The off-year election on Nov. 5 was light on capital expenditure measures across the U.S., but voters in Texas OK'd $2 billion in water-project funding. In Maine, $100 million in transportation-project bonds gained approval; the American Road & Transportation Builders Association says the measure will leverage $154 million in other government funds.
Houstonians, however, kiboshed a $217-million plan to transform the derelict Astrodome into a convention center, and Coloradans said no to a nearly $1-billion tax hike, partly for school construction. The election also swept a former Laborers' union executive into Boston City Hall and moved an attorney with open-shop construction links closer to a seat in Congress.