Many voters have gathered tonight at the New Parkway Theater in Oakland. Along with cheering national results, they're paying attention to local, regional, and state measures.
KALW reporter Francesca Fenzi is there.
Right now, folks are mostly watching the national news coverage roll in, so I spoke with people who were excited about the idea of a blue wave. People were, in particular, talking about the Senate prospects for Democrats, explicitly hoping for elected officials to counter the Trump administration's agenda coming out of this election. In fact, I actually spoke with two women who had made it a point leading into the elections to campaign and do letter-writing for a Democrat all the way in Texas because of how much this national election had meant to them.
On the local level, some of the things that were rising to the top for folks was, in Oakland, Measure EE, which would strengthen the powers of the mayoral office. I spoke with one couple who told me that they had essentially not been able to agree, and so they'd canceled each other's vote out. They both felt that past corruption scandals in Oakland were a big issue of concern for them, but couldn't quite agree about who shouldered the biggest blame for that, whether it was the city council or the mayor's office that should ultimately carry more weight going forward.
The Regional Transit Measure, RTM, was something that several people brought up. That was definitely top of mind for folks. I spoke with a teacher who mentioned that BART was really important to her, and she wanted to see it continue to be funded without service cuts.
I would be remiss not to mention the so-called billionaire tax, Prop 40, at the state level. That was something that almost every person I spoke with tonight brought up in some way. I even met somebody who was, as we speak, filling out their ballot, going through all of the pages of their local ballot, and intending to return it before the polls close at 8:00. But I think mostly folks are focusing on the national elections now and looking forward to seeing a little bit more of the issues that will impact them later in the night.
