People celebrate election returns at Everett bars EVERETT - Rousing cheers marked much of the night at two bars as election results rolled in.
At the Anchor Pub, the party site for the 38th Legislative District Democrats, the crowd cheered with every state President Barack Obama won and groaned with every state former Gov. Mitt Romney won.
The loudest cheers came when Obama clinched the electoral votes needed for re-election. Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration” played on the jukebox immediately after the election was called for Obama.
People there were hoping for the passages of Referendum 74, which upholds the legalization of same-sex marriage, and Initiative 502, which legalizes marijuana sales. Both were approved.
P.J. Parsons, an Everett disc jockey in the wedding business, wanted R-74 to pass and Obama to win.
“We need him to stick around for a while,” Parsons said.
Throughout the campaign, she raised money in support of R-74.
“I’m in a business where (numerous gay and lesbian) people see people get married and they can’t themselves,” Parsons said before the state’s results came in.
Christina French of Marysville is glad marijuana sales have been legalized because it won’t be as appealing to youth.
Initiative 502 legalizes the growth, sale and possession of small amounts of marijuana. It allows people 21 and older to buy an ounce of marijuana at state-regulated stores.
“I have young nieces and nephews and I know how easy it was for me to get it,” French said. “This will make it harder to get” by deflating the black market for drug dealers.
Ari Kohler of Everett supported the initiative because it will bring in revenue for the state, but he is concerned about people driving under the influence of marijuana.
“I know people whose lives were destroyed” by drunken driving charges, Kohler said.
At Bar Myx, Everett’s gay bar, the crowd was upbeat as the early numbers showed R-74 ahead in the polls. Opponents of gay marriage conceded on Nov. 8.
Jamie Campbell and his friend Nettie Dwor wore sandwich board signs around their necks for R-74.
“Tonight, it means the fight is won,” Campbell said. “Guess what, I have the opportunity to get married to the love of my life, at least I will have the ability to do it.”
“I feel like this is the final frontier,” Campbell said.
Dwor’s son Torin Handerson, 11, liked the result.
“Why don’t they just get married and be happy. Let them be happy,” Handerson said over his mom’s cell phone.
Washington wasn’t the only state to have gay marriage on the ballot. Maryland and Maine approved gay marriage while Minnesota did not ban gay marriage.
“It’s setting a trend,” Campbell said. “Us gays are known for setting a trend,” Campbell said.
Travis McAllister was nervous before results starting coming in, but with R-74 passing he pondered why marriage equality was even up for a vote.
“Why is it up for other people to decide — why is it up to a vote,” McAllister said.
Parsons at the Anchor Pub agreed. “We’re not redefining it, we’re saying it is two consenting adults,” she said.
Kohler was happy to see R-74 pass as well.
“I think it’s morally right that you should be allowed to marry,” he said.
He was happy Obama won.
Jason Cadwell of Bothell was brought to the Anchor Pub by friends. He doesn’t support Obama, R-74 or legalizing marijuana but supports charter schools.
“I think it’s hard for conservatives to compete when clearly you have the East Coast and West Coast locked for Obama,” Caldwell said. “There are ideological paradigms” in America that suppress Midwesterners.
“Washington state is clearly a liberal state, except Eastern Washington,” he said.
State Reps. John McCoy, D-Tulalip and Mike Sells, D-Everett, swept their races in the 38th Legislative District.
“You can’t take anything for granted,” McCoy said at the Anchor Pub. “I watched my opponent and clearly he didn’t work for it. You need to be out in the community.”
Laura Genin of Everett voted for Democrat Rick Larsen in the Second U.S. Congressional District under protest.
“I liked the other guy less,” Genin said.
Larsen supports the proposed Gateway Terminal coal export project that would send up to 18 coal trains a day through Snohomish County.
“He’s pro-jobs in Snohomish County,” Genin said with sarcasm. She was happier with the night’s other results.
Her friend John Blaine of Everett was happy Obama won another term.
“We’ve got to finish what we’ve started,” Blaine said. “It won’t be a quick fix.”
