The 2004 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2004. The race gained national attention for its legal twists and extremely close finish, among the closest political races in United States election history. Republican Dino Rossi was declared the winner in the initial automated count and again in a subsequent automated recount, but after a second recount done by hand, Democrat Christine Gregoire took the lead by a margin of 129 votes.
Timothy Donald Eyman is an American anti-tax activist and businessman.
Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It manages the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, regional Sounder commuter rail, and Sound Transit Express bus service. The agency also coordinates the regional ORCA fare card system, which is also used by local transit operators. In 2019, Sound Transit services carried a total of 48 million passengers and averaged over 161,000 riders on weekdays.
Ballot Initiative 933 was a ballot initiative in the U.S. state of Washington in 2006. It concerned land use planning, and was voted down by 59% in the 2006 elections.
Proposition 218 is an adopted initiative constitutional amendment which revolutionized local and regional government finance and taxation in California. Named the "Right to Vote on Taxes Act," it was sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association as a constitutional follow-up to the landmark property tax reduction initiative constitutional amendment, Proposition 13, approved in June 1978. Proposition 218 was approved and adopted by California voters during the November 5, 1996, statewide general election.
Initiative 200 was a Washington state initiative filed by Scott Smith and Tim Eyman. It sought to prohibit racial and gender preferences by state and local government. It was on the Washington ballot in November 1998 and passed with 58.22% of the vote. It added to Washington's law the following language:
The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
The Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) is a left wing think tank based in Redmond, Washington, founded in 2003 and incorporated in 2005. It uses technology, public policy research, and political advocacy to advance progressive causes in the Pacific Northwest region as well as across the United States. It describes itself as "a netroots powered strategy center working to raise America's quality of life through innovative research and imaginative advocacy."
Robert Watson Ferguson is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 18th attorney general of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016 and 2020. Prior to being attorney general, Ferguson was a member of the King County Council.
The 2009 Washington Referendum 71 (R-71) legalized domestic partnership in Washington state, the first statewide referendum in the United States that extended to LGBT people the rights and responsibility of domestic partnership. The bill had passed State Legislature, and it was signed into law by the Governor in May 2009, but opponents gathered enough signatures to put the measure before the voters, who returned ballots by mail over three weeks ending on November 3, 2009, approving the measure 53% to 47%. The new law went into effect 30 days later, on December 3, 2009.
Reuven Michael Carlyle is a founder of Earth Finance, a global climate strategy and investment firm. He is also an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Washington legislature representing the Washington's 36th legislative district in the state house between 2009 and 2016 and in the state senate between 2016 and 2023.
Washington Initiative 1185 was a 2012 initiative in Washington state. It passed with 63.91% of the vote, but portions were declared unconstitutional in February 2013.
Frederick Kemper Freeman Jr. is the active chairman and CEO of Kemper Development Company, which built and operates Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place, and Lincoln Square, all located in Bellevue, Washington. Kemper represents the third generation of the Freeman family, who have been involved in the growth of the Bellevue community since 1897. He is a former Republican member of the Washington State House of Representatives from the 48th district and publicly active in conversations about traffic and transportation in Bellevue.
The 2017 Seattle mayoral election was held on November 7, 2017. It was won by former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, who beat civic activist Cary Moon in the general election by 15 percentage points. The two candidates had advanced from an earlier primary election held in August, which ensured that Seattle would have its first female mayor since Bertha Knight Landes was elected in 1926. Municipal elections are officially nonpartisan though most candidates have declared party affiliations.
Sound Transit 3, abbreviated as ST3, was a ballot measure during the November 2016 elections in Seattle, Washington, proposing an expansion of the regional public transit system. The measure was proposed by Sound Transit, which was established by a similar initiative passed in 1996 and expanded by the Sound Transit 2 vote in 2008, who have operated regional transit systems in the Seattle metropolitan area since 1999. On November 8, 2016, Sound Transit 3 was approved by over 54 percent of voters in the Puget Sound region; voters in Pierce County rejected the measure, but the measure passed in King and Snohomish counties, and had an overall majority.
Initiative Measure 124 was a ballot measure in Seattle, Washington, regulating labor relations in the hotel industry, that was passed by popular vote on November 8, 2016. The initiative was placed on the ballot by UNITE HERE Local 8, a union that represents workers in the hospitality industry. Supporters of the measure see it as bringing a measure of justice to exploited workers. Opponents say the new law is unfair to guests, too expensive to implement, and unfairly advantages unions.
California state elections in 2018 were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, with the primary elections being held on June 5, 2018. Voters elected one member to the United States Senate, 53 members to the United States House of Representatives, all eight state constitutional offices, all four members to the Board of Equalization, 20 members to the California State Senate, and all 80 members to the California State Assembly, among other elected offices.
The Seattle head tax, officially the employee hours tax (EHT), was a proposed head tax to be levied on large employers in Seattle, Washington, United States. The head tax was proposed in 2017 to fund homeless services and outreach and was set at a rate of $275 annually per employee, with hopes of raising up to $50 million annually.
California Proposition 6 was a measure that was submitted to California voters as part of the November 2018 election. The ballot measure proposed a repeal of the Road Repair and Accountability Act, which is also known as Senate Bill 1. The measure failed with about 57% of the voters against and 43% in favor.
Initiative No. 2109 (I-2109) is a ballot initiative in the U.S. State of Washington that will appear on the ballot on November 5, 2024. The initiative was brought to the state legislature by Let's Go Washington, a Redmond-based political action committee founded by businessman and hedge-fund manager Brian Heywood. The initiative would repeal SB 5096, which created a 7% capital gains tax on the sale of long-term capital assets worth more than $250,000 in Washington state since 2021. Real estate sales are already exempt from the tax.
