Some Election Results You may not have Seen

I received an election update this afternoon from the Christian Law Association. It contained an interesting analysis of some of the state initiatives regarding protection of marriage, abortion, and stem cell research. Here's that information:

Marriage Amendments

The good news is that 7 new states joined 20 others in passing state constitutional amendments to protect traditional marriage. Despite massive and often deceptive campaigning by gay activists, in 7 of the 8 states where marriage amendments were on the ballot, they passed in most cases by comfortable majorities. Those seven states and their approximate percentage of approval being reported today are:

Idaho - 63 percent
South Carolina - 71 percent
Tennessee - 80 percent
Virginia - 56 percent
Wisconsin - 59 percent
South Dakota - 51 percent
Colorado - 55 percent

Arizona now becomes the only state which has so far failed to pass a constitutional protection for traditional marriage, although the measure failed by a very narrow margin, being reported today as only 51%.

With the results of this election, 27 state constitutions now protect traditional marriage. In addition to the 7 listed above, they are Alabama, Alaska Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Utah.

South Dakota Abortion Ban

The news was not as good for the ground breaking South Dakota vote on banning abortion. In a hard fought struggle, that initiative failed by approximately 55 percent. If passed, this initiative would have provided an immediate ban on all abortion in South Dakota in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and the abortion question is returned to state legislatures.

Missouri Stem Cell Ban

In Missouri, a hard fought battle was waged over a stem cell initiative. The measure passed by a very narrow margin, estimated today at only 51%. Certain types of embryonic stem cell research and cloning will now be permitted in Missouri. Pro life activists had opposed this measure because of the destruction of human life and the lack of positive results for current research using embryonic stem cells. Adult stems cells, which do not require the destruction of the embryo, have so far should much more promise in research efforts to provide important cures and medical treatment

And HUGE congratulations to my friend Adrian Smith who will be the new Congressman from Nebraska's third district. The early results had me biting my ever shortening nails, but he ended up winning by almost ten points. While the rest of the results weren't what I'd hoped last night, I've got a new commitment to get back into politics locally. We'll see what happens.