A combination of confusing messages and an unfortunate name contributed to what appears to be the first failure of a state school bond measure in a quarter of a century, education and public policy experts said Wednesday.

Proposition 13 would have raised $15 billion from general obligation bonds for preschools, K-12 schools, community colleges and state universities. Although ballots were still being counted in Los Angeles County and the statewide tally is not complete, the “no” vote led, 56% to 44%, with virtually all precincts reporting at least partial numbers, according to the California secretary of state.

“It’s certainly one of the big surprises of last night that a state bond on a ballot in … the Democratic presidential primary with Bernie Sanders leading all the other candidates failed to reach majority support,” Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California, said Wednesday.

Baldassare said that high Democratic turnout and a good economy were expected to help the measure, and that historically voters have supported funding for schools. The last time a school bond failed was in 1994.

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