--Sara Jerving and Mary Bottari
The election is over, but the fight to save the planet from the rapacious fossil fuel industry is just gearing up. Hurricane Sandy reminded us that our slowly warming planet will continue to produce bigger and more dangerous monster storms, coupled with other types of severe weather, until we begin to address climate change with the urgency it deserves.
In the aftermath of the 2012 election, the nation's big money donors may be reassessing their "investments" -- particularly those managed by Republican strategist Karl Rove.
One of the most significant developments for American progressives this election season was the election of Mark Pocan, who won Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District seat with 68 percent of the vote. The popular and populist Pocan is likely to hold the seat, which was once held by Progressive Party champion Robert M. La Follette, for many years to come. Pocan represented the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) area in the state legislature and CMD worked with him on our ALEC Exposed project.
With most voter ID laws blocked before the 2012 elections and local election officials and civic groups prepared for True the Vote's intimidation tactics, some of the worst fears about voter disenfranchisement were averted in Tuesday's vote. But partisan voting laws and continued confusion over election administration led to long lines -- prompting President Obama to note "by the way, we have to fix that," in his acceptance speech.
Election night was a good night for national Democrats; President Obama won reelection, and Democrats gained two seats in the Senate. The news was not as good for local Democrats in Wisconsin, though, who lost their hard-fought majority in the Wisconsin State Senate, the only thing standing between Governor Scott Walker and Republicans' full control of the Wisconsin Legislature.
Despite over half a million dollars spent by the fossil fuel industry in Longmont, Colorado, residents voted Tuesday to make the city the first to ban hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" in the state. The city of 87,000, nestled at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, voted 59 to 41 to ban the controversial method of extracting shale oil and gas, as well as to ban the storage of the toxin-laden wastewater in the city limits.
The people of Missouri and Indiana were, in effect, given a referendum on "legitimate rape" on election day, and they soundly rejected the concept by defeating U.S. Senate candidates Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock. The two legislators had stirred controversy over their verbal attempts to characterize the validity of a rape victim's experience in order to push forward their anti-abortion agendas.
Across the country in states that allow for citizen lawmaking through ballot propositions, yesterday voters in many states had a direct say in the laws that govern them. There were 188 measures on the ballot in 38 states. Below we review the official, unconfirmed election results of some of the key propositions. Join the conversation on Facebook and tell us about other important propositions in your state.
Wisconsin has upheld its reputation as a truly purple state by electing Democrat Tammy Baldwin to the U.S. Senate, by a solid margin of 51 to 46, and reelecting President Barack Obama to a second term, just months after handing the Tea Party and out-of-state special interests a victory by voting to keep far-right Governor Scott Walker in office. Baldwin's victory, along with Elizabeth Warren's win in Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown's win in Ohio, helps ensure Democrats keep control of the U.S. Senate.
California's election board successfully compelled a "dark money" group that spent $11 million on ballot initiatives in that state to reveal the source of their funding -- but the donors are other dark money groups tied to the Koch brothers and Karl Rove's political machine. Those groups also don't disclose the source of their funds. California managed to peel back one layer of the dark money onion, but discovered little information about who is really bankrolling the operation -- they only found more of the dark money onion.
Center for Media and Democracy (CMD)
520 University Ave, Ste 305 • Madison, WI 53703 • (608) 260-9713
CMD is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit.
© 1993-2024