Top of the Props

In addition to Prop. 2 – where Keeping Austin Weird was only too exceptional a mantra, and local voters rejected, 60-40%, the same-sex marriage ban approved overwhelmingly elsewhere – on two other proposed constitutional amendments, Travis Co. voters were out of step with the general Texas march of approval. The relatively stronger force of the anti-toll warriors was felt here, as Prop. 1, creating a railroad relocation state bond fund, garnered 53.8% of the vote statewide but managed only 46.3% in Travis Co.

Prop. 9, seen here more directly as a toll road camel's nose under the tent – it would have allowed six-year terms to board members of regional mobility authorities – was soundly defeated by local voters (61.3-38.7%) and also foundered statewide, but by a lesser margin (53.4-46.6%). More narrowly, state voters approved Prop. 3, while Travis Co. voters soundly rejected the measure that had a specific local genesis – the Lege's response to a successful lawsuit by Save Our Springs Alliance against unfunded business incentive programs in Bee Cave. State voters cheerfully agreed that a "debt" is not a "debt" if it's "economic development." Now that they've got that down, they should all run for office.

Otherwise, the Props mostly got their props. A whopping 84.8% of state voters declared it's OK to deny bail to repeat offenders (Prop. 4) – the consequence of far too many Law & Order reruns – and Travis Co. voters agreed, though by a relatively subdued 68.1%. (Lesson: Texans hate accused offenders even more than they hate gays.) Curiously, both state and local voters rejected the notion that the Lege should define interest rates for commercial loans (Prop. 5), still constitutionally limited to 10%. On that one, thanks to the high regard Texans have for their elected representatives, the bankers went home empty-handed.

There were other results, too trivial to mention. Marriage, and the Texas Constitution, will never be the same.