Breaking from the clean energy goals of Washington state’s Democratic leadership, residents in the Evergreen State have put their support behind natural gas, voting to block any bans on gas stoves.
Approximately 51.4% of voters had cast their ballot in favor of the measure, Initiative 2066, the natural gas policies measure, when the Seattle Times and local NBC affiliate KING 5 called the Washington vote early Friday afternoon. That lead has since grown to 51.6% of voters in support of the initiative and 48.4% voting against it. With 91% of the vote in as of Monday, the Associated Press has nonetheless not called the race.
Well before the vote was called, industry groups celebrated the win after watching preliminary results.
“Given the voting trends both on election night and these past two days, it’s clear that Initiative 2066 has been approved by Washington voters,” Building Industry Association of Washington Executive Vice President Greg Lane said Thursday. “And their message couldn’t be more clear: Washington families and businesses support keeping natural gas service and they demand to have energy choice.”