Election Day is upon us, here are some of the important measures on the ballot
Today is Election Day for the Midterm 2018 session. A number of measures are up for vote locally but two of them have been hotly debated.
Measure K, if passed, would prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with any federal immigration officials or immigration detainers. The measure would also protect undocumented residents from being arrested at their home between the hours of 12 a.m. to 8 a.m., from being arrested near a school, hospital or other medical facilities.
Measure M, if voted down, would allow the City of Arcata to remove the McKinley statue in the Arcata Plaza. The statue has been at the center of a number of debates at City Council meetings, and nationwide, and was even recently vandalized.
On the ballot for the statewide ballot are a number of propositions. California propositions one, two, three, and four all deal with the issuing of bond money for a variety of projects. These include housing for veterans, the homeless, water-related infrastructure and children’s hospitals.
The most popular propositions are six, seven, and 10. Propositions six deals with repealing the 2017 fuel tax, and has recently brought Governor Jerry Brown out to campaign for keeping the tax in place. Proposition seven would allow Californians to do away with daylight saving time. Proposition 10 would allow local governments to implement rent control as they see fit. Proposition 10 has been wavering in its popularity as of recently with a defeat looking like quite the possibility.
According to realclearpolitics.com there are 38 congressional seat races that are labeled as “toss up.” They have gathered polling data from the New York Times, Siena College and University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies polls and offer the results on their web page. Some of the “toss up” races are in California.
Six of the closest congressional races to watch in California will be Districts 10, 25, 39, 45, 48, 49 and 50. The 50th district is currently represented by Duncan Hunter. Hunter was recently indicted on a number of charges including conspiracy and the mishandling of campaign funds. The polls have Hunter up three points, but with the indictments weighing heavy on the incumbent’s conscious and the voters’ minds, his future is up in the air.
Some of the candidates to pay attention to across the nation will be Karen Handle, Steve King, Greg Gianforte, Peter King, and Dave Brat. All of these candidates are Republicans running in areas where Trump won the 2016 presidential election, but are polling at unusually low numbers for incumbent candidates.
Handle beat John Ossoff in a closely watched special election in June 2017, and is running in Georgia where early voter turnout is soaring. Steve King of Iowa has recently lost funding from a number of big name donors. Gianforte infamously body slammed a reporter and Dave Brat was a tea party insurgent who took down a long standing incumbent in 2014.
Other races to pay close attention to are the Senate race in Texas between Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz, the Florida governor race between Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum, and the Georgia governor race between Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams. If Abrams wins the governor race, she will be the nation’s first black female governor.
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