Washington State Defeats Affirmative Action Proposal
Democratic stronghold rejects progressive plan even as national Dems move left




Washington state voters rejected a referendum to permit affirmative action in hiring decisions, election officials confirmed Tuesday evening.

Officials announced after a week of counting that Referendum 88, which would have allowed the state government to use minority status as a factor in public education, hiring, and other public acts so long as it did not erect a quota system, had failed by 13,000 votes. The referendum would have overturned the state's civil rights initiative that explicitly prohibits any discrimination or preference on grounds of race, sex, or other protected status.

The defeat of Referendum 88 in a state otherwise dominated by Democrats may serve as a warning to national candidates, even as 2020 contenders race to the left on everything from "more-inclusive" language to reparations for slavery.
https://freebeacon.com/issues/washin...tion-proposal/