Raising the minimum wage has been a big political winner. Now it's running into resistance

Oklahoma voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have raised the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029, marking a rare loss for the issue on a statewide level. State Question 832 would have immediately lifted the state's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour, a figure it has remained at for nearly two decades, to $12 an hour starting in 2027. Incremental $1.50-per-hour annual raises would take place over the following two years, leading to the eventual $15 hourly rate. Residents who showed up to cast their votes in the state's primary elections, however, had other ideas. SQ 832 failed by a margin of a little over 10 percentage points, with "No" receiving around 55% of the vote, and "Yes" getting around 45%. Just three counties — Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Cleveland — voted "Yes," with each county based around one of Oklahoma's two largest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Rural counties statewide soundly opposed the measure. Those who stood firmly against SQ 832 celebrated Tuesday's results. "Government doesn't need to get involved in private businesses," Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, who previously expressed his own opposition to the measure, stated. "The phrasing of this state question would have put Oklahoma on a path to a minimum wage higher than in California. …