Voters in five states will see 28 statewide referendums on Nov. 7 ballots addressing an array of tax-related, infrastructure, elections administration, and state government issues that generally are of little note nationwide.
Not so in Ohio, where “off-year” proposals to affirm the “right to make reproductive decisions including abortion” and to legalize marijuana are drawing interest—and money—from advocacy nonprofits across the country.
In fact, of nearly $170 million spent on 41 measures on 2023 ballots across eight states, more than $71 million had been spent on Ohio’s “Reproductive Rights” measure with proponents anteing up $42 million as of Oct. 30, according to Ballotpedia.
Nine measures have already gone before voters, and Louisianans will see four on Nov. 18.
The lone 2023 abortion-related ballot measure in Ohio follows last year’s midterms where, in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling that repealed Roe v. Wade, there were six statewide referendums addressing abortion.
These included three proposed constitutional amendments—in Kansas, Kentucky, and Michigan—to establish a right to abortion. Voters approved each one.
Abortion opponents went 0-for-6 in the first year of the ‘post-Roe era’ as Democrats claimed the abortion issue, phrasing it as “reproductive rights.” This spurred turnouts that blunted the predicted midterm Republican “red wave.”
If pundits and prognosticators are correct, that tally could fall to 0-for-7 with a Nov. 7 vote on Ohio’s “Reproductive Rights” initiative. This was preceded by an August 8 vote on a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a 60 percent plurality for ballot measures to be adopted.
The Republican-led Ohio state legislature during a special session placed the 60 percent proposal on the August ballot after the Reproductive Rights initiative qualified for November’s election.
That gambit failed with nearly 60 percent voting against it. More than 3 million Ohioans cast ballots in the August election, a surprising turnout that appears likely again on Nov. 7.
Buckeye Weed Vote
A good turnout, especially by pro-abortion voters, is likely to benefit proponents of Ohio’s Issue 2, which would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 or older.Backers have raised more than $5 million, according to Ballotpedia, nearly 11 times what opponents have generated.
Recreational marijuana for adults is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Of those 23 states, which comprise 49 percent of the nation’s total population, 14 legalized marijuana via citizen-initiated ballot measures.
In 2022, voters legalized recreational marijuana in Maryland and Missouri but rejected proposals in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Arkansas. It was the first time that voters had said no in statewide votes on weed legalization.
That trend continued in 2023 with Oklahomans voting more than 62 percent on March 7 to reject legalizing recreational marijuana.
The 28 referenda across five states will be on Nov. 7 ballots largely dedicated to municipal elections. Voters in 29 of the nation’s 100 largest cities, from Brooklyn to Boise and San Diego to Boston, will be voting in local county, city, and school board elections.
Voters in three states have state legislature elections on the Nov. 7 ballots. Republicans in Mississippi and Democrats in New Jersey are expected to retain, if not grow majorities. Virginia’s election could see the GOP wrest full control of the purple state’s General Assembly in this fall’s most-watched contest.
Louisianans will have a Nov. 18 runoff to resolve the relatively few state legislature races not settled earlier in the state’s Oct. 14 “jungle primary,” where any candidate garnering 50 percent of the tally wins the election. That is what Republican state Attorney General Jeff Landry did in ensuring he will succeed Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards in January 2024.
The Louisiana election is one of three 2023 gubernatorial contests after 36 governor elections in 2022. There are 26 Republican and 24 Democrat governors.
As in Louisiana, Kentucky’s governor race features a Republican attorney general challenging a Democrat incumbent. Gov. Andy Beshear faces a stiff challenge from Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Maine Power Play
Although Ohio’s abortion and marijuana legalization measures have garnered the most attention nationwide, several measures are hotly contested within the five states that will vote on proposed constitutional amendments on Nov. 7.In perhaps the most heated ballot measures outside Ohio, Maine voters will decide on two proposals: Question 1 would allow state utilities and electric cooperatives to borrow more than $1 billion in upgrading infrastructure and capacities. Question 3 would create a state-backed electricity company—Pine Tree Power Co.—governed by an elected board.
These two Maine measures are the most expensive ballot measures not in Ohio in terms of campaign spending. Question 1 supporters have committed $25 million against no organized opposition. Question 3 opponents have spent $40 million lobbying against creating Pine Tree Power Co.
Half of the Nov. 7 ballot measures nationwide go before Texas voters.
They address a range of issues, including abolishing the Galveston County Treasurer position; increasing the mandatory retirement age for state judges from 75 to 79; creating a Texas Water Fund to finance water projects; establishing a Texas Energy Fund to modernize electric generation, and creating a Texas Broadband Infrastructure Fund to finance high-speed broadband access.
At least four Texas ballot measures are related to taxes. Propositions seek to trim property tax rates; provide first responders with exemptions; increase the homestead exemption, and exempt child-care businesses from local taxes.
Texas voters will also see a measure affirming a state constitutional right to farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management.
Maine voters will see a “right to repair” proposal that would allow motor vehicle owners and independent repair businesses to access vehicle on-board diagnostic systems.
Louisiana voters on Oct. 14 approved four ballot measures, including Amendment 2, which secured nearly 80 percent of the tally. That measure provides in the state constitution that “the freedom to worship in a church or other place of worship is a fundamental right that is worthy of the highest order of protection.”
When Louisianans return to the polls on Nov. 18, they will see four more proposed ballot measures, including an additional property tax exemption for first responders.
