Virginia Dem won and looks like Sherrill is gonna win NJ.
GOP getting stomped.
this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2025
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School board elections are about all I've got for this round, but I cast my vote to oust as many of the anti-CRT, anti-mask people as possible.
When can we expect results from the NY mayoral race?
Polls close at 8 PM local time, so 5 PM Pacific!
Thanks!
I was wrong, NORMALLY polls close at 8 PM, I'm told now 9 PM. So in 3 minutes!
Edit Mamdani up by 10 city wide, winning every borough except Staten Island.
I'm going to be following the Majority Report Live Stream.
Also, I think Mamdani will be making an appearance on their show tomorrow, so tune in. Just call it intuition as to how I might know.
I'm with a lot of Californians reluctantly voting on Prop 50. It's a backslide for democracy but when the whole county is avalanche levels of backsliding, it seems unavoidable. At least the language emphasizes temporary (though it still has lasting impacts as it messes up incumbent advantage, not that I like that either).
I just wish Gavin wasn't growing in popularity as he has been over these moves, he's such a smug rich asshole kind of lib. We need what NYCs been getting with progressive minded folks.
Same, when the rachet effect going on has been so effective on the other side it no longer behooves us to "be better" than to flip the direction and do the same by the same methods. Righteousness is all well and good until it becomes part of your opponents strategy to take advantage of you.
I'm in Saint Paul, Minnesota. We have a mayoral race with ranked choice voting! Hoping for a slightly more progressive candidate to win, but Carter hasn't been awful.
I didn't know they had ranked choice voting anywhere in America
Alaska has apparently been doing RC for yeeears (but not for regional/federal elections).
Alaska. If Sarah Palin's state can do it, we're kinda out of excuses.
Oregon.
The US is really 50 democracies in a trench coat.
One might argue this is very Swiss (decentralized) of them. But then, money clouds everything.
A lot of the problems are because the US is a horrible mix of centralized and decentralized systems with no real way balance anymore. Reminder at the time of the USs creation the oldest Republic was fucking Venice meaning that they were treading waters not treaded since antiquity, so it has a lot of beta testing issues that have held on well into the full version. Upside is that if shit goes badly enough with the feds the states can theoretically correct for it like the Holy Roman Empire.
I like your optimism. But what exactly did the HRE fix?
It's slowly catching on.
Hope it goes better for you guys than our ranked choice election did. A lot of people saw the ranked grid and just noped out!
We've got a big one here in Seattle with both mayor and attorney general being up for grabs. It's looking so far like the far more progressive (but not especially experienced) candidate will win for mayor. We'll see soon.
NJ reporting here. Obligatory fuck Jack Ciattarelli.
I’m super curious about Mamdani winning and living up to any of his promises.
Yeah, he's gonna get blocked on a lot, but if he accomplishes one thing on the list, he'll be ahead of the game. The bar for actually leading is just so low, he can only succeed.
Like most political promises, I don't see how he could do 1/2 of what he wants to do. I'd still like to see him try!
I mean the point is that they try, and its a stark contrast with Republicans.
As horrendous, miserable, inhumane and abhorrent as their promises are, the do try and make good on them. I think Democrats consistent refusal to even try on theirs really cuts against them.
Ours was super boring. A 2020 property tax measure to fund local parks is expiring. It was $0.80 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The new one to replace it is $1.40 per $1,000 and locals are losing their goddamn minds over it!
"ZOMG! MY PROPERTY TAXES ARE GOING UP 75%!!!"
No, the portion that funds parks is going up 75%, your property tax is likely going up $9 to $12 bucks a month.
Our taxes are some of the highest in the country and the city has a poor track record of accountability and timely disclosure. They didn't give us an option to maintain current funding (adjusted for inflation); instead they asked for nearly double and made no attempt to justify the increase beyond fear mongering about parks. If it fails there's still time for them to try again with a budget comparable to today. I'm into both socialism and accountability.
The trick with parks funding is we took a one-two punch.
- Because it's based on property taxes, we're taking it in the shorts on commercial property values. Seriously, you look at Big Pink which sold for $45 million which SOUNDS like a lot until you learn the previous value was $372 million...
- Inflation and Trump's tarriffs are boosting construction costs on EVERYTHING.
https://cmicglobal.com/resources/article/The-Full-Impact-of-Tariffs-on-Construction-in-2025
So, going with the old parks tax, less money was coming in because of devalued property, and that money doesn't go as far because of inflation and tarriffs. 😟
Thanks for the links. Apologies in advance for the long comment.
The increase is so high that it's basically calculated as if you had removed commercial property taxes entirely.
The levy is paying for continuity of existing services: parks maintenance (tree planting and timing, garbage cleanup) and amenities like summer camps, swimming lessons, etc. They basically don't devote any significant part of their funding to facility maintenance, which is why many of the hard tops and other things are in poor condition.
I guarantee you that even if this levy passes they will come back to voters down the road with a levy specifically for rebuilding park facilities.
The following gets a little into my philosophy on taxation, but in general I'm OK with paying for services (including increases) so long as outcomes are measured and city leaders hold themselves accountable to the public.
Partly I think parks funding is structured poorly, and partly that something must be done at the municipal level. The city keeps building parks they don't have to account for in the budget and that the parks service can't properly maintain at current funding levels. This and (as you noted) tax compression are the primary drivers for the increase.
I'm sympathetic to tax compression. But parks need to be paid for out of the general fund, not through levies. That way it forces the city to either build fewer parks or (ideally) properly fund parks through tax revenues. Levies should be used for extraordinary things, not regular operating budget. That they go this route is basically to work around property tax increase limits.
They should make the case to change the law and forgo levies in favor of the tax changes that are more representative of what the city actually needs to operate. To do that they should strive to become a model of transparency and accountability for the money they already receive, including publishing outcomes for their programs and special taxes, and redirecting funding where positive outcomes cannot be shown. This means, for example, increasing funding for auditors and creating statutory requirements around this kind of transparency.
Oh, they will DEFINITELY come back in 5 years... IIRC these bonds only last 5 years, the last one passed in 2020 with expiration this year.
But here's the thing, if you read the messure, this bond is 1/2 the parks budget. So if it doesn't pass, there will be a dramatic reduction in service.
https://www.portland.gov/parks/parks-levy-2025
"If a new levy is not approved, the Parks operating budget would be reduced by approximately half, resulting in fewer programs and services."
I vote to remove Donald Trump
Vote and volunteer best you can folks.
It's a patriotic duty.