I’m reporting tonight from the studios of WCBU! Jonathan Ahl and Tanya Koonce were nice enough to let me hang out with them and let me blog from one of their computers.
So, without further ado, and with 100% of precincts reporting, the results from Tuesday’s primary are as follows:
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Sandberg | 5518.41 | 17% |
| 2 | Ryan Spain | 4575.33 | 14% |
| 3 | George Jacob | 4540.83 | 14% |
| 4 | Eric Turner | 4371.16 | 14% |
| 5 | Jim Montelongo | 3420.08 | 11% |
| 6 | Gale Thetford | 2233.66 | 7% |
| 7 | Patti Polk | 1622.24 | 5% |
| 8 | Dan Irving | 1592.25 | 5% |
| 9 | Charles Schierer | 1565.16 | 5% |
| 10 | Gloria Cassel Fitzgerald | 945.83 | 3% |
| 11 | Dan Gillette | 602.66 | 2% |
| 12 | Brad Carter | 566.50 | 2% |
| 13 | Kelley Mammen | 338.25 | 1% |
| 14 | Donald Cummings | 327.58 | 1% |
There was about a 9.7% voter turnout for this primary, which is, of course, pathetic, but in the world of local primaries is actually not that bad. The top ten vote-getters move on to the general election on April 17.
No surprise, Gary Sandberg came in first by a commanding margin. I mentioned this on the radio, but in the last at-large election Gary also got a large showing, and apparently people really couldn’t believe it. Really. They couldn’t believe it so much that they actually had Bradley do a study to find out if he only got in because of cumulative voting. The result: Gary had a very broad base of support. He not only had the most votes, but the most voters casting their ballot for him, too. It looks like he hasn’t lost that support over the past four years.
The biggest surprise was Ryan Spain finishing in second place, ahead of two of the three incumbents. He’s well on his way to the state house city council (sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself).
If the top five vote-getters end up being the five at-large council members in the general election, it’s not really going to change the makeup of the council. Spain is pretty much an even swap for John Morris. There is no one quite like Chuck Grayeb, but voting-wise, I’ll bet Jim Montelongo will be closer to him than, say, Sandberg.
Good news: Gale Thetford finished in sixth, about 1200 votes behind the fifth-place finisher. Let’s hope that holds up. Bad news: Dan Irving didn’t have a stronger showing and, while anything is possible, it’s realistically not likely that he’ll be able to make up the 6% difference to overtake the three candidates in front of him.
Of course, with the general election comes more voters, so the primary may not be an accurate picture of voter sentiment. So, who knows how it will all shake out. If I were to make a prediction at this point, though, I would bet that the top five vote getters are going to end up being the next at-large councilmen.
Finally, we must say goodbye to last place finishers Dan Gillette, Brad Carter, Kelley Mammen, and Donald Cummings. I was hoping that Brad would make it past the primary; perhaps he’ll run again in the future.
On to the general election! Let the games begin.
I’ll be on WCBU tonight with Jonathan Ahl, first as a guest on “Outside the Horseshoe” at 6 p.m., and then in the studio to comment on the election results as updates are provided.
Today is a primary election day. I voted this morning at about 8 a.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church which is the polling place for three or four precincts. I was the only one there other than the election judges from the minute I walked in to the minute I walked out. I didn’t pass anyone coming or going, either. That’s pretty sad.