ELECTION AFTERMATH

[Geee]

Powerline

Move over Cook County, Illinois, and make room for King County in Washington state, where Seattle’s ongoing bid to rival San Francisco in the crazy department is only exceeded by its dubious record in ballot counting after close elections.

Last week I noted that the attempt to reimpose affirmative action in Washington state had failed at the ballot box, but then the “late vote” started coming in from King County. Funny how King County always seems to find just enough “late ballots” to swing close elections. It appeared that the repeal of the state’s ban on affirmative action might pass after all, but as of this morning it appears that Initiative 88 (which prohibited a return to affirmative action) will win after all, but by a very narrow margin of 13,000 votes, or 50.35% to 49.65%. The Seattle Times reported that “as votes continue to stream in over the coming days, the remaining math for affirmative action advocates looked [sic] increasingly difficult.”

On the other hand, I had celebrated the defeat of one of Seattle’s socialist city council members, Kshama Sawant, but in fact the “late vote” from King County has delivered her re-election after all.

But San Francisco still keeps bragging rights, and by a lot. After all the ballots were counted, San Francisco narrowly elected Chesa Boudin to be its next district attorney. Who is Chesa Boudin? The Washington Post calls him a “progressive lawyer,” but not until you get far down in the story do you reach some of the relevant biography:

His parents were members of the radical left-wing group the Weather Underground and were imprisoned when he was a child for their role in an armed heist that left three men dead. His mother served 22 years, and his father may spend the rest of his life in prison.