Elections

Tuesday September 13 is primary day, and today StreetsPAC released its endorsements for New York State Senate and Assembly races. In heavily Democratic NYC, the primary winners will almost certainly go on to win the general election in November, if they face a challenger at all.

There were several local ballot measures with big implications for streets and transportation yesterday, and results were all over the map. Here's how three of the most notable votes turned out.

Since 1995, leaders in the Raleigh-Durham region of North Carolina have dreamed about connecting its major centers via light rail. The results of Tuesday night's election might finally make it happen.

Yesterday's elections returned some of the nation's most anti-urban, anti-transit governors to power in races where they were supposed to be vulnerable. Pro-transit candidates were unexpectedly routed in some states, though a few did manage to hang on.

The forecasting models were right: As the polls closed last night it quickly became apparent that Republicans will gain control of the Senate, with at least 52 seats now held by the GOP. The implications for transportation are immense. To understand what they are, first let's look at what last night means for the prospects for a new transportation bill next year. Then we'll get inside the committees for a nitty-gritty look at the leadership shakeup.

Today, voters go to the polls to exercise their constitutional right to self-government -- if their state hasn’t disenfranchised them with onerous voter ID laws, that is, and if they can get motivated to turn out for a mid-term election. In 27 states, voters are choosing a governor. These elections are perhaps the most important in the country when it comes to transportation policy, because governors set the agenda for major infrastructure decisions and control the state DOTs that spend the lion's share of U.S. transportation funding.

Tuesday is Election Day, with races for statewide office and legislative seats in Albany taking up most of the ballot. While the general election tends to be less competitive than primary day in Democrat-dominated NYC, there are definitely some contests worth tracking tomorrow. To get caught up on the hot local races as well as the three ballot proposals New York voters will decide on, check out the Gotham Gazette election guide.

Next week, voters in Maryland and Wisconsin may tell state officials to keep their greedy paws off transportation funds. Louisianans will consider whether to create an infrastructure bank to help finance projects. Texans will weigh the wisdom of raiding the state’s Rainy Day Fund for -- what else? -- highways. And Massachusetts activists who have been fighting to repeal the state’s automatic gas tax hikes will finally get their day of reckoning.