Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
 |
 |
 |
Ever wonder why the Herald does something? Or how? Or "what were they thinking?" Now you can find out. Executive Editor Ken Robertson and Managing Editor Rick Larson will do their best to explain what happens in the TCH newsroom - and why. |
Print
E-Mail
tool name
closeWednesday, Nov. 11, 2009
Voters didn’t give Eyman the time of day
By Ken Robertson, Herald Executive Editor
Note to Tim Eyman now that the votes are counted in the Nov. 3 election:
You need to move.
Your latest anti-tax scheme, Initiative 1033, didn’t pass in your native Yakima County nor in your adopted home of Mukilteo in King County.
Matter of fact, it flopped badly everywhere around Puget Sound, except in Mason County, where it eked out a 63-vote winning margin out of 18,041 votes counted as of Wednesday.
And it also flopped in all of southeastern Washington’s counties, except Grant and Franklin.
If there’s still a Cascade Curtain in Washington, it was ripped apart from Kittitas County to Asotin County and from Okanogan County to Spokane County. The tally as of Wednesday afternoon was 978,640 votes against I-1033, or 57.8 percent, to 715,490, or 42.2 percent, in favor.
Even if all those King County voters had failed to show up for the election, Initiative 1033 still would have flopped. Subtract all of their votes, and the rest of the state still voted it down by 78,936 votes, according to numbers on the Secretary of State’s election website.
If Eyman wants to live where his message resonates, he needs to head for southwest Washington. Skamania County voted 59.8 percent for the initiative. Or maybe northeast Washington, where Stevens County gave his idea 54.1 percent.
And if he’s still selling fraternity and sorority watches, he might want to rethink his occupational plans as well. King County, home of the University of Washington, voted 68.6 percent against I-1033.
And Pullman, the home of Washington State University, is in Whitman County, where 65.4 percent of the voters rejected I-1033.
Nor did any of the state’s other counties with four-year, state-operated universities support I-1033.
Voters just didn’t give the watch peddler’s latest idea the time of day.
w Ken Robertson: 582-1520; krobertson@tricityherald.com
Stay updated with the latest news from the Tri-City Herald with an RSS feed: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1309/story/97842.html
@Nyx.CommentBody@