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City Election Update While the Registrar of Voters continues to count absentee and provisional ballots, the order remains unchanged in the city election. The RoV posted new totals on Nov. 15: FRANK URY 16,537 25.0% Campaign participants and political pundits will have their own twists, but they might agree that general principles applied. Absent widespread outrage among the electorate, an incumbent has an edge. If challengers don’t go negative, they add to an incumbent’s advantage by appearing to support the status quo. In the Nov. 4 city election, incumbent Councilman Frank Ury had little worry he’d get slammed by negative mailers. If his challengers had the will to send hit pieces, their limited campaign treasuries cut deeply into their wish list. As other basics, campaigns need organization and time to develop. Insiders say that Cathy Schlicht made her decision to run in October 2007, but she didn’t consider herself a serious contender until several months ago. Lonsinger may have been thinking about running, but his campaign didn’t take shape until he filed papers on Aug. 8. By contrast, Ury had been raising funds and forming alliances for this year’s race since his 2004 election. Both Schlicht and Lonsinger relied on grassroots support and managed their own campaigns. Ury paid $10,000 for a professional consultant. While campaign principles might apply, they don’t always add up. Challenger Richard Atkinson had all the slate mailers money could buy, a campaign treasury of $36,149, a professional consultant and plenty of time to prepare. Voters on Nov. 4 may have decided it was a professional campaign without a credible candidate. Activists referred to Schlicht and Lonsinger’s totals as votes from residents who did their homework. An activist commented to this blog, “I was thankful so many people worked together for Cathy and Neil. It was an uphill battle to shut out Richard Atkinson as city hall’s anointed candidate, and it took all of us to do it.” |
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