Monday, November 5, 2012

25 Races to Watch on Election Night « Student Activism

25 Races to Watch on Election Night « Student Activism:


Election Night: What to Keep an Eye On

There are a huge number of really fascinating races and referenda on the ballot across the country this year, and many of the most interesting — and most important — remain too close to call. In this post I’ll be doing a state-by-state rundown of the results I’ll be looking for, and the ones friends have tipped me to on Facebook and Twitter. (If you’ve got others, please share in comments.)

Arizona
  • Horrific Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio, now eighty years old, is facing his most serious challenger in a long time. Paul Penzone is struggling with name recognition, but the race has been tightening in recent weeks.
California
  • Proposition 30. This is the biggie, as I’ve written before. It would establish a small, temporary sales tax hike (0.25%) and temporary income tax increases for the wealthy in order to close the state’s huge budget deficit in education. If it fails, UC tuition — already ridiculously high — is likely to rise another 20%, while Cal State and community college enrollment will be slashed. With recent polling putting the yes vote on 30 just under fifty percent, it’s likely to be close.