Though Ballard's trio of Democratic representatives to the state legislature were all reelected easily, celebrations were kept in check as concerns over what the rest of the results from the Nov. 2 election mean for the 36th District replaced the thrill of victory.

State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, though happy to be reelected in such a great district, said her win was bittersweet because she knows the initiative results coupled with a $4.7 billion deficit will force severe cuts in services while leaving the legislature without the tools to deal with them.

State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles said she is not feeling too good about the election results overall and is worried about the brutal cuts that are coming to state services.

"I'm very concerned about the effect on the low-income, the elderly and people with disabilities," she said.

Dickerson said she is disappointed Initiative 1053, which requires a two-third majority in the legislature to raise taxes, passed. It takes away the state's ability to deal with the current financial crisis, she said.

I-1053 will make it extraordinarily difficult to do anything but make cuts and will also hamper the legislature's ability to close tax loopholes used by big business, Kohl-Welles said.

Kohl-Welles said the passing of Initiative 1107, which repeals the sales tax on soda, candy and bottled water, will cost the state $200 million in revenue.

Dickerson said she is disappointed in the failure of Initiative 1098 to create an income tax on the state's highest earners, which would have provided funding for healthcare and education.

Kohl-Welles said her preference, and she believes the preference of other progressives, all along was for total tax reform. I-1098 was a start but was not ideal. Total reform is needed for the most regressive tax system in the country, she said.

Unfortunately, she said the defeat of I-1098 makes it unlikely there will be legislative action or another initiative on tax reform for a long time.

Dickerson said she believes there were misleading television advertisements from many campaigns, which led to the results seen in the initiative races.

"It got to the point where I just had to turn of my television set," she said. "And, I think that's true of a lot of people in Ballard."

Regardless of how and why the election results are what they are, the outcome will be cuts in state spending that will ultimately hurt Ballard residents and businesses, Kohl-Welles and Dickerson said.

Ballard has a large network of nonprofit organizations that receive state funding, Dickerson said. Those are at risk and could face layoffs, she said.

Kohl-Welles said it is unlikely the state will be able to fund new projects with its capital budget, which could make acquiring state funding for the new Nordic Heritage Museum on Market Street more difficult.

The state has given funding to neighborhood park projects, such as Ballard Corners and the Hazel Heights P-Patch. Doing more of that could be difficult going forward, Kohl-Welles said.

She said it will likely be hard to find enough funding to construct affordable housing, which already took a hit last session.

"We have homeless people in Ballard," she said. "We have people in real need. I see that situation is going to be exacerbated."

Kohl-Welles said she believes cuts to the basic health plan will lead more people to flock to emergency rooms, such as at Swedish Ballard, for basic care.

In addition, there will be cuts to state employees, other health services and higher education, Dickerson said.

"You name it," she said. "If we can cut it constitutionally, it will probably be cut."

Dickerson said neighbors and communities are going to have to look at news ways of reaching out and helping each other without the state in order to reduce the pain.

Though they didn't have much luck in the 36th District, Republicans saw gains statewide and nationally.

36th District Republicans President Glenn Avery said the election showed a strong resistance to new taxes of any kind, be they on soda or on residents earning more than $200,000 per year.

"Taxpayers voted like it was 1773, throwing boatloads of taxes off the dock, as well as many millions of public employee union dues that supported losing tax issues," Avery said.

He said he thinks the recovery of businesses in Ballard will depend more on what is done outside of the state in the other Washington. He said he hopes the results from the Nov. 2 election will convince politicians to move away from federal tax increases.