Overview
- Early returns on Nov. 3–4 show Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on Californians with $1 billion or more in net worth, trailing and likely defeated in initial tallies.
- Two rival measures placed by opponents, Propositions 41 and 42, were structured to override or block Prop. 40 if they received more votes and remain pivotal to the tax’s ultimate fate.
- Billionaire-backed spending and intense late ad buys are credited with reversing earlier polling and narrowing support for Prop. 40 after a large, well-financed opposition campaign.
- Several other tax and bond measures were winning in early returns, including Prop. 3 to make a high-earner income tax permanent and bonds for housing and homebuyer assistance, while the voter-ID measure failed.
- The Justice Department pressed the Supreme Court to review its dispute with California over possible noncitizen registrations, a separate legal flashpoint that heightens post-election uncertainty about ballot administration.