Blue metros – like Seattle, San Francisco, and NYC – are the new darlings of the progressive left. That’s the theme of my column today.

The wave has been building for more than a decade. But elections of liberal mayors like Ed Murray in Seattle and Bill De Blasio in New York City give it new momentum. Coalitions committed to raising the minimum wage and boosting union membership handed the freshly elected a first-year agenda. In Seattle, things moved swiftly and the $15 minimum wage is being phased in. New York City and Portland, however, face the salutary hurdle of state laws prohibiting cities from setting their own minimum wage.

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Such preemption makes sense.

Legislators introduced a preemption measure last year in the state Senate. It failed. There’s evidence that the public supports such a measure.

The Elway Poll reports that Washington voters support a uniform statewide minimum wage by a 49-43 margin.

I suspect we’ll see another attempt at preemption in 2015.