My man.
Over the next 24-48, we’re gonna get a good poll (finally) of Steve King’s district. Siena/Upshot will poll the district tonight.
I’m expecting JD Scholten to be behind by 5-8 points, but we’ll see.
I wonder how much revenue Utah loses due to being sandwiched between the weed-friendly states of NV and CO. When I lived in Salt Lake City, I had a couple of co-workers that would make the two hour drive across the salt flats to Wendover nearly every weekend just to gamble.
Is Utah the state were officers sit on the highway coming in from Colorado ready to pull people over for suspicion for that? Or am I thinking of another state? I’m thinking of an old news article noting how much money the state police were making off arrests, forfeiture, etc, tied to things coming from Colorado.
Anecdotally as someone who has made such a trip to Colorado, I didn’t see cops camped out by the Utah/Colorado border. I admit I was a little nervous about it, but it wasn’t simply a recreational trip. My SO has a relative with terminal cancer, I have a friend with MS that really needs it to help with side effects from his medication (and his doctor has urged him to get to CO if and when he can), and my SO uses it as an alternative to prescription meds for pain issues that she has.
They do like to camp up by Evanston (Wyoming) though, especially during firework season. My sister works for the Wyoming highway patrol and on their side they give directions to Utahns on how/where to avoid the UHP. :)
I bet it’s quite a bit. Like you said, weekend drives to Wendover for gambling are a common thing, as are trips up to Wyoming for some bootleg fireworks and liquor and Idaho for lottery tickets. It’s kind of amazing how much money the Utah legislature leaves on the table. Worse than that, really, since they have all the same “vices” but just give the revenue to other states.
Will that ever change do you think? Or is the Mormon and strict conservative grip on the state that tight? I’m surprised you mentioned the prop for medical marijuana. That’s a pretty big first step.
I think we’re all counting on you to host that ;)
I’ve honestly quite surprised by the reaction to Prop 2. A coworker of mine was a bishop in the Mormon church for quite some time and I was taken off guard by his support for Prop 2, despite the fact that the LDS church has come out publicly in opposition to it. That’s usually enough to sink any legislation or proposition, but I think it has a good chance of passing.
That being said, the Mormon/conservative grip on the state is incredibly strong, although it’s weakening. The 2010 numbers show Utah is now “only” 62% LDS. The state has consistently been one of the fastest (when not the fastest) growing states in the country, though. The birthrate is high, but a lot of that is people moving in from out of state. There’s a booming technology sector here that pulls in a lot of people, so much so that we’ve been dealing with a pretty bad housing shortage for a while now.
As population continues to pour in from other states, I think attitudes in the state will continue to moderate. It’s not just the numbers of people from out of state changing the voting numbers, it’s the fact that the greater diversity exposes LDS Utahns to a wider range of ideas. Now if someone starts sharing a marijuana ghost story, there’s more people to chime in and say “Whoa, hold up!”. The reaction of people here when Colorado legalized marijuana was overwhelmingly negative, I’m honestly shocked that opinion has swung so far so quickly that a medical marijuana proposition stands a chance of passing. Even the LDS church is now limiting their opposition to recreational marijuana, not medical (their stated problem with Prop 2 is that it will be too easy for people to obtain it for recreational purposes).
Even here in red-state Missouri, medical marijuana seems likely to pass this year. The leading proposal even allows home-grow.
On this issue, people are seeing the light, even in rural areas.
I could describe a lot of the South in that very same statement. Especially states with larger urban areas. NC is purple for that reason, for sure.
Getting a lot of door to door Democrat action here. Two or three a week. I sent in my ballot a while ago but I’m glad to answer their questions. It usually goes, Yes, Yes, Yes. I voted the right way. They always seem so relieved. I’m glad to make them feel good. I always ask if they need a bathroom break or a bottle of water.
Edit: OTOH there is a commercial here that essentially says that Bill Nelson is suffering from dementia. So I will be glad when it’s over.
I’ve been getting texting spam. Which is really annoying. I finally texted them back and said, “I’m voting against Steve King, stop texting me.”
3 texts in a row every couple days is obnoxious.
I don’t suppose Iowa has early voting, eh?
King is the one who recently said that the members of the Austrian party founded by ex-Nazis would be Republicans in the US, right? #smh
It does, but I just vote on the day.
And yes, that’s Steve. He also likes to retweet neo-Nazis and push white nationalist bullshit all the time.
He’s literally the worst person in Congress atm.
Oh and Ted Cruz says they’re best buddies right as a lot of GOP members are finally calling Steve out on his bullshit.
So have we given up hope of Senate control yet?
538 has control at 15% and 50-50 at an additional 15%. 50-50 won’t give control but it’ll at least be better than where we are now. 30% is roughly the same probability the site gave Trump’s win, so you never know.
What a horrible coincidence that Trump’s first midterm election has a group of Senators up for reelection that makes things a million times easier for the Republicans.
I don’t know if Utah does that, but I know from personal accounts here in Kansas that Kansas definitely does that. There have been a lot of news stories about it over the last couple of years, and I’ve heard from people who visit Colorado that they got pulled over on their way back.
At home, I not-so-secretly hope/suspect there’s a miscalculation in the likely voters turnout projection and the odds are better. Still, even on my most optimistic days, I wouldn’t go over 50/50.
And I sit in terror that the miscalculation is going to swing the other way and the GOP keeps the House.
Valid concern, certainly. But I’m a Congress-half-full kind of guy.