Voters Turn Out Across The Region To Weigh In On Local Issues

Calaveras And Yolo Counties - 8:00 a.m

In Calaveras County, voters will decide on two marijuana measures that have the county up in arms.

Voters are deciding on Measure C and Measure D. Measure C would impose a large tax on commercial cannabis growers and retail medicinal or legal storefronts, collectives or dispensaries. And Measure D regulates where to grow marijuana and how to grow it legally. If this is passed, it would make room in the county for legal commercial pot farmers to apply for permits to grow within county limits.

Measure D is a tricky one though.

Because in June the county closed permit applications for commercial growers. It has also placed a cap and moratorium on growing marijuana in the area. This means no new growers can apply to legally grow marijuana in the county. So if Measure D doesn’t pass, that might leave room for illegal grows, if the state's Prop. 64 passes and recreational weed becomes legal. The sentiment is that Measure C and D go hand-in-hand.

Measure C would provide revenue to the county, which would free up money to pay for resources to shut down illegal grows.

Calaveras resident Dave Clark is voting yes on D. 

"I voted for measure D only because I don't use marijuana myself but it seems like you can't stop it from going forward," Clark says. "We might as well control and tax it and keep it done in a proper way. That's the way I look at it." 

Chris Leatherman is voting no.

"I don’t want government hands on marijuana," he says. "It’s not up to them. It’s up to us."

In Davis, people are talking about Measure H, a $620 per year parcel tax that would fund Davis school counselors, science programs and smaller class sizes, among other things. Davis has a long history of passing measures like this.

This city has consistently passed similar parcel taxes since 1984. This measure will essentially replace two previous parcel tax measures that will soon expire. Many residents feel that the Davis school system is strong and many support raising taxes to continue to have strong school programs.

Measure H needs two-thirds of the vote to pass.

David Harshaw says he’s voting in favor of Measure H.

“Education is very, very important so... start local,” he says.

Davis voters are also weighing in on two members of the governing board of the Davis Joint Unified School District. There’s also an open State Assembly seat in Yolo County. Candidates for State Assembly District Four are Democrat Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and Republican Charlie Schaupp.

- Sally Schilling and Alyssa Jeong Perry / Capital Public Radio

Washoe County, Nevada - 7:30 a.m.

In Nevada, voters decide Tuesday on a key US Senate race and several big ballot measures.

In March, Harry Reid announced he wouldn't run again for the seat he's held for almost 30 years, that left a seat open in a swing state. The contenders in the race are Republican Joe Heck, a Congressman from Nevada’s Third Congressional District, south of Vegas and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, the state’s former Attorney General. There are four third-party candidates, too, but this is very much a race between Heck and Masto.

And it’s shaping up to be a very tight one. Heck had been an early supporter of Donald Trump, but after the Access Hollywood tape leak, he very publicly walked back that support, and that angered some of his base. Meanwhile, Masto has the full support of Harry Reid, who is a powerful Democrat—and her campaign has outraised Heck’s by a pretty big margin.