EDITORIAL: Blue tide didn’t carry over to state referendums

The Democratic steamroller flattened Republican candidates across the country this week. But there was one bright spot for the GOP: Ballot measure results across the country failed to reflect the rushing blue tide.

In Nevada, the verdict was split. Question 6 — further codifying abortion rights in the state constitution — passed handily, as did pro-abortion referendums favored by Democrats in three other states. Idaho voters, meanwhile, imposed more restrictions on the procedure.

But Nevada also easily passed Question 7, which mandates voter ID at the polls. Democratic leaders have long opposed such a requirement despite its popularity among voters across the political spectrum. North Carolina and Ohio also passed voter ID measures. Arizona and California voters rejected similar proposals.

In another blow to progressive immigration policy, voters in four states — Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota and West Virginia — amended their state constitutions to clarify that only citizens are eligible to vote in their elections.

Tuesday’s results also highlighted that many voters feel Democrats have gone too far on trans issues, particularly involving children. While a referendum banning gender transition surgeries for minors failed in Missouri, voters backed a similar proposal in Colorado. Four states — Colorado, Arizona, Nebraska and Washington — approved initiatives that require students to participate in sports based on their “biological reproductive system.”

Voters in many states were in no mood to sanction high taxes. In Florida, residents overwhelmingly backed Amendment 3, which allows homeowners to exempt from property taxes a larger portion of the value of their primary residence. Tennessee voters by a 2-to-1 margin prohibited the state from imposing property taxes, and a successful Arizona ballot question caps local sales taxes on food.

Even residents of California appeared to board the anti-tax bandwagon. Proposition 40, which would have imposed a “one-time,” 5 percent tax on the wealth of billionaires, was trailing by 10 points late Thursday with 62 percent of the vote counted. At the same time, a proposition prohibiting taxes on personal savings, assets and retirement holdings had the support of 54 percent of California voters.

Only Washington state, where voters opted not to repeal a newly enacted income tax on those who earn more than $1 million a year, bucked the trend.

Finally, Wisconsin voters easily passed Question 3, which prohibits governmental entities, public schools and universities from granting preferential treatment based on race, sex or ethnicity.

Democrats had a big day Tuesday. But the fate of state ballot measures suggests that many voters remain skeptical of far-left policy proposals on a number of controversial issues.