George Wenschhof
Trying to
predict the five winners from ten candidates who will serve on The City of
Frederick board of alderman is always difficult.
Sadly,
when voters are asked to pick candidates to fill multiple slots, under votes
often occur. What happens is a voter has
one or two, maybe three candidates they have made up their mind to vote for on
Election Day.
Afterward,
they either vote party ticket, a familiar name to fill up their five votes, or
they simply choose not to exercise their right to vote, in this case, for five
candidates.
The other
tricky maneuver utilized by some candidates is to tell their close supporters
to single-shot or bullet vote, meaning just vote for them.
The
general consensus I am hearing and one I agree with is incumbent Democratic
aldermen Michael O’Connor and Kelly Russell will be reelected. They have both performed well in their first
term in office and deserve another four years.
The next
name I hear most often from voters from both sides of the aisle is Democrat
Josh Bokee. Bokee ran for alderman in
the 2009 election and fell short. He stayed involved in city politics serving
on the city planning commission. His
time on the planning commission earned him further respect so look to see him
also be elected.
In what is
expected to be another low voter turnout election and with the likely high
number of under votes, the next two slots will be closely contested.
Democrats
John Daniels and Donna Kuzemchak have experience and knowledge of city hall and
would serve the voters well as aldermen.
Daniels
has the demeanor and familiarity with city hall to enable him to be one of the
most effective aldermen on the board. He
will add reasonable and thoughtful decision making to the board of aldermen.
He has
been campaigning hard and with the help of former Democratic sixth district
congressional candidate Don DeArmon, Daniels is be a favorite to fill out one
of the next two slots on the board.
Donna, a
former three term alderman, has been much more energized in this campaign,
following her loss in 2009 and will also be in the mix to complete the five
member board of aldermen.
The only
experienced Republican candidate is former one term alderman Alan Imhoff. He has name recognition from having run for
office on numerous occasions and also having served on many city committees.
Recognizing,
he is in the mix, he is going door-to-door to meet with voters, not something
he has been known to do in the past.
Phil Dacey
raised the most money out of the aldermen candidates, but most of the donations
came from outside of the city so it is hard to project what this will mean in
votes. He does have many campaign signs
and spent his campaign funds on glossy mailers, three of which were received at
my home on the same day. He also was the
only candidate to pay folks to go door to door for him. His connections to ultra right conservative
former state senator Alex Mooney may hurt him in the city election. However, his money raised will make him
competitive for one of the remaining seats on the board.
The most
often description and criticism I have heard in regard to Katie Nash is she is
a grandstander, one who will drop the sensational headline to get attention,
but one who had little substance or knowledge of the issue she was
highlighting.
Her signs
depict her last name, the same as popular former Democratic alderman and
current planning commission member; Meta Nash.
There is no relation, but sadly some voters will think they are casting
their ballot for Meta or a relative of Meta.
Dave
Schmidt and Daniel Cowell campaigned hard in their first entry into a political
election. However, I believe they will both fall short.
It is very
likely Democrats will maintain a majority on the board and a strong possibility
this election will be a clean sweep by Democratic candidates.
Stay
tuned.
Make sure
you vote on November 5.
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