With former President Donald Trump projected as winning the 2024 presidential election and the Republican Party flipping the Senate, Democrats’ last hope for a foothold in Washington now rests in the House of Representatives. Several key states, including California and New York, will continue counting mail ballots received after Election Day, provided they were postmarked by Nov. 5. This legal framework means final results in these crucial contests ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Here are two of the more surprising granular results from Tuesday’s statewide elections in California. Even though San Francisco’s voter registrations are 63 percent Democratic and only 7 percent Republican, voters there opposed a far-reaching rent-control measure by a wide margin, 59–41 percent. The city’s famously progressive voters (although less so in recent years) also supported a tough-on-crime measure by nearly a two-to-one margin. The city’s voters backed measures that float new bonds and increase the minimum wage, but their “no” on Proposition 33 and “yes” on Proposition 36 reinforced a pattern. As I wrote in The American Spectator last week, California voters tend to vote in a far more conservative manner on statewide initiatives than in their candidate selections. (READ MORE: Preview of California’s Initiative Frenzy) This holds true in most election years. California voters have passed some notoriously bad initiatives over the years (1972’s Proposition 20 creating the California Coastal Commission), but they’ve also backed some great ones (1978’s Proposition 13 limiting property taxes). Our state’s leaders understand this reality, which is why Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies successfully sued to keep a potential landmark tax-limiting measure off of this year’s ballot. Obviously, Election Day results were even better after heading off of the peninsula. Proposition 33 was my biggest concern. Promoted for the third time by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the initiative would have overturned the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act — a 1995 law that limited the ability of localities to impose far-reaching rent controls on residential properties. That law restricts vacancy controls and rent controls on newer buildings and single-family homes. More rent control will further dry up supply and exacerbate our ongoing housing crunch. Statewide, voters rejected Proposition 33 by a 62–38 percent margin. That’s quite the smackdown. Based on the latest tally, voters also appear poised to approve Proposition 34 which restricts the ability of the abovementioned pro-rent-control group to spend certain federal healthcare dollars on political activity and other non-patient uses. It was, as opponents claim, something of a “revenge initiative” backed by apartment owners. Sometimes, however, revenge is sweet. Voters’ support for Proposition 36, which is set to pass by an unimaginable 70–30 percent margin, was not surprising. Even liberal Californians are tired of the state’s crime wave, uncontrolled retail thefts, sprawling homeless encampments, and some failed criminal justice reform policies. It probably goes too far, but, as I explained, California’s Democratic leaders could easily have avoided this embarrassment had they taken a proactive approach to crime problems and not played cynical political games with crime policy. Another encouraging sign, with almost all of the ballots counted, Proposition 32 is headed toward a solid defeat (52–48 percent). That measure would have once again increased the state’s minimum wage to $18 an hour. We learned in the national election that voters are tired of inflation — and California voters clearly saw the obvious connection. They also rejected, 55–45 percent, an odd piece of progressive policy that claimed to “end slavery.” In reality, Proposition 6 would have removed the “current provision that allows jails and prisons to impose involuntary servitude to punish crime (i.e., forcing incarcerated persons to work),” per the ballot summary. Most voters understand that requiring inmates to work isn’t slavery. And this wasn’t the year for anything that smacked of being soft on crime. Not surprisingly, voters approved, 61–39 percent, Proposition 3 providing a constitutional right to marriage. It was mostly for show since same-sex marriage has long been legal here. More significantly, Californians voted “yes” on two wasteful bond measures. Proposition 2 will spend $10 billion on public school facilities even though more than 40 percent of the state budget goes toward K-12 education. Proposition 4 will spend $10 billion on unneeded climate pork. Unfortunately, Californians tend to vote “yes” on these spending grab bags given that state bonds don’t directly raise their taxes. These bonds do, however, tap a portion of the general fund for repayment and cost far more than the initial amount because of the interest on the debt. Between the two of them, the state will have to make an additional $1 billion annual payment. On a more encouraging note, on Tuesday, voters showed fiscal prudence by rejecting (56–44 percent) Proposition 5, which would have made it easier for local governments to float affordable housing bonds. Those bonds directly raise property taxes. Voters also favored a technical Medi-Cal funding measure (Proposition 35) that had no official opposition, but it’s hard to draw any deep conclusions from that measure’s passage. All in all, voters showed a remarkable level of common sense in their initiative votes — once again debunking the idea that voters can’t be trusted to wade through complex legislative matters. In fact, they do much better when presented with initiative language, summaries, and ballot language than when picking candidate names and their affiliated parties, which no doubt explains why progressives here have become increasingly hostile to direct democracy. Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org. READ MORE: Trump’s Morning in America Donald Trump Wins! The Bullet We Dodged, the Miracles We Experienced, the Idiot We Faced The post Californians Reject the Worst Initiatives appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

by Susan Duclos, All News Pipeline: Tonight, November 5, 2024, we will find out if Donald Trump or Kamala Harris will be the 47th President of the United States of America. Every presidential election I can remember has always been “the most important” in history, that is just the normal rhetoric for each side to […]

by Christopher Tomlinson, The National Pulse: Voters for Democrat candidate Kamala Harris are aided by tech giant Google when they ask where to vote, but typing in the same query for President Donald J. Trump yields no help from the company. Typing in the phrase “where to vote for Harris” shows a “where to vote” search box for […]

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took to social media in support of Joseph Ladapo, the Sunshine State’s surgeon general, becoming President Trump’s Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary. “Retweet if you’d like to see this man — Dr. Joseph Ladapo — serve as the Secretary of HHS in the new Trump administration,” DeSantis wrote. Retweet if you’d like to see this man — Dr. Joseph Ladapo — serve as the Secretary of HHS in the new Trump administration. cc: ⁦@FLSurgeonGen⁩ pic.twitter.com/FP6dC1sZ2W — Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 6, 2024 X users reacted to the Florida governor’s pitch: https://t.co/hVXhPpFdJW — Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) November 6, 2024 Seems like a good start…https://t.co/vtgZRKgyP8 — Jefferey Jaxen (@JeffereyJaxen) November 6, 2024 No state surgeon general acted with more thoughtfulness and integrity during the Panic than @FLSurgeonGen Joseph Ladopo. Would be a brilliant choice for HHS. https://t.co/APYoErU7ed — Carnal Dancer (@CarnalDancer) November 7, 2024 I know and admire Dr. Ladapo, and would be thrilled to see him at the head of the fight to Make America Healthy Again. https://t.co/yAGuMW7m6N — Bret Weinstein (@BretWeinstein) November 7, 2024 We have the dream team here in Florida. No surprise a lot of them are going to get called up.This man was instrumental in keeping Florida sane while the world went mad. The country needs him. https://t.co/dILYzWdp1Y — Frog Capital (@FrogNews) November 6, 2024 Per Florida Phoenix: Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday endorsed his own controversial State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo for a top health care position in the next Trump administration. DeSantis went on social media, where he called on his followers to repost a picture of Ladapo if they want to see him serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services once President-elect Donald Trump assumes office. The agency’s website shows that HHS is meant to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans by providing effective health and human services and fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services. DeSantis’ promotion of Ladapo comes days after it was reported that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic who endorsed Trump for president after mounting his own independent bid for president, had been touting Ladapo. ABC News reported that sources indicated that those working on a Trump transition were taking the recommendation seriously. WATCH: Cry some more ABC…RFK Jr. recommends fellow vaccine skeptic, Florida's surgeon general, to Trump for HHS secretary Kennedy has recommended Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo for the position. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently sparked controversy with claims that former… pic.twitter.com/Po6Uss9nrx — Camus (@newstart_2024) November 1, 2024 RFK Jr. told ABC News Ladapo is among those being considered for the position. “We are still talking to people and he is among the people we are talking to,” he said. “He was willing to question some of the government orthodoxies to not close the schools, to not force people to wear masks, to look actually at the safety data from the vaccines, rather than just accept the words that vaccines are safe and effective,” he added. Robert Kennedy Jr. reportedly recommended that Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo be considered for Donald Trump's Cabinet if the former president win Tuesday's presidential election. Read more: https://t.co/bby81B50RZ pic.twitter.com/hUlW4pR1gO — NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) November 1, 2024 From ABC News: Kennedy, who has spent years fueling mistrust around safe vaccines, has recommended Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo to Trump’s transition team as a candidate for the position of United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, multiple sources told ABC News. Sources close to Trump’s transition operation say the recommendation is being taken seriously and the team working on the transition is expected to vet Ladapo, who was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, for the position. Trump has echoed Kennedy’s comments that he sees a prominent role for Kennedy in a potential administration. “I said focus on health, focus — you can do whatever you want,” Trump said of Kennedy in a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, adding he was completely committed to bringing Kennedy into a potential new Trump administration when asked by the podcast host. Here’s a flashback: Promising to shut down a highly contagious respiratory virus leads to the expected result: failure. That’s the opposite of what we’ve done in Florida. We prioritized the vulnerable and emphasized living. Thanks for the great conversation @LawrenceBJones3 and @kayleighmcenany. pic.twitter.com/zPYVrt8R8V — Joseph A. Ladapo, MD, PhD (@FLSurgeonGen) January 6, 2022 RFK Jr. explained that Trump asked him to reorganize the federal health agencies, including the FDA, CDC, NIH, and USDA. “President Trump has asked me to reorganize the federal health agencies,” RFK Jr. said. “He’s asked me to clean up the corruption number one. Number two, end the conflicts of interest, return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold standard, empirically-based, evidence-based science, evidence-based medicine, and to end the chronic disease epidemic in this country,” he continued. “He’s asked me specifically to measurably reduce chronic disease in our children within two years,” he added. WATCH: RFK Jr: “President Trump has asked me to reorganize the federal health agencies … CDC, NIH, FDA, some of the agencies within the USDA.” “He’s asked me to clean up the corruption, end the conflicts of interest … and to end the chronic disease epidemic. He’s asked me… pic.twitter.com/4NGv7UM9wO — Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) October 31, 2024