Voters in a liberal city say “no” to a $15 minimum wage

If you exclusively listened to Socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, you’d think that the $15 minimum wage was unstoppable—a phenomenon that would inevitably spread to all the majority cities in the nation. That hasn’t necessarily been true in our own state. Though it is still an increase, Tacoma recently rejected the $15 minimum wage in favor of a $12 per hour plan. And, it definitely has not proved true in other states.

There is, in fact, a liberal city that rejected the $15 minimum wage: Portland, Maine. The $15 Now movement not only lost in Portland, they lost big—a whopping 58 percent to 42 percent big.

The city council had already voted to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 by next year. Additionally, the city’s median hourly wage is already $17.32. Simply put, voters felt a $15 minimum wage would go too far. And, they are right.

But, that won’t stop liberal activists. Advocates are already planning on trying again next fall, this time with a $12 minimum wage by 2020.

Apparently, liberal thinks they can bargain with voters—because they can’t take no for an answer.