One of the more underplayed stories of Election 2009 concerns Tim Eyman's latest government-slamming initiative and the voting in several Washington counties where he used to be king.
Click on this handy Secretary of State map showing where Eyman's initiative 1033 passed and where it failed throughout the state.
Many counties in Eastern Washington have changed dramatically over the years in relationship to Eyman and his proposals.
As recently as 2005, many Eastern Washington counties were with Eyman, voting to repeal a gas tax increase that pays for new roads and bridges. Click on this list to see how many counties went along that year. In the beginning of the Eyman era, with Initiative 695, those counties were solidly in his camp. The initiative failed.
But times are different. Last year, Eyman's goofy transportation measure went down in 38 out of 39 counties. The loyalty is waning.
Our favorite professional initiative operative has already said he will be back next year with another initiative because.... well..... because...
He should do so knowing more people in more and more counties are tired of watching the same play with Eyman as the protagonist.