Public Sentiment
Many pollsters noted that public feelings for the initiative changed with the support for the different US Senate candidates. However, during most of the pre-election period, Amendment 2 had a majority of voter support. This support began to wane after the Michael J. Fox commercial. Some have tied this to the backlash against the commercial, while others have tied this to the rising poll numbers of Republican candidate Jim Talent, who was opposed to the measure.
As election day drew near, public support seemed to be shifting away from Amendment 2. Polls had shown support as high as 68% in favor of the Amendment. As of October 29, 2006. Support had fallen to just 51% with 35% opposed.
On November 7, 2006, Amendment 2 passed with a margin of 2.4% (50,800 votes). The final tally of votes ended in 51.2% for yes and 48.8% for no. The measure failed in the southern part of the state but picked up enough votes in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia (and their surrounding counties) to pass statewide.
Read more about this topic: Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2006)
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