A minimum wage ballot measure has finally failed
As more ballots have been counted in California, the AP has finally made a projection for the Proposition 32 election: It has failed, 51% to 49%. Had it passed, this ballot measure would have raised the minimum wage in California to $18 per hour, the highest in the nation.
Minimum wage increases are usually popular at the ballot box: This is the first time that a statewide ballot measure to raise the minimum wage has failed in any state since 1996. (From 1998 to 2022, they went 24-for-24.) Voters may have felt that the increase was unnecessary, since California's minimum wage is already $16 per hour (and $20 per hour for fast food workers).