Houston residents vote down LGBT equal rights measure…
And elsewhere in the country:
Pot legalization loses big in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio voters rejected a ballot proposal Tuesday that would have legalized both recreational and medical marijuana in a single stroke — a vote-getting strategy that was being watched as a potential test case for the nation.
Failure of the proposed state constitutional amendment followed an expensive campaign, a legal fight over its ballot wording, an investigation into petition signatures — and, predominantly, a counter campaign against a network of 10 exclusive growing sites it would have created. It was the only marijuana legalization question on the 2015 statewide ballots.
About 65 percent of voters opposed the measure, compared to 35 percent in favor.
McAuliffe and Bloomberg Gun control flop in Virginia
Republicans retained their 21-19 majority in the Virginia Senate on Tuesday, prevailing in a more than $43 million off-year election battle with Democrats for control of the General Assembly.
With Republicans easily maintaining their 2-1 edge in the House of Delegates, the apparent victory by Glen H. Sturtevant in a key Senate race in the Richmond area preserves GOP control of the state’s legislative branch.
It also thwarts a spare-no-expense effort by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, to gain traction for his legislative agenda as he enters the final two years of his four-year term.
McAuliffe, with considerable help from Bloomberg, bet his political capital on Democrats winning the upper Chamber. But he seems to have fallen far short.
Republicans hold a 2-seat majority in the state Senate. Republicans have an overwhelming majority in the state House.
San Francisco ‘sanctuary sheriff’ ousted in re-election bid by 2 to 1 margin
In a stunning upset, former chief deputy Sheriff Vicki Hennessy beat embattled Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi with 61 percent of the vote.
She had never run for office before, noting that it was a “very unusual experience” for her, noting she had stepped out of her comfort zone, shaking hands and knocking on doors.
Republican wins Kentucky governor’s race
Republican Matt Bevin easily won Kentucky’s governorship on Tuesday as the GOP made major inroads in a state that had stubbornly resisted the party at the state level even as it voted reliably Republican in federal contests in recent years.
Bevin, a self-funding investment manager, rode a late surge of outside support from national Republicans to defeat Democrat Jack Conway, 53 percent to 44 percent, according to The Associated Press. Bevin will become just the second Republican to inhabit the governor’s mansion in Frankfort in more than four decades.
Polls prior to the vote showed a close race, with most surveys giving Conway, the state’s sitting attorney general, a slight advantage.
Bevin’s victory capped a successful night for Republicans, who picked up four of the six independently elected statewide positions despite going into Tuesday with just one GOP officeholder. Their victories included ousting state Auditor Adam Edelen, who was thought to be Democrats’ top pick to challenge GOP Sen. Rand Paul next year.
The Christian Examiner, Associated Press, Richmond Times-Dispatch, San Francisco Chronicle, Breitbart and Fox News.
