Turnout, turnout, turnout! Those who vote get to decide for everyone else what is important and who wins!

History says the opposing party to the president makes gains in off-year elections. And history keeps repeating itself. Nationally, Republicans took control of the Senate from the Democrats and cemented their hold on the House of Representatives. And Federal Way played kingmaker by providing the 25th vote to give Republicans control of the state Senate with Mark Miloscia’s win over Shari Song.

Republicans will actually have 26 votes as Democrat Tim Sheldon will continue to caucus with the Republicans. The Democrats will have 23 votes in the Senate.

Washington is a blue Democratic state when most voters vote. But Republicans tend to be more consistent voters in off-year elections. Republicans knew they had a chance to make a big move this year and they did, as moderate voters joined conservatives to change the dynamics in Olympia.

Republicans didn’t quite win the state House, but they came close enough to make political life for Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic House speaker Frank Chopp more of an adventure than ever before.

Conservative-to-moderate leaning voters joined liberals in passing Initiative 594 to require additional background checks on the transfer of guns, with close to 60 percent, but voters apprehension about the true impact of Initiative 1531 regarding school class size dropped the vote to  51-49 percent in late returns.

Voters had been polled all year as favoring additional gun requirements as too many acts of violence had occurred, not in some other far away state, but right here in our home towns. The final reminder was in Marysville, which on most days might be mistaken for the fictional Mayberry R.F.D. and its small town perfections.

But the promise of improved student educational performance by the reduction in class size contained in I-1531 was thought to be both misleading and a political ploy. Much of the staffing would go to groups other than classroom teachers, such as principals and support staff. It also appeared to many voters that the initiative was a preemptive move by education groups to determine where the anticipated infusion of cash to the state education budget from the McCleary case would be spent. Legislators and school boards want to make that decision.

Opponents made the case that I-1531 was an unfunded mandate that “might” require “taxes” and rarely mentioned the McCleary impact.

Had Democratic leaders been able to get their key voting groups to fill out their ballots, the initiative would have passed by a larger margin, just as a similar one did several years ago, the house would still be under Chopp’s firm control, the Senate would have a Democratic majority leader, and the progress the democrats made on the east side of King County would have continued. But the Republicans were more energized — and they voted.

In Federal Way, the 2014 election will always be remembered for Democratic state Rep. Roger Freeman whose courageous battle with cancer came to an end just a few days before the election. However, Freeman won and his position will now be filled by appointment. Freeman had been locked in a tight race with former Federal Way Mayor and Councilman Jack Dovey, a Republican.

Freeman’s win should not be seen as simply a melancholy vote in appreciation of his service. He was well liked and Dovey held an impressive resume of accomplishments in local politics. But questions about Dovey’s financial dealings in the closing days of the election undermined his campaign.

As expected, Republican incumbent Linda Kochmar defeated firefighter Greg Baruso and former Democratic House member Mark Miloscia was elected as a Republican to the state Senate. Due to its statewide importance, the race between Miloscia and Democratic businesswoman Shari Song was heavily financed and hard hitting.

Miloscia supporters repeatedly accused Song of being a carpetbagger and only moving here to run for office. She couldn’t seem to put the allegation behind her. Her campaign tried to use women’s issues as a wedge to move voters into her column but the vote totals suggest local voters already knew of Miloscia’s views on abortion, gay marriage and other hot button issues and were accepting of them.

You may think politics are over for another year. Wrong! Local residents are already maneuvering for favor in being appointed to Freeman’s soon-to-be-vacant position, while others are planning their campaigns for City Council next year. Take a deep breath, the 2015 political cycle has already started.

Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn: bjroegner@comcast.net.