May 20, 2003

(Updated) The Vote Heard 'Round the State

Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.

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Oh, what a difference an election makes. This evening's Yes on 26-48 party was a far cry from January's Yes on 28 party.

At approximately 8:05 PM, Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn announced to the crowd that with around 50,000 votes left to be counted, Measure 26-48 was passing with 56% of the vote.

It was refreshing to be amidst a crowd of celebrators for once. That said, most speakers were careful to remind people that there's more work to do.

"In all this joy," said Portland Mayor Vera Katz, "we must remember there is still the rest of Oregon." The message to legislators in Salem, Katz said, was that "voters are willing to pay more to take care of the future, which is our children."

But what is important about tonight's vote, said Portland Public Schools uperintendent Jim Scherzinger is the stability it provides "to plan for kids instead of planning for financial disaster."

It fell to Nancy Hamilton, a chief coordinator for the Yes on 26-48 campaign, to fire up the cheering crowd for what's to come: "Celebrate tonight, then put on your walking shoes because we're heading to Salem."

Now for the round-up: KATU has coverage which still consists only of a projection. KOIN's story also remains focused on early returns. KGW weighs in with similar information. OregonLive has a special election section and an AP story, and the Portland Tribune has tossed up a breaking news page.

May 20, 2003

Update

Also important is that the Beaverton property tax measure -- which required a "double majority" meaning at least 50% of registered voters needed to cast ballots -- also passed.

Meanwhile, I see from the television news that the headquarters of the Libertarian Party over in Beaverton -- where they were hoping to celebrate the defeat of these tax measures -- is pretty much deserted. What a shame.

Posted at 09:52 PM | PermalinkComments (1) | TrackBacks (1)
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Comments (1)

  1. GreyDuck on 21 May 2003

    At the very least, it's a brief moment of joy in an ongoing and often bitter struggle.

Trackbacks (1)

  1. Good... Measure 26-48 Passed on 20 May 2003

    I was at home watching the "Buffy" series finale, but b!X was at the "Yes on 26-48" Party and has some commentary, some links, and a smidge of gloatage, which is just fine.