Detail of Election Day in Philadelphia (1815) by John Lewis KrimmelWikimedia, InnotataBy now everyone has heard about how Washington State and Colorado passed marijuana legalization measures, how four states voted for marriage equality, and how Barack Obama scored a decisive victory over challenger Mitt Romney to win 4 more years in the White House. But how did science do in Tuesday's national election? As it turns out, not too bad.
The number of physicists serving in the US House of Representatives doubled, from one to two, thanks to the reelection of New Jersey Democrat and plasma physicist Rush Holt and a win by particle physicist Bill Foster (Democrat) from Illinois. Foster apparently has fellow scientists to thank, in part, for his victory. According to ScienceInsider, Federal Election Commission records show that scientists from all over the country donated more than $400,000 to his campaign.
On the education front, California voters passed Proposition 30, which raises income taxes on wealthy residents of the state and increases the state sales tax by 0.25 percent to channel an estimated $6 billion per year to K-12 education and community colleges. Also in California, voters rejected Proposition 37, which would ...
