Upcoming Elections

In an earlier post I wrote that there was a run-off in the county, noted that only those who had voted in the Republican primary and those who had not voted could vote in the August 5th election. I was not thinking about the state-wide elections, only the county elections. Democrats can vote on the state-wide run-off between Vernon Jones and Jim Martin. However, those who pulled a Democratic ballot on July 15th can NOT pull a Republican ballot to vote in the local election. Sorry for the confusion... I'll make it a little bit more confusing... If you are a Democrat and didn't vote on July 15th, you CAN pull a Republican ballot in the run-off and vote in the local elections. Course, you may want to pull a Democratic ballot and weigh in on the Jones vs Martin run-off instead.

I've always felt that local elections were much more important than the national elections if a choice had to be made. The local guys are the ones who decide what your taxes will be, they put up billboards or stop them, they let developers have their way or not... the school board makes decisions that affect your children and your taxes... the sheriff... the tax commissioner... the judges... these folks have much more impact on you than a state senator or U.S. Senator who's one of a large group usually walking hand-in-hand with their party.

It amazes me that we can have a 26% turnout for a primary and yet in November everyone will come out to vote for the President. Yes, it's important to vote in November, but I'd argue that it is more important to vote in July. But that's just me. Obviously the majority of voters think differently based on the percentage turnout in summer-time elections.

Assorted stuff on elections...

I harp on this one every election (other than Presidential), but as always, turn out was poor. So few are involved in shaping the future of the community they chose to call home.

Al Hovey-King won in Fayetteville by six votes. A challenge has been filed.

Eric Dial won in Tyrone. He's being attacked. I would have like to see a more decisive election result (as I'm sure he would). However, the rules in Tyrone are what they are. He won. Give him a chance. Like him or not, the way the political power is now working in Tyrone his vote will not be a swing vote anyway so I'm wondering what's the big deal?

I've known Eric for many years. He's a good guy and he's sharp. He's going to get involved and I think if given a fair chance he'll surprise some who're attacking him right now. I've also known Gordon Shenkle for a long time. I think Gordon would have done a great job, too.

There's a run-off in Peachtree City. December 4th. Bet the turnout on that one is tiny. Run off elections are a bear. It doesn't matter who had the highest number of votes in the main election. In fact, being tops can hurt. I'll write a blog about run-offs sometime just in case there's one or two readers who're interested .