The Forward Thrust ballot initiatives were a series of bond propositions put to the voters of King County, Washington in 1968 and 1970, designed by a group called the Forward Thrust Committee. Seven of the twelve propositions in 1968 were successful; four of the remaining propositions were repackaged for a vote in 1970, when they were defeated in the darkening local economic climate of the

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Bust.Patrick McRoberts
King County voters on Forward Thrust bonds approve stadium and aquarium and nix transit on February 13, 1968
HistoryLink, January 1, 1999. Accessed online 19 July 2008.HistoryLink Staff
Voters reject rail transit plan and three other Forward Thrust bond proposals on May 19, 1970
HistoryLink, September 19, 2002, corrected April 15, 2003. Accessed online 19 July 2008. One of the most visible accomplishments of the Forward Thrust levy was the eventual building of the Kingdome, ultimately the first home of the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners. The initiatives were variously under the aegis of METRO (the Municipality of Metropolitan

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

), King County, and the city of Seattle. (METRO and King County merged in 1992.) The Forward Thrust Committee was founded by James R. Ellis and effectively disbanded shortly after the 1970 defeats. It disbanded formally in 1974. Seattle Mayor Dorm Braman was also a strong backer of the 1968 initiatives. The US$118 million passed in 1968 in support of the Department of Parks and Recreation was, at the time, the largest parks and recreation bond issue ever passed in the United States. The failure of the

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

propositions meant that a nearly $900 million federal funding earmark that had been secured by U.S. Senator Warren Magnuson if local bonds passed went instead to fund

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's MARTA.

Results

The elections took place February 13, 1968, and May 19, 1970. Each initiative required a 60%

supermajority A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...

to pass. The results were as follows; bold typeface indicates successful propositions: Sources:

Notes

{{reflist

External links

Preliminary Guide to the Forward Thrust Records 1966-1970
University of Washington Library
July 2019 archive.org snapshot
* https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv52255/op%3Dfstyle.aspx?t=k&q=WAUForwardThrustSeattleWash1707.xml —

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

archive (as of July 2022) History of Seattle Transportation ballot measures in the United States Washington (state) elections 1968 Washington (state) ballot measures 1970 Washington (state) ballot measures

Results

See also

Notes

External links