39 thoughts on “Election Results 4/5/2011”

1. Looks like Peorians love the new hotel, museums, and don’t care where we move Big Al’s.

2. Amazing. I’m convinced that people just don’t care in this city. I guarantee if there was a vote to kick Wal Mart or McDonalds out of Peoria, there would be a 50% or higher turnout at the polls. But when it’s something as inconsequential as where the City of Peoria is headed, why bother?

3. I think CJ would have made a good councilman.

   That said, many here overestimate how many people agree with them about city political issues. The vast majority disagree with the viewpoints here.

4. Mazr, I think many voters care, they just disagree with the prevailing opinions here.

5. Emtronics, You left out the natural gas tax, rail to trail. I look for a new tax for the CSO problem. People sat on there butts and could not even vote. But will p*ss and moan about the council. We peorians get what we voted for. Beth was the only new change that will happen, she can’t do it alone. Sandberg has and the only hope now is the district elections soon for changes, but again peorians will sit on there butts and not vote in large numbers. Weaver proved money and connections buys votes.I have voted in every election since I could vote, the last presidental election was a hoot! first time I had to wait in line to vote. You can draw your conclusion as to why.

6. Totally agree D150…….there is a large segment of Peorians who are very happy with the status quo and the way things are going for them and do not want change. And they voted. And then there are those of us who are sick of the way things are going and also voted. And then there is the large segment of Peorians who don’t care. And they didn’t vote.

7. I agree District 150. I have nothing against blogs, even a blogger myself on and off, and I like CJ’s blog also. I don’t care for the fluff and the ads on Peoria Pundit as when you do something for money, money corrupts. But the point is, that the people who comment here and rally against the status quo agreeing with what CJ posts here are apparently the minority otherwise CJ should have won this election.

   Like I have always said, blogs are neat but outside a handful of internet users, our local blogs go unnoticed. Which is why I love to leave snide remarks from time to time just to see the feathers rise in the chicken coop. Some people here and even some bloggers are just too full of themselves and apparently this election proved that a person who thinks things out and examines the issues down to the period, then post his opinions for all to read, barley got more votes than a kid named George.

8. Emtronics and District 150 Observer,

   I think a lot of us have just already left.

   While I am no longer a resident of Peoria City or County, I don’t wish it ill. Just the opposite. I want to see ALL kids get educated well and I want to see people live safely.

   To do that, though, I had to leave and move across the river.

9. Good campaign, CJ. I’m sorry that you did not prevail.

   While I am disgusted and disappointed with the apathy of the many Peorians who could not get up off of their butts and vote, I have no intention of going away or shutting up any time soon. If you agree with me- great. If not, that’s fine, too.

   We’ve got issues to deal with and a new Council to break in.

   We’ve got work to do!

10. C.J., I hope this doesn’t discourage you for another try at politics. Beth won one her second try–and congratulations. Unfortunately, voters, also, go for familiar names–those that have held political office before. And, of course, there is a large group of people who benefit from the status quo–and they do get out and vote.

11. “many here overestimate how many people agree with them about city political issues”

    Oh no, we understand that there are those so invested in the status quo that when someone says CAT they say how high. It doesn’t mean we lose hope that truth and justice will win out.

    I am sure you got your incumbent votes in.

12. Sharon, not to cheapen the moment but I think this is Beth’s 3rd time, not 2nd. Let’s see, Council District seat, County Board, and now At Large seat. Am I wrong?

13. Insert PJ Star endorsement crack here.

    If there is an upside, it will leave C.J. with plenty of time to call out the CC on BS.

    I’ll save my yard sign for next time.

14. Emtronics — This is her second time running for City Council. She ran for District 150 School Board before that. She never ran for County Board.

15. Well…My take; Weaver’s 2014 run for the 18th Congressional seat begins today and his council votes will be made in that context.

16. While people are making assumptions as to what happened, I may as well make mine. I don’t necessarily agree that the majority of people are happy with the status quo or disagree with the viewpoints here. If that were true, the majority would have shown up to vote. That didn’t happen. Most don’t agree with the status quo but feel their vote won’t change anything because they feel the system is crooked and they will do what they want to anyway so why bother.

    As for Chuck Weaver, I don’t think he bought any votes. If that’s true, then you can say the same thing about Beth. Let’s be honest, campaigns cost. How much you spend and the amount of votes you get, determine the cost per vote. It’s all about getting your message out to the people and making it resonate with them. If you are in a statewide election, you have show people all over the state that you have something in common. If you are in a citywide election the same principle applies.

    You have to get out talk to and convince the people why they should vote for you. It’s not enough to have a good issue or the best idea. You have to get that message out to the people and that cost money. You can’t just post on blogs and show up at the candidate’s forums, those are for the people who vote already and are a part of the status quo. You are trying to reach those who aren’t the status quo and convince them why they should show up to not only vote but to vote for you.

    That means getting out and knocking on doors, sending out mailer; advertising if you can; holding fundraisers, meet and greets; in areas you don’t normally go. You have reach out to whites, blacks, rich, poor, business (yes business because they vote, and nonprofits, religious and non-religious, etc. That’s when you want’ to reach the entire city.

    If CJ had ran against Barbara in a District wide campaign, I believe he may have done a better job because it doesn’t take as much money and he has more like minded people in a smaller defined geographic area.

    Better luck next time CJ and thanks for at least stepping up to the plate. Sometimes you have have to stand up for your beliefs even if you don’t win. You at least made a stance and now they know you will fight and not just sit on the sidelines and complain like others do.

    Sharon, this was Beth’s third time at politics. The first was for school board and this is her second time with the council. They say the third time is a charm!

17. Insert PJ Star endorsement crack here.Akeson and Weaver dodged a bullet there. Despite the PJStar endorsement, they were still able to pull it off.

18. District 150 Observer says, “The vast majority disagree with the viewpoints here.”

    I don’t think you can extrapolate that out of my showing in the election yesterday. After all, Beth has a very similar platform to mine, was endorsed by me along with Sandberg, and both Beth and Gary won — a newcomer and an incumbent who believe in putting basic, essential services first. So the message resonates with people. I just didn’t do a good enough job campaigning and getting my message out. Had I done a better job campaigning and spent more money on advertising, I might not have won my first time out, but I would have had a better showing.

    I got a lot of good experience from this campaign. It’s pretty likely I’ll try again, and do a better job next time.

19. County Board, School Board. Oh well Still the 3rd time.

20. General:

    How much you spend and the amount of votes you get, determine the cost per vote.

    ? Gary Sandberg 8,390.0000 14.16%

    Gary got a lot of bang for his buck — most likely spent four years ago for his yard signs ….. which seemed to be at polling places …. Gary is the King of ROI when it comes to running for office — just my two cents.

    A friend recently said — that most voters are used to being slaves to the type of entitlements that they get — they want someone else to be their master — entitlements are paid via taxes — so you go to work to make more money to pay for them or sit around, not work and take handouts. Actually both sets of people are taking handouts. Not sure that I agree, just interesting to think about in that context.

    As an election judge yesterday, three precincts and we totaled 306 votes out of 1998 registered voters and that total included early voting. No excuse for not voting anymore. Perhaps we should institute the voters thumbs being marked with Gentian Violet for exercising their voting rights. Would make for a nice visual and in heavy voter turnout, would most likely decrease voter fraud.

    Interesting that Gentian Violet is also used as an antifungal remedy …

21. The problem is, if you look at the numbers, that it appears most peorians dont seem to value basic services over whatever it is spain and turner were running on. Im still trying to figure that out from the first go around?

22. Name recognition more than anything wins elections. For most folks that takes money, to be used for signs, tv spots, radio spots… etc. Sandberg doesn’t need to spend a lot because his consistent contrariness always seems to keep him in the news (free advertising).

23. Very well put, General. Thanks for all you do, too!

24. CJ
    You impressed me at the Methodist forum; while we are not in complete agreement on all issues, I believe in two years you could have an excellent opportunity to serve. In the mean time, keep holding the current Council’s feet to the fire.

25. Congratulations for your effort, C.J.. I’m keeping my yard sign for next time.

26. Since history shows us that off-year elections produce lower numbers of
    voters at the polls, maybe we should just consolidate all state, county, city, & school elections to coincide with Congressional and Presidential
    elections. Every 2 years on 1st Tuesday of November would be when everyone
    votes for all offices, (those offices that are up for election). The exception would be the Presidential Primary, and we know how those usually go too.

    But it would save money in the long run, but more work and more votes to count overall for the County Clerk offices. And more people would be out voting. Could make a difference in who gets elected to a local office.

27. Name recognition and organization. The people who won ran very good campaigns and had a large organized campaign team ( besides Gary ). How many of us on here walked for CJ? Stuffed mailers? Made campaign contributions to him? Called evryone in their district to vote for him? It all comes down to those 2 things: Name recognition and having a solid campaign team behind them. If you don’t do it that way then you wont win. It is what it is like it or not. The book wasn’t written just yesterday.

28. “I don’t think you can extrapolate that”

    Probably no reasonable could, C.J., but you are addressing 150 Observer, who doesn’t extrapolate, but instead interpolates.

29. Now council decisions will be made in a Akeson soiree rather than the local bar.

30. Dennis in P: All you have to do is change state law as to when elections are held.

31. Thanks for the response CJ. I hope you do run again. I live in the county, but not the city but I would have voted for you if I was eligible. No doubt money and name recognition matters. We disagree on some things but I like having some contrary views in any public body, it gets people actually thinking about what they are doing.

32. Changing election dates.
    On the one hand, more people would vote.
    On the other hand, the more local offices could be drowned out with the all the noise from the bigger races. In addition, referendums may need to come up for a vote more than every two years.

33. Two more 150 board members that will serve the business community and not the needs of the majority of our children in Peoria. Sad,very sad!!!!

34. I bet if we took a poll, we’d find that the majority of people who read this blog & agree w/ C.J., live in the 2nd District. His race for District 2 rep started last night. You can donate to his campaign by recycling your yard sign. I’m keeping mine.

35. Skeptical1–That appears to be the case. At least, Woodruff seems to be out of the picture as a gift to Quest.

36. CJ condolences on the election. But keep trying, don’t give up. It takes more than once or twice to really get known. As you go along you will learn the finer points of getting elected and you will make it one of these days because what you stand for is right. I’ll keep my sign for next time and for a memory of someone I believe in.

37. Hey C.J. congrats on a good campaign. I hope you run again, and I hope I’m back in town to help. Learn from Beth, third time is a charm! Well, for you we’ll change the cliche to “Second time is a charm.”

38. Good run CJ. Keep fighting.

    General: We need to show people that we have broken people in a good system. When professional office holders vote for their re-election instead of what is best for the average Joe, we get a broken system. Term limits and synchronous elections make sense.

39. I didn’t know a thing about Chuck Weaver before the election, and I still know nothing about him. Except he piled up a load of votes, and I’m at a loss to figure out how he did it.

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