Why Republican Voters Support Ballot Initiatives Their Red States Do Not

When Kansas voters earlier this month rejected a ballot initiative that would have made it easier for the state legislature to restrict or ban abortion, it was only the latest example of otherwise red-state voters backing a measure seemingly out of step with their usual politics.

Over the past decade, voters in 12 states have passed minimum wage increases, including states as reliably Republican as South Dakota and Missouri. Six red states have also expanded Medicaid eligibility via ballot initiative after their Republican legislatures failed to do so under the new rules created by the Affordable Care Act. And...