California Passes Prop 3 and Rejects Props 39 and 40 in Midterms

WALNUT CREEK & SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California voters rendered decisive verdicts across 14 statewide ballot propositions in the November 4 midterm election—approving Proposition 3 to permanently fund public schools while rejecting voter identification Proposition 39 and billionaire wealth tax Proposition 40—even as voters nationwide passed 38 of 40 ballot measures restricting AI data centers and schools pushed back against Google’s classroom AI policy.

California Voters Approve Propositions 1, 2, 3, and 37 while Rejecting Propositions 39, 40, 42, and 44

As reported by The Almanac / CalMatters and NBC Bay Area, voters approved Proposition 3 by 59% to 41% (58.54% Yes in earlier statewide returns) following nearly $60 million in advertising by the California Teachers Association. Originally enacted in 2012, the measure makes permanent a 12.3% income tax rate on individuals earning over $371,000 and couples earning over $743,000, generating $5 billion to $15 billion annually for K-12 schools and community colleges. Voters also passed Proposition 1 (affordable housing bonds) with 59.15% Yes, Proposition 2 (rainy day fund) with 59.55% Yes, and Proposition 37 (down payment assistance) with 60.75% Yes, while rejecting Proposition 44 (community health clinics) with 82.22% No.

On contested fiscal and election rules:

• Proposition 39 Rejected (60% No): According to The Almanac, about 60% of voters rejected the Republican-backed voter ID initiative with 49% of ballots counted, defeating a measure that qualified in March with more than 875,000 signatures and $37 million in support.
• Proposition 40 Rejected (56.4% No): As reported by San Jose Inside, 56.4% of voters (a nearly 800,000-vote margin) rejected SEIU-UHW West’s proposed one-time 5% wealth tax on California’s roughly 200 billionaires—projected to raise $100 billion over 5 years—after billionaire opponents spent $316.7 million against it; countermeasure Proposition 42 was also rejected.
• Proposition 45 Trailing (54.2% No): According to The San Francisco Standard, the California Chamber of Commerce-sponsored measure to set strict California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review timelines trailed early with 45.8% Yes (2,576,563 votes) to 54.2% No (3,050,211 votes).

Voters Pass 38 of 40 U.S. Anti-Data-Center Measures as DuckDuckGo Challenges Google in Schools

According to 404 Media and MIT Technology Review, 76% (76 percent) of voters polled by NBC News on Election Day opposed data centers in their communities, and 38 out of 40 local ballot measures restricting data centers passed across 13 states—including 6 outright city bans and 12 megawatt caps. In Texas, which hosts more than 300 data centers, Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott (who sought a 4th term despite $224 million in Texas political spending by Elon Musk), Democrat James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, and Democrats won the Texas House for the first time in 24 years after campaigning on a new data center moratorium alongside Michigan candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

In education technology, TechCrunch and ABC7 News reported that Google VP for Education Chris Phillips announced K-12 schools using Google software that opt out of AI tools like Gemini and Guided Learning will lose student access to Google Search starting November 4, 2026, drawing criticism from Senators Bernie Sanders and Richard Blumenthal, Lina Khan, and districts in New York City and Los Angeles. In response, TechCrunch reported that DuckDuckGo—which saw a 30% surge in app installs—is pitching its privacy-focused search engine with optional AI toggles to schools using 50 million Chromebooks and 150 million Google Classroom accounts.