AMHERST — When it came to approving ballot initiatives to amend the state constitution to levy a new tax on those earning $1 million or more annually, and to offer driver’s licenses to undocumented residents, Amherst voters supported each measure by a higher percentage than any other Massachusetts community.
According to unofficial results of Tuesday’s election compiled by The Boston Globe, Amherst voters gave 84.6% support to the Fair Share Amendment, or “millionaires tax,” by 6,570 votes to 1,192, and gave 86.3% support to the driver’s license law, by a 6,708 to 1,066 tally.
Both Question 1, the millionaires tax, and Question 4, the driver’s license law, passed statewide. Question 1 got 53% support, a margin of 95,094 votes, or 1.23 million to 1.13 million, while Question 4 got nearly 54% support, a 172,707 margin, or 1.26 million votes to 1.09 million.
On both Questions 1 and 4, Amherst voters exceeded the percentages in the traditionally liberal strongholds of Cambridge and Somerville, where 76.4% and 79%, respectively, voted in favor of the Fair Share Amendment, and 84.6% and 83.8%, respectively, voted in favor of the driver’s license law.
Based on the advocacy she has received from constituents, and comment from town leaders over the past four years, state Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, said Amherst’s support for the questions was not surprising.
“In my district, residents have continually expressed their strong support for investing state resources in public education and transportation and in creating a reliable revenue stream with a progressive tax as the funding mechanism” Domb said.
As with Question 1, Question 4’s passage with wide support in Amherst was gratifying to Domb. She observed that people have reached out to her about the importance of everyone being able to get to work, school and doctor’s appointments.
“Ours is an inclusive community, with many residents donating time and funds and lobbying for services that welcome immigrants,” Domb said.
Though not showing quite as much support on a percentage basis, Northampton voters, too, had favorable margins that exceeded the liberal enclaves in the eastern part of the state. That included 82.2%, or 10,982 voters, supporting the millionaires tax, against 2,383 opposed, and 82.1% of voters, 10,948 to 2,387, backing the driver’s license law.
State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, said she was delighted with the results on both questions. Sabadosa said statewide approval, and with such overwhelming numbers in Northampton, was the result of hard work by volunteers who knocked on doors, held signs and made phone calls across the city.
“For Yes on 1, most people knew about it and were supportive, which really underscores how people in the community don’t feel like we get our fair share and want to see greater investments in education and transportation,” Sabadosa said.
The driver’s license law was more challenging to get the word out on, since the Work and Family Mobility Act had passed the Legislature, and then an override of the governor’s veto, prior to signatures being collected by opponents to get the measure on the ballot.
In the lead-up to the vote, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey came to Northampton, knowing it is a progressive stronghold, to speak in favor of undocumented residents being able to secure driver’s licenses.
“Additionally, we knew that high voter turnout in Northampton would help to offset ‘no’ votes in redder districts, so we worked hard to excite people about the election, notably with Senator Markey coming to town last weekend for a rally focused on turning out the youth LGBTQ vote for Questions 1 and 4,” Sabadosa said.Across the state, there were only a handful of other communities where more than 8 in 10 voters approved the tax change. They were all in the Pioneer Valley, and included Leverett at 82.5%, Shutesbury at 81.6%, Wendell at 81% and Pelham at 80.2%.
Similarly, besides Cambridge, Somerville and Princeton, the driver’s license law, achieved that level of support only in Amherst’s neighboring towns of Shutesbury at 82.4%, Leverett at 81.6% and Pelham at 81.3%.
Almost all communities throughout Hampshire and Franklin counties, as well as Holyoke, passed both ballot questions.
In Hampshire County, the millionaires tax lost in Granby, Huntington and Ware. Those towns also rejected the driver’s license law, and were joined by South Hadley in that negative vote.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
