Washington state (WA)
Sorry Vermont, sorry Massachusetts, sorry Hawaii...Washington state (WA) has you all beat! And California?....your California wine may be more world renowned than Washington wines but your progressive politics can't even compare!
This past election with President Obama easily carrying the state 56% to 41% and with the passing of marriage equality and the legalization of marijuana has given, the State of Washington a rightful claim to the title of America's Bluest State.
Let's start of with a few trivia questions:
Question 1) Which state was the first state to vote in FAVOR of Pro-LGBT anything in a statewide referendum?
-- Yep!...you guessed it. That would be WA. We've all read the countless news stories this past month about the states that passed marriage equality (WA included) on November 6. But the precursor to gay marriage approval in WA a month ago was in 2009 when a legislatively passed domestic partnership bill went for approval and PASSED in a statewide referendum by a vote of 53% to 47%. This is actually marked the first time LGBTs were affirmed in a statewide referendum in any type of way. Washington state passed gay marriage this year with an even wider margin: 54% to 46%.
Question 2) Which state is the first state to have a Woman governor and two women U.S. Senators serving concurrently?
-- Yep!...you guessed it. That would be WA. That is according to this link: http://uspolitics.about.com/...
2004. Washington is the first state to have a female governor and two female US Senators serving concurrently.
For the past 8 years WA has been headed by a woman governor, Christine Gregoire, and two women senators, Sen. Patty Murray and Sen. Maria Cantwell. I would also add that in 1976, Washington was the second state to elect a woman governor...Dixie Lee Ray.
Question 3) Which state has the nation's longest consecutive string of electing Democratic governors?
-- Yep!...you guessed it. That would be WA.
http://mynorthwest.com/...
With the recent election of Jay Inslee, the state has been electing Democratic governors since 1984. A Republican has not been elected governor since 1980.
In comparison, one might reasonably ask what Washington state has on Vermont, which many would consider the Bluest? For starters, a recent Gallup survey of America's most liberal and conservative states showed that 26% of WA residents self-described themselves as "liberal" as opposed to 24% of Vermont residents who described themselves as libersl. And clearly Washington state has Vermont beat on demographics. Washington state has the racial diversity that Vermont can only dream of. As much as I love driving through Vermont in the Fall, I have to say it's a very lily White state at 97% according to Wikipedia. Compare that to Washington:
According to the 2010 United States census, the racial and ethnic composition of Washington was the following:[30]
White: 77.3% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 72.5%)
Black or African American: 3.6%
Native American: 1.5%
Asian: 7.2% (1.4% Chinese, 1.4% Filipino, 1.0% Vietnamese, 0.9% Korean, 0.9% Indian, 0.5% Japanese, 0.3% Cambodian, 0.1% Laotian, 0.1% Thai)
Pacific Islander: 0.6% (0.2% Samoan, 0.1% Guamanian, 0.1% Hawaiian)
Two or more races: 4.7%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 11.2%
What about Massachusetts? Well Massachusetts just recently went through a 16 year period of Republican governors (Mitt Romney included)! And let's go back to gay marriage. It passed in Washington by the legislature and affirmed by referendum. Massachusetts' was handed down by the Courts. And as a general rule, most surveys will list Washington state as being more environmentally friendly than Massachusetts (not to say that Mass isn't friendly!).
And what about California? Forget it! You voted on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and you failed in your attempts to legal marijuana by referendum two years ago!
I think I've made a pretty clear and convincing case that WASHINGTON, not Vermont or Massachusetts or California, is America's most liberal, most progressive and most BLUE state.
OTHER WASHINGTON STATE FACTS:
* Democratic Presidential candidates have carried the state since 1988
* A Forbes 2007 survey listed Washington at #3 in its ranking of the "Greenest states" after #1. Vermont and #2. Oregon.
* Democrats have controlled both houses of the state legislature for most of the past 30 years
* Most surveys will the City of Seattle at the top or near the top of rankings of America's most liberal cities.