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CA: Uber, Lyft win approval of California gig worker measure
California voters agreed Tuesday to let gig economy drivers continue working as independent contractors rather than as employees. The result could lay the foundation for the future of gig workers in the state and the nation.
MS: Mississippi voters choose new flag after 126 years with Confederate emblem
Mississippians voted decisively Tuesday to make the “In God We Trust” banner the state’s official flag. The flag will replace the 1894 design that featured the Confederate emblem.
OR: Oregon first to decriminalize cocaine, heroin
Oregon made history by becoming the first state to decriminalize small amounts of heroin and other street drugs. Voters overwhelmingly supported Measure 110 in partial returns.
TX: Democrats’ hopes of flipping Texas House fall short
This year proved another disappointment for Texas Democrats, who underperformed the high expectations they had set for themselves, particularly in a hotly contested battle for dominance in the Texas House.
CO: Colorado voters approve paid family and medical leave
The newly approved Colorado measure requires that employers provide 12 weeks of paid time off for childbirth and family emergencies. Eight other states and Washington, D.C., have created similar programs in the last two decades.
US: USPS disregards court order to look for ballots in Wisconsin, other swing states
The U.S. Postal Service disregarded a judge’s order to conduct ballot sweeps in mail processing facilities serving 15 states, including Wisconsin. The agency has disclosed that more than 300,000 ballots nationwide could not be traced.
CA: Californians once again reject bid to expand rent control in the state
The failure of Proposition 21 means that, once again, landlord groups have convinced voters that stricter limits on rent hikes are not a solution to California’s housing affordability problems. A statewide ban on most new forms of rent control will remain in effect.
CA: California voters approve measure allowing parolees to vote
Californians convicted of felonies but who are on parole will be allowed to vote in elections under Proposition 17, a ballot measure that won approval by state voters Tuesday.
NC: North Carolina Democrats fail to flip control of legislature
Democrats’ hard-fought attempt at gaining control of the North Carolina legislature fell short. Republicans kept control of the state Senate and added four seats to their House majority.
PA: GOP seeks to sideline some Pennsylvania mail ballots
As Pennsylvania’s 67 counties began the painstaking process of processing and counting more than 2.5 million mail ballots, whether voters were given a chance to fix errors and ensure their votes were counted depended largely on where they lived. That inconsistency is now at the heart of an eleventh-hour lawsuit.
WY: Wyoming elects its first female US senator
In a history-making moment, former Republican U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis was declared the winner of the race to become the state’s next U.S. senator, making her the first woman from Wyoming to be elected to the Senate.
DE: First transgender state senator elected in Delaware
Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride will be the first transgender elected official in Delaware, and the first transgender state senator in the nation. The win also makes McBride the highest-ranking openly transgender elected official in the country.
TN: First two LGBTQ legislators elected to Tennessee House
Two new state legislators made history with their wins by becoming the first openly LGBTQ politicians to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly.
WA: Washington voters approve sex education mandate
Washington school districts will be required to teach sexual health education to most students under a referendum voters approved. The referendum marks the first time nationwide that a sex education mandate has appeared on a statewide ballot.
LA: Louisiana abortion amendment passes
Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment to add anti-abortion language to the state constitution. It puts Louisiana residents on record opposing the procedure if the issue returns to individual states.
CO: Colorado voters reject late-term abortion ban
A Colorado ballot measure that would have banned most abortions at 22 weeks or later in pregnancy was defeated. Colorado is one of only seven states that don’t restrict later-term abortions.
MA: Ranked choice voting effort fails in Massachusetts
Despite support from the state’s top-ranking elected Democrats, a massive fundraising advantage and an army of volunteers, the ballot effort to implement ranked choice voting in Massachusetts fell short.
OK: Oklahoma ban on sentence enhancements fails
Dealing a blow to criminal justice changes, Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have prohibited judges and prosecutors from using sentence enhancements to lengthen the time that repeat, nonviolent offenders spend in prison.
NJ: Voters approve delaying when New Jersey redistricts
New Jersey voters approved a constitutional amendment delaying legislative redistricting if the federal government is late in transmitting census data to the state. The ballot question was pushed by Democrats, who said the pandemic slowed census data collection.
MO: Voters roll back ‘Clean Missouri’ redistricting changes
Voters narrowly passed a measure undoing key components of Missouri’s redistricting process, which voters passed only two years ago. The new measure eliminates the role of a “nonpartisan state demographer” and changes redistricting metrics for drawing maps.
AR: Arkansas votes to end lifetime legislative term limits
Arkansas voters approved a proposed constitutional amendment that will end lifetime term limits for state lawmakers. The measure will prohibit lawmakers from serving more than 12 years in a row.
VT: Vermont’s Republican governor glides to third term
Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott cruised to a lopsided victory over Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, the Democratic challenger. Scott has earned high marks for his handling of the state’s response to the coronavirus.
OH: Former Ohio House speaker reelected after indictment
Four write-in candidates hoped to prevent former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, arrested in July on racketeering charges, from continuing as a state representative.
GA: Georgia Republicans appear to defend majorities in state House, Senate
Georgia House and Senate leaders were hoping to use the power of their Republican majorities and a huge money advantage to stave off a challenge to their statehouse dominance Tuesday, and they appeared to succeed.
KY: Republicans add to their super majorities in the Kentucky House and Senate
Kentucky voters gave Republicans in the General Assembly a thumbs-up Tuesday, increasing the super majorities the GOP already held in the state Senate and House of Representatives.
NY: Democrats fail to win supermajority in New York state Senate
Republicans held narrow leads in 11 of the 16 competitive New York state Senate races, casting a shadow on Democrats’ hopes of a veto-proof majority.
MD: Maryland voters approve sports betting, state budget measures
Maryland voters approved legalizing sports betting by a margin of about 2-to-1 and voted 3-to-1 to give General Assembly lawmakers more say in crafting the state budget. Proponents of the sports betting measure said it would raise money for public education.
MO: Missouri voters give Republican full term as governor
Missouri voters gave Republican Gov. Mike Parson a full, four-year term, propelling him to victory on the strength of rural support.
NH: New Hampshire governor easily wins third term
Gov. Chris Sununu has been elected to a third term as New Hampshire governor. The Republican called it a mandate on his management and his promise to stay faithful to core GOP principles of limited government and local control.
WV: West Virginia governor wins second term
Jim Justice, elected as West Virginia governor in 2016 as a Democrat, won reelection as a Republican.
ID: Idaho sets another record for new COVID-19 cases
Idaho reported its most new COVID-19 cases in a single day. The state added 828 new confirmed cases, with another 353 new probable cases.
HI: Hawaii’s pre-travel testing program is working
Fewer than 1 in 1,000 travelers infected with COVID-19 slipped through the cracks of Hawaii’s travel testing program. That is lower than the rate in the general population in Hawaii, which is closer to 1 in 700.
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