscrimination laws have become the new priority for many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups.
HOUSING
San Francisco voters will decide whether to limit the “sharing economy” services in which people rent rooms directly from others through Internet bookings. A ballot measure would cap short-term housing rentals at 75 days a year and require Internet hosting companies such as San Francisco-based Airbnb to pull listings that violate the limit. Airbnb has poured millions of dollars into the opposition campaign.
A separate San Francisco ballot measure proposes a $310 million bond issue for affordable housing. In Maine, a statewide ballot measure proposes a $15 million bond issue for housing for low-income seniors.
TRANSPORTATION
Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment that is expected to raise about $2.5 billion a year for road and highway improvements starting in 2017. The measure will divert general and vehicle sales tax revenue toward a highway fund when collections exceed certain thresholds. Additional money will become available in 2019, if tax revenue from vehicle sales and rentals exceeds a certain threshold.
The passage comes just one year after Texas voters approved an amendment diverting $1.7 billion of oil and gas tax revenue from the state rainy day fund to highways.
Maine voters passed an $85 million bond issue for roads, bridges and other modes of transportation.
SCHOOLS
In Mississippi, voters were choosing between two rival education measures, or opting for neither. A citizens’ initiative would require “an adequate and efficient” public school system and grant the courts power to enforce that. An alternative, referred to the ballot by legislators, would simply require the Legislature to provide an “effective” school system. The measures come as state funding for schools has fallen short of what is called for under state law, but neither measure would raise taxes.
ANIMALS
A Washington ballot initiative backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and various animal-rights groups would make it a crime to buy, sell or trade products coming from certain wild animals. The ban targets endangered species of elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs, pangolins, marine turtles, sharks and rays.
In Texas, voters approved a ballot measure that creates a constitutional right for people to hunt, fish and “harvest wildlife.”
