Early numbers show opposition to WA ballot measures

Welcome back in to our election coverage. It is a very big night. We are getting the first batch of results coming in for us. So we want to take a look at some of the initiative results. Those were big numbers coming in here. I-645, millionaire tax repeal. So the no side coming in at 58%, the yes side to 42%. Let me explain this to you because it might be confusing. So when you talk about the yes side, that is the side of the ballot initiative supporters. They are the ones that wanted to repeal the millionaire tax. They are currently trailing at 42%. So the no side, the ones that wanna keep the millionaire tax, they are leading 58% of the vote right now. All right, let's take a look now at the initiative to keep transgender athletes from playing girls sports. And right now, yes on that initiative. So this is an initiative that would require male athletes to not Play girls sports. Girls would only girls would play girls sports. So it's been a complicated issue about how do you determine whether they're going to be qualified. But doctors say they can just look at it. There's not going to be something invasive. And generally right now, it looks like that is going to going to pass. That's 56 to 44 percent. We'll talk to our analysts in just a minute and see if those numbers will hold up. Pretty big gap right there. And we weren't sure if this was going to happen. Colorado is very, very tight on this very same issue right now. But we'll talk more about that in just a minute. Let's talk about the next initiative. And that was for parental rights, Hannah. Yeah, so the parental rights there, again, the yes side, 47%, and the no side, 53%. So, you know, the gap here is a little bit, obviously, narrower than the other ones that we just showed you. But in this one, the interesting thing about the Parent Bill of Rights, I want to tell you, is basically Brian Haywood and the Let's Go Washington side, you know, did an initiative. And then lawmakers decided, look, we're going to pass the Parental Bill of Rights. This was, you know, a couple of years ago. And then last year, lawmakers came back and they They've changed the Parent Bill of Rights and that is why we're back here again in a voter initiative and it essentially is asking, hey, look, we want medical records, we want academic records, and a number of things that parents should have access to. That's what the supporters are saying of this initiative. They want more access. But it looks like at this point, the yes side, Brian Haywood's side, 47% trailing. Well, let's bring in Sandeep Kaushik, our Democrat analyst here, and Randy Peppel, a Republican analyst. So we've been talking about this for the last 48 hours. It sounds as though it's very true to kind of what you guys were saying. Both of you guys were saying that you thought that the millionaire tax was going to stay, right? That's what it looks like right now, right? Randy, let's start with you. Yeah, I mean, the power of money has shown itself there. On the millionaire's tax, they've outspent the yes side. A little bit better than 12 to 1 in the general election, and that matters when you're reaching out to an electorate that is appearing to be a more than usual Democrat electorate. And so it's not that much of a surprise. If you can't compete on the airwaves and get your message out there about this unconstitutional income tax, it's hard to defeat it. The next step will be the courts if that lead holds up. Yeah. Now, Sandeep, you had said when I tried to pin you down on whether the transgender rights and being able to play girls sports was going to pass or not, you were kind of noncommittal because you said you weren't sure. And now it looks like that Brian Haywood's measure is going to pass. I'm going to get back to you in just a minute, but I'm keeping you on the hook here. Hold on a second a little bit. Sandeep, I want to get back to you on the initiatives, okay? So let's talk about the transgender athletes wanting to play girls sports. And then there was a lot of confusion, you said, over the parental rights. Do you think why that one is not passing? Well, I do think when voters are confused about an initiative, they tend to vote to move to no on those measures. And we're seeing it failing right now. It's close. And I should caveat this here, I think there's still four or five counties across the state that have not yet reported any results, including two big ones, Snohomish County, we haven't seen any numbers out of yet, and Clark County. And so that could impact, even tonight, the numbers we see on these initiatives. And I'm glad you brought that up because, so of all the numbers that we showed just a few minutes ago on all those three ballot initiatives, are any of them too close to call, all three of them, or are you able to say, obviously the AP is the one that will People call the wins. I do want to get a gauge from you though. Is there a ballot initiative right now that's kind of in the clear that's really leading in a good way? I mean, I am involved in the no side on the millionaire's tax. So let me caveat my comment by saying that, but right now the numbers look pretty good there on the no side, right? We're seeing in King County, right, the most populous county in the state, the numbers are two to one no. And it's also doing very, it's winning in Pierce County. We haven't seen Snohomish yet, but if they go the way the other two central Puget Sound counties are going, no should be in pretty good shape. So this does gel in these initiatives with what you said yesterday with specifically talking about biological boys cannot play girls sports right. And you said that that issue in just the last couple of weeks where the girls did not run because there was a boy or a transgender athlete running against them. I understand, right? We heard from some of them tonight. Do you think that that is the reason that this is gonna pass? I think that the reason it's gonna pass is because it's common sense. But- You think that gave it the push over the edge? Well, it was the boy's girl teammates who didn't run. It wasn't the girls he was competing against. It was his own teammates who walked off the course. And it just showed that hypocrisy. Of this entire argument, he started the season on a boys team, finishing dead last, switches to the girls team and comes in second in the district. And I think that has gelled some thoughts.