Forget Chris Christie: 5 under-the-radar races to watch today (from pot to schools)
From legalizing marijuana in the northeast to a $15 minimum wage out west, these votes have national consequences
BY JOSH EIDELSON
We pretty much know what tomorrow morning’s post-election headlines will be. Bill de Blasio will cruise to a landslide and become the first Democrat to lead our largest city in two decades. Chris Christie will boost his case to 2016 presidential primary voters – and donors – by scoring a decisive re-election in a solidly blue state. And Terry McAuliffe will best Ken Cuccinelli in a race between two of the most unlikeable candidates in American politics.
But while those marquee – and at this point largely suspense-free – races steal the spotlight, Americans will head to the polls in a slew of city races and referenda with national implications. Here – from East to West – are five to watch.
Portland (Maine) Pot: Residents of Portland, Maine, will vote on making their city – whose metro area includes over a fifth of the state’s population – the first on the East Coast to legalize marijuana.
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Boston Mayor: The race to replace twenty-year Boston Mayor Thomas Menino pits State Representative Martin Walsh, a longtime union official, against attorney and former teacher John Connolly, who’s centered his campaign on a push for education reform.
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Bridgeport School Board: This Connecticut city became an education reform battleground in 2009, when the labor-backed Working Families Party seized two seats on its school board and started aggressively challenging the bipartisan reform consensus. As I’ve reported, top city (and state) Democrats twice tried to eliminate school board elections, first in a vote overturned in court, then in a Rhee
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Colorado School Board: Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Koch-backed Tea Party hub Americans for Prosperity have sunk cash into Douglas County, Colorado, in hopes of defending four right-wing school board members whom unions are out to oust in today’s election.
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$15 in Sea-Tac: While President Obama’s proposal for a mere $9 minimum wage appears headed nowhere fast in this Congress, one small airport town may make history tonight by passing a $15 an hour wage law.
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Full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/05/forget_chris_christie_5_under_the_radar_races_to_watch_today_from_pot_to_schools/
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