Four Republican-leaning states passed minimum wage increase initiatives on Tuesday, a small bit of good news in an otherwise bleak night for Democrats.
The states that approved minimum wage hikes on Tuesday were Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and West Virginia.
In Alaska, a move to raise the minimum wage to $9.75 an hour by 2016 passed with 69 percent of the vote. Arkansas, a vote to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 by 2017 passed with 65 percent of the vote. In Nebraska, a hike to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour by 2016 passed with 59 percent of the vote. Finally, in South Dakota a hike to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour by 2015 passed with 53 percent of the vote.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. President Barack Obama has called for raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
Also on Tuesday, San Francisco became the second city in the U.S., behind Seattle, to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour.
When will Democrats learn to distinguish between a policy win and a political win?
the wage hike initiatives steamroll in these states while GOP candidates allergic to wage regulation win. wtf moment 2014.
The need to look back at the FDR days to get some balls.