The popularity of Medicaid expansion was on full display last night. Voters in three states chose to expand the program to those with incomes 133 percent below the federal poverty line. Idaho’s measure passed by a wide margin, with 61 percent in favor, while 53 percent voted in favor in Nebraska. In Utah, the measure is projected to pass, and currently has 54.1 percent of the vote with 75 percent of precincts reporting.
But as I mentioned last night, there are other states where governors race results might renew a push for Medicaid legislation as well. The Kansas legislature voted to expand Medicaid in 2017, but the bill was vetoed by former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. However, Democrat Laura Kelly’s win in the governor race last night could mean another attempt in the state. And in Maine, where voters chose to expand Medicaid on a 2017 ballot measure but Republican Gov. Paul LePage refused to implement it, newly elected governor Democrat Janet Mills could see that expansion through.
But in Montana, where voters decided whether or not to make its 2015 expansion permanent and paid for by a tax on tobacco, $17 million in opposition spending by big tobacco appears to have paid off: 54 percent of Montanans voted against the measure.