By Grady Short
In a poll of 134 members of the MIHS student body last weekend, The Islander found a consistently Democratic trend in student opinion. Here’s the breakdown of our results. Click here to compare these results to those of King County’s mock election.
King County Charter Amendment No. 2 Gender-Neutral Language
Initiative #1433
Initiative Measure No. 1433 concerns labor standards. This measure would increase the state minimum wage to $11.00 in 2017, $11.50 in 2018, $12.00 in 2019, and $13.50 in 2020, require employers to provide paid sick leave (similar to Long Term Disability Insurance: How It Works in 2020 – Breeze, and adopt related laws. Should this measure be enacted into law?
Governor
Initiative Measure No. 732
Initiative Measure No. 732 concerns taxes. This measure would impose a carbon emission tax on certain fossil fuels and fossil-fuel-generated electricity, reduce the sales tax by one percentage point and increase a low income exemption, and reduce certain manufacturing taxes. Should this measure be enacted into law?
Initiative Measure No. 735
Initiative Measure No. 735 concerns a proposed amendment to the federal constitution. This measure would urge the Washington state congressional delegation to propose a federal constitutional amendment that constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations, and constitutionally-protected free speech excludes the spending of money. Should this measure be enacted into law?
President and Vice President of the United States
U.S. Senator
Though the results show a liberal landslide in every race, there are a couple trends to note.
Fall of the Never-Trumpers
Despite the year-long trend of Republicans refusing to vote for Trump, only 7 people who voted for Republican Bill Bryant voted for someone other than Donald Trump: 3 for Gary Johnson, 4 for Darrell Castle.
Far Right Rising
Constitution Party candidate Darrell Castle got a surprising 3 percent of the presidential vote, despite his consistently polling below 1 percent in national polls. Never-Trumpers most likely voted for him as an alternative to Trump, but Castle’s showing is still impressive for such a little-known candidate.
Carbon Consensus
The most popular initiative was the carbon tax, where “Yes” votes beat “No” votes by a nearly 4 to 1 ratio. This generation seems to be taking climate change seriously, and implementing a carbon tax is a free-market method espoused by both sides to cut down on carbon emissions.
While these results may differ from the official election results released tomorrow, they provide a glimpse Mercer Island’s voters of 2020: liberal, climate-concerned, and prepared to vote for third parties if at all dissatisfied with the two major candidates.
Thumbnail photo courtesy The Fiscal Times.
