In a hard-won victory for Democrats and their labor-union allies, Ohioans decisively rejected the state's collective-bargaining law on Tuesday night, repealing Republican Governor John Kasich's signature legislation in a referendum that could reverberate into 2012.
Known as Issue 2, the ballot proposition asked voters to decide whether to implement or throw out a recently passed law, known as SB5, that would prevent public-employee unions from collective bargaining, prohibit strikes and force teachers, police offers and firefighters to contribute a set amount toward their health benefits and pensions. The Associated Press called the race with a quarter of precincts reporting and 63% of voters opting to restore bargaining rights for the state's 350,000 unionized public employees. The margin of victory was even larger than the rout projected by several recent polls.
The referendum, the latest battle in the ongoing war over union rights and benefits, was the subject of a massive push by Big Labor. After SB5 passed last spring, unions stalled implementation by collecting more than a million signatures, and collected some $30 million to help galvanize opposition to the law. Its rejection was a sharp blow to Kasich, whose tethered himself to the contentious issue by aggressively urging its passage. "John Kasich chose to put his face on this campaign," said state Democratic Party chairman Chris Redfern. "The people of the state pushed back."
The victory in Ohio was the highlight of a banner night for Democrats, a commodity which has been in short supply since the party's shellacking in the 2010 midterm elections. In the evening's other hotly anticipated ballot proposition, Mississippians shot down an anti-abortion constitutional amendment known as the "Personhood amendment," which would have imposed the stiffest restrictions on abortion of any state.
The amendment sought to define life as beginning at the point of fertilization, banned all abortions 鈥?including those to pregnancies caused by rape or incest 鈥?as well the morning-after pill. It would have been the first successful effort to pass a personhood amendment in the U.S., following two failed tries in Colorado. Though polls suggested the race was a toss-up, the measure's ambiguous wording and stringent standards caused some social conservatives to balk and others, like Governor Haley Barbour, to voice reservations even as they indicated their support for the measure. It was soundly defeated; with 64% of precincts reporting, 57% of voters opposed the initiative.
Democrats also captured five of six statewide races in conservative Kentucky, including the battle for the governor's mansion, where Democratic incumbent Steve Beshear coasted to a second term. A moderate Democrat, Beshear 鈥?like Earl Ray Tomblin in West Virginia 鈥?charted a path to victory that included out-raising his opponent and steering clear of President Obama. In Arizona, Russell Pearce, the architect of the state's controversial immigration law, became the first sitting senator to be recalled in the state's history. (See photos of the showdown in Wisconsin.)
The party also won a ballot initiative that restored same-day voter registration in Maine, a provision that has historically favored Democrats. And in Virginia, with results still streaming in and several extremely tight races, the GOP appeared poised to fall short of its goal of winning the two net sets necessary to flip the State Senate, which would have given Republicans complete control in Richmond and a hammerlock on the redistricting process.
Setbacks notwithstanding, the night was a rare burst of good news for a beleaguered Democratic Party, and nowhere was the victory sweeter than in Ohio. SB5, which went further than Wisconsin's controversial union legislation by including police officers and firefighters, sparked a similar outcry, with intense statehouse protests foreshadowing the coordinated effort to roll back the legislation. "The repeal of SB5 is a monumental victory for working families not only in Ohio, but all across the country," said Michael Sargeant, executive director of Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. The lesson, according to Sargeant? "There is a price to pay for right-wing extremism and partisan overreach."Question to conservatives?
and your point is ??
Without unions providing us with a say in our destiny, how does salary, policy and procedures get set? Are republicans happy with any old bone that is thrown to them?Question to conservatives?
tl;dr.
Unions suck. get rid of them all. Along with the Democrats.
I smoked reefer %26amp; stole a set of hub caps last night!Question to conservatives?
Nobody is going to read all that
So your implying that the majority of that 63% voted to repeal the law AREN'T union affiliated and that parents of children, high crime areas who rely on police who are non union private sector voters support the public sector can go on strike?
Show me a demographic breakdown on union affiliated vs. not and maybe you have my attention.
Ohioans rejected limits on RICH government employees' ability to FORCE more money out of WORKING-CLASS wallets after Democrats used millions of TAX-DOLLARS to LIE about the referendum and persuade voters to deliver UNLIMITED POWER to RICH government employees.
Democrats also captured races in Kentucky BY CAMPAIGNING AGAINST DEMOCRAT POLICY.
The repeal of SB5 is a monumental victory for RICH GOVERNMENT employees and AGAINST working-class families who can now expect NO LIMIT on how much their wallets get sucked empty for the befit of RICH bureaucrats.
Just thought we should be CRYSTAL CLEAR about what all of you Democrats CELEBRATE.
Your question is more like a book but after saying that l was in the union for about eight years and yes they told us how or to who to vote for etc. Being an independent thinker l et that information go from one ear to the other without stopping. Unions are good to a point and they cross that point when they get too big and or too much power and start dictating there demands. Then they start destroying things they worked so hard to build.
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