We have numbers already for the election…Updated “final” results
Link here with 5.4 % of the vote in. I’m guessing these are the absentee votes and early voting. If you want to follow on the state issues? Link to Secretary of State.
Updated – I’m home now and it appears to be pretty much over. From what I understand Keith Wilkowski gave his concession speech shortly after 11:30. I’m leaving the first set of numbers up but the latest numbers posted at 12:34 a.m. Toledo Free Press coverage.
BILL CONNELLY 24567 40.34%
MARK DAVIS 16881 27.72%
IAN B. ENGLISH 19451 31.94%
MIKE BELL 35118 52.33%
KEITH WILKOWSKI 31987 47.67%
JOE MCNAMARA 36879 13.33%
GEORGE SARANTOU 35411 12.80%
ROB LUDEMAN 34792 12.58%
PHILLIP COPELAND 28654 10.36%
STEVEN C. STEEL 26113 9.44%
ADAM J. MARTINEZ 25362 9.17%
POLLY TAYLOR-GERKEN 24136 8.73%
TERRY BIEL 18254 6.60%
KEVIN MILLIKEN 16634 6.01%
TERRY SHANKLAND 15339 5.55%
CONSTANTINE STAMOS 14615 5.28%
Write-in Votes 401 0.14%
BOB VASQUEZ 22751 19.84%
BRENDA HILL 20097 17.52%
LARRY J. SYKES 17710 15.44%
DARLENE FISHER 16851 14.69%
AJI GREEN 12257 10.69%
MINDY JENSON 7958 6.94%
JAMES M. JONES 5787 5.05%
VINCE HORNIK 3897 3.40%
JOHN G. BULL DOG RUS 4033 3.52%
NORMAN E. DROGMILLER 3342 2.91%
First set of numbers from the very first results…
BILL CONNELLY 3813 39.29%
MARK DAVIS 2484 25.60%
IAN B. ENGLISH 3407 35.11%
MIKE BELL 4698 43.42%
KEITH WILKOWSKI 6123 56.58%
TERRY BIEL 3323 6.94%
PHILLIP COPELAND 5096 10.65%
ROB LUDEMAN 6298 13.16%
ADAM J. MARTINEZ 3725 7.78%
JOE MCNAMARA 6688 13.97%
KEVIN MILLIKEN 2846 5.95%
GEORGE SARANTOU 6284 13.13%
TERRY SHANKLAND 2376 4.96%
CONSTANTINE STAMOS 2113 4.41%
STEVEN C. STEEL 4518 9.44%
POLLY TAYLOR-GERKEN 4523 9.45%
Write-in Votes 75 0.16%
NORMAN E. DROGMILLER 561 2.92%
DARLENE FISHER 2872 14.97%
AJI GREEN 1989 10.37%
BRENDA HILL 3693 19.25%
VINCE HORNIK 737 3.84%
MINDY JENSON 1317 6.86%
JAMES M. JONES 823 4.29%
JOHN G. BULL DOG RUS 567 2.96%
LARRY J. SYKES 3073 16.02%
BOB VASQUEZ 3555 18.53%
Issue 1
YES 12587 76.21%
NO 3930 23.79%
Issue 2
YES 10970 66.68%
NO 5482 33.32%
Issue 3
YES 9923 58.97%
NO 6903 41.03%
http://www.wtol.com/global/Category.asp?c=152551
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:40 pmNot looking good for Wilkowski. And the power of the Blade is telling. If Martinez holds on to win, he can thank the Blade for the win. I think the Blade also propelled Biel from bottom of the pack to the number eight spot. No doubt we haven’t seen the last of Biel.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:11 pmI would like to point out that while we’ve spent more than 16 MILLION dollars on equipment intended to make the voting process quicker that we no longer can expect to see results any sooner than one day after the polls close. For Lucas County the average is 1 to 3 days. Unless it’s a Presidential election.
I want my money back. And I’m not kidding.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 pmI would like to point out that while we’ve spent more than 16 MILLION dollars on equipment intended to make the voting process quicker that we no longer can expect to see results any sooner than one day after the polls close. For Lucas County the average is 1 to 3 days. Unless it’s a Presidential election. And then it’s much longer.
I want my money back. And I’m not kidding.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 pmKateb – I couldn’t agree more with you. How is it that with the old, outdated voting machines, all the votes were counted and reported by the 11:00 news. Things are actually moving much quicker this year than in the past few years but still much slower than necessary. It’s really unbelievable when you think about it.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:28 pmTonight’s big winner: Bob Reichert. Re-elected to city council. His candidate for mayor, Mike Bell, wins convincingly.
Tonight’s big loser: Jon Stainbrook. Royal Barber, Constatine Stamos, and Mindy Jensen were embarassments to the party.
Bob Reichert will waltz back into Lucas GOP chairmanship in the spring. It’s no secret he has been positioning for this comeback.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:41 pmI also think a big loser is both political parties. For the democrats to not win the Mayor’s race in Toledo is a reflection on the pathetic state of the Lucas County Democratic party. And the fact that for the third straight cycle, the republicans couldn’t come up with a credible candidate to run in the general for Mayor says all you need to know about the party. The lack of a credible slate for city council is also telling.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 pmfyi – Jennifer Brunner’s office has already has asked for a follow up concerning the Primary in September. Has the Lucas County BOE complied?
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/Upload/elections/directives/2009/Dir2009-15.pdf
“DIRECTIVE 2009-15
September 23, 2009
LUCAS COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS ONLY
Conducting Post-Election Audit for” September 15,2009 Election
To provide transparency of election procedures and to ensure public confidence in the results of the municipal elections held on September 15 , 2009, your board is hereby directed to conduct a post-election audit.”
I can’t find any responsive document from the Lucas County Board of Elections.
The directive states: “POST-ELECTION AUDIT PROCEDURES
The board must conduct a post-election audit as set forth in this directive. The audit shall
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 pmconsist of precincts randomly selected as outlined in this directive and must verify results for the
following candidates:
• All candidates for Mayor of Toledo
• All candidates nominated for the Toledo City Council at-large race.”
just remember this, fellow Toledoans, it’s going to take more than a week for Mike to get the mess Carty made cleaned up.
Would have said the same about Keith, (chuckle), but he didn’t get elected.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:34 amBG and IBW – the big loser is Rothenbuehler. His mayoral candidate lost, and Republican council candidates drew #2 and #3 in a heavily Dem town. Hard to label the Stain that big of a loser; the GOP has an uphill battle every year. Rothenbuehler in contrast is supposed to win his races with little fanfare. Instead he got his ass handed to him on a plate.
Big winner, besides Reichart, is Bill Connelly – a Republican who practices law in Wood County spanks two attorneys in a Democratic town who practice law in Toledo, one of whom (Davis) was a Democrat, and the other (English) at least called himself a Democrat. Like I predicted, the GOP came out strong for Bell, Sarantou and Ludeman. This carried over for Connelly (who also appeared on the slate piece). Like I’ve said many times before, given the choice between a real Republican and a fake one, the voters will vote for the real one every time. Hence, a Bill Connelly win over English.
BG- I agree. We haven’t seen the last of Terry Biel. He a bright guy with an equally bright future. Definitely someone to watch.
But the real loser tonight was voting for a name. English and Polly both lost, despite their popular surnames. And two years ago Marty Skeldon lost to an unknown Tom Waniewski. Voters might just be getting sick of playing the name game. Only time will tell….
November 4th, 2009 at 1:04 amThe GOP didn’t elect Connelly, Ludeman or Sarantou, Sujay, like I keep trying to impress upon you, the numbers of actually registered Republicans in Toledo is low. It was the voters who are not affiliated with either party that created the election outcome that was apparently also supported by Democrats. Davis and English together got more votes than Connelly, that race was going to come down to who did Davis take more votes from, clearly, we have that answer.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:13 amThe GOP will make a huge mistake if they elect Bob Reichrt back to the chairmanship of the party. Bob is a good guy by all means, but time to get some new blood in there!!!
Good point Sujay on the name thing! Its about time Toledoans wised up a little and quit electing the brother, sister, nephew, etc. of a certain politician in this area. As far Sujay about Stain and the point about Sarantou and Ludeman, both of those gentlemen are hardly huge fans of the Stain.
Although i did not back Wilkowski, i justed wanted to say to his supporters keep your heads up. You fought a good fight and you stood up for your principles and values that most politicians will not do. Keith seems like a good and nice man, I am sure he will be back at some point.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:44 amOne point I’d like to make about the numbers…
Tricia Lyons, while no longer officially running, pulled a decent number of votes. According to the BOE site, she received 10,833. And, she wasn’t even campaigning!!!
Just a curious observation.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:47 amHenri, I think that says something about some of Toledo’s voters…
November 4th, 2009 at 10:47 am^^LOL! Either really ticked off about the direction of the city they are willing to try and put someone in there who quit or they are kind of on the shallow side maybe! LOL
November 4th, 2009 at 11:20 amMy point exactly, Lisa…
November 4th, 2009 at 11:44 amit will be interesting to see bell walk the tightrope of the differing/competing interests that were cobbled together to get him elected – republicans, some unions and “b” team dems, safety forces, and the black community. i would expect diverging expectations to cause issues for the mayor-elect. for the city’s sake i hope they are not there merely for city jobs and contracts but rather there advocating for good governance.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:49 amI am so freaking irritated by most of the election results. Why do people vote in the same freaking people all of the time. Come on people! The people that have been in there year after year are part of the problem.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:04 pmConcerning Trisha Lyons votes, I assume most people were like me when I voted for her. I would have liked to have seen her on counsel but even knowing that she pulled out I wanted to cast one of my six votes to her. Why? Because there wasn’t anyone else worthy of my vote on there besides the four I voted for.
Please don’t assume it says anything about “some of Toledo’s voters…” All it says in my case is that I would rather trash my vote than vote for trash.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:50 pmZimmy….
The local Repulicans often are timid when it comes to those union endorsements. So they will prolly step aside most of the time and allow the unions(the ones who backed Bell) to call some shots.
However, Republicans like Ludeman and Sarantou, BTeam Dems, and those unions(listed above) do work well together so I don’t expect too much friction. However, I see your point and will be interesting if there is friction what happens with those factions!!!
November 4th, 2009 at 3:01 pmDoug, I think that’s a pretty hefty assumption, there may be some like you but considering the numbers of voters who have demonstrated they don’t pay attention and are not informed? You are probably in the minority.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:14 pmRobin: I do agree with you that the people who’ve been in office certainly share the blame for the problems and it’s frustrating that they continue to have influence.
That was my argument against Wilkowski. Not that he is a bad person or unfit for office but that he has, through years of political involvement in the dominant party, a large share of the guilt.
Let’s admit it, there is a natural aristocracy that forms in human organizations. Most of these people are members, by birth or marriage, of Toledo’s aristocratic families. It’s a shame that Toledo’s aristocrats largely are politicians and not people of industry or philanthropy but we’ve succeeded in running those individuals out of town years ago.
Finally, with the increasingly aging population/brain drain in Toledo we’re not likely to see any new blood soon. Essentially, Toledo doesn’t have a farm team for grooming virtuous new leaders (we mirror Detroit in that respect).
Ultimately, the final blame for the area’s condition largely rests on the citizen’s shoulders. Most elected officials, in the end, give people what they want whether it’s logical or not; we get what we deserve.
Sorry to be so gloomy
November 4th, 2009 at 3:18 pmLisaRenee, I don’t think it’s all that hefty of an assumption. Uninformed voters will usually vote by name recognition, which to an uninformed voter, Tricia did not have. The other class of ‘less informed’ voter is the ballot ticket voter who trusts in what their party tells them to vote and she was not on any of those. And the final uninformed voter is basically brain dead and pushing buttons and with that amount of votes you couldn’t even consider anyone who got elected to be there by any kind of merit or campaign effort.
So again I assume it was people like me who were disgruntled by a choice selection that did not represent them.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:14 pmWe will have to agree to disagree, 17% of our electorate thinks Phil Copeland is his dead uncle…
November 4th, 2009 at 4:18 pmAnd that is name recognition.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:20 pmIt’s also being totally uninformed…
November 4th, 2009 at 4:25 pmWhich is why I am saying Tricia wouldn’t have picked up many of those votes if it was by name recognition.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:31 pmWhich makes my point, I’m guessing most of those who voted did not have a clue she had with drawn, they voted because they wanted to vote for a woman and apparently did not want to vote for Taylor-Gerken. Voters do that, when they don’t have a firm six in mind and are told they can vote for six there are two groups, those that only vote for the ones they know and those that just pick a name…Name recognition and gender then matters.
It’s fairly well established, it’s why some expected Taylor-Gerken to place higher once Lyons dropped out. The reality is a certain part of our electorate does not vote based on a position of information…
November 4th, 2009 at 4:35 pmI agree that we agree to disagree
. I will agree with you on gender voting and that certainly acounts for some of the numbers but I don’t believe all or even most of them. I believe though that anyone that chose between Polly and Tricia would have to know of the difference between them. That puts them into an informed category which means they probably knew Tricia dropped. That reinforces to me what I beleive.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:02 pmIt’s too bad we don’t force people to take a test before they vote or have children. Competancy should be a requirement for both.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:07 pmI voted for Tricia to make a statement.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:11 pmAn interesting statement from a person who wants to be the chair of the Lucas County Republican Party.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:45 pmI agree with Lisa on the assessment of the people that voted for Lyons. Those political insiders or people that closely follow politics voted for her to make a statement. But those folks are the minority of voters by far. I would have to believe the reason the majority of people voted for Lyons and in no particular order: she is a woman; they voted for her in the primary; they remember her for some reason, maybe from earlier campaigning; ballot placement; her family/friends, etc.
I never give much credit to the average voter and time after time, the results demonstrate it.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:48 pmMike Says:
“It’s too bad we don’t force people to take a test before they vote or have children. Competancy should be a requirement for both.”
Heck you don’t even have to be a citizen to vote. Reading is certainly optional.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:53 pmYes, you do have to be a citizen to legally vote, you don’t have to be able to read, as an example, someone who is blind, is legally entitled to vote and it is a federal requirement that voting aid be provided, they can select a person to help them voting. Which is of course a different scenario than what took place at my polling location, unless a lack of information is considered a disability…
November 4th, 2009 at 6:00 pmchrismyers wrote:
Me too.
Did anyone add up the number of “endorsed” Republicans that finished LAST, in their respective races?
Sylvania Republicans have to be ecstatic with their party leadership.
One can actually feel the support for the LCRP chairman falling quicker than the autumn leaves.
And….(administrative delete)
Sheeeesh..!
Carry on…
November 4th, 2009 at 6:14 pmDid mindy learn that from you? The “Sheeeesh..!” I mean.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:31 pmI’m noticing how long it took for the mice to flee from the sinking ship that we watched set sail in April 2009…
November 4th, 2009 at 7:12 pm2008…flipping fingers
November 4th, 2009 at 7:12 pmNope, we both picked it up from a crazy man from Florida…
(come on, Lisa! You had to chuckle at the velcro comment..??!!!)
November 4th, 2009 at 7:14 pmLisa Renee said that the judicial race “was going to come down to who did Davis take more votes from, clearly, we have that answer.”
We don’t know that. Why didn’t you present the issue as “whom English took more votes from”? Regardless, the more likely explanation scenario is that Connelly split the Democrats, just as his GOP predecessors did in the two muni court races in 2005.
So a big tip of the hat to the bonehead LCDP screening committee, which now hasn’t endorsed a winning muni court judicial candidate (in a contested race) in decades. I honestly can’t think of the last LCDP-endorsed muni court candidate who emerged victorious. Hicks-Hudson, Santiago, Nugent, and Mattimoe all lost. Please, anyone, name that person. If they want to change that, they’ll need to start endorsing qualified lawyers (unlike, for example, Santiago or Hicks-Hudson), who (unlike English) are real Democrats, not Democrats by marriage.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:24 pmWell, Mike (#30). You would likely fail your own test, as you misspelled “competency.”
November 4th, 2009 at 7:30 pmRogue…you know what I would say to you…
Sujay, I do know such a very thing, it was expressed by the actual judicial candidates and I wouldn’t have posted it if it were not accurate.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:33 pmSujay Says:
“So a big tip of the hat to the bonehead LCDP screening committee, which now hasn’t endorsed a winning muni court judicial candidate (in a contested race) in decades.”
Maybe it has something to do with fairness, honesty, liberty and freedom. maybe the folks don’t feel they will get that from a progressive. One who thinks they know what is best for the people; one who ignores the rule of law and the Constitution. People that think we are all stupid and need to be told what to do, do not deserve to be judges, in my opinion. And clearly, the people have spoken. Just as they have in nj and va.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:04 pmRogue- #40,
LMAO!!! Good one.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:09 pmI voted for Tricia as well. And left some blanks.
I think it will be impossible to prove either Lisa’s or Doug’s points. but i agree with doug.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:12 pmIt’s fairly easy to prove, considering she got almost double what she did in the primary. What we do know is that several of you feel that someone deciding to drop out of an election in a manner that prevents other candidates who wanted to run from being on the ballot, creates a scenario where you’ll use it as a “protest vote” — rather ironic for any of you who have argued that a third party vote is a wasted vote. We also know that one of the reasons both women were encouraged to run was the knowledge that some voters will try to select at least one woman, especially women voters…We also know we have at least several thousand voters in this area that get confused as to names, creating a positive or a negative response. That’s been proven several times, but if those of you who voted want to believe that every single person who voted for Lyons was an informed protest vote? Go for it.
Sujay, I’d recommend you spend some time researching Toledo Municipal Court judicial races, it has not been “decades” since an endorsed Democrat won a contested race.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:28 pm“What we do know is that several of you feel that someone deciding to drop out of an election in a manner that prevents other candidates who wanted to run from being on the ballot, creates a scenario where you’ll use it as a “protest vote” — rather ironic for any of you who have argued that a third party vote is a wasted vote”
What’s the diff between voting for Tricia and leaving a blank? I already left blanks.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:35 pmAlso, signs were posted at my precinct that Tricia votes were pointless
November 4th, 2009 at 8:37 pmThere is a difference in there not being candidates you feel are worthy of your vote as opposed to voting for someone who quit.
There have been scenarios where someone has died and was on the ballot, some voted out of ignorance, some voted out of respect. There have also been times when a candidate has dropped out of a race, like a presidential primary race, and people comment on the wasted vote aspect. So it’s not as if this is a totally new scenario. That said, history demonstrates most of these votes come from a lack of information. I think we have realistically spent enough time on this topic, there are actual candidates who continued to run and did not win and who continued to run and did win that you’d think would be more worthy of discussion.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:43 pmThere were none at my precinct or if there were? They weren’t posted in a manner that was noticeable.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:46 pmI think i’m being scolded for wasting a vote instead of leaving a blank, then you tell me enough time has been wasted and to move on? No rebuttal to the scolding?
November 4th, 2009 at 9:02 pmIt’s not my job to scold you
I just think it’s ironic someone who quit would generate more discussion than those who lost or won…
November 4th, 2009 at 9:03 pmLet me start with, I can’t believe Larry Sykes was returned to the School Board OR if we are going to talk about name recognition, did Taylor-Gerken not win because of the name or was it the fact that Martinez got the Blade endorsement instead of her?
Two suggestions
November 4th, 2009 at 9:05 pm“crazy” man in Florida sitting on the dock waving at a doomed sail as you guys wave back while you were going on a “three day cruise” thinking you knew something we didn’t…we even saw the hole and warned you.
but you knew better, huh? lol
didn’t see me doing an “about-face”, “doctor” rouge… ;D
November 4th, 2009 at 9:21 pmLisa,
With Taylor-Gerken, it was a combination of both and some bullet voting in the Latino communities. The Blade endorsement, without a doubt, helped both Martinez and Biel. That, combined with Shankland not being on the slate card, helped to boost both of their numbers. Gerken has such high negatives among republicans and many independents that there was no way they would vote for anyone with a last name of Gerken. Most people feel obligated to use all six votes (not the political insiders but the average voter). So for most of the republicans and independents looking to vote for someone after McNamara, Sarantau and Ludeman, needed some choices. Martinez fit the bill as someone new and not the status quo.
As for Sykes, I wish I could say I was surprised but unfortunately, I’m not. School board races are all about name recognition and most people don’t even realize what a divisive school board member Sykes really was. Brenda Hill should do a very nice job and I was glad to see her elected. Vasquez I could go either way on that one.
November 4th, 2009 at 9:59 pmSujay – the democrats streak of losing municipal court elections in recent years started with the coup of Paula Ross. I wasn’t a big fan of Paula Ross but she is looking better and better with each passing day. If it wasn’t for the Harry Barlos situation, she’d still likely be Chair of the Party. The B team used the Harry Barlos situation as a motivation to launch a coup and caugh the A team asleep at the wheel. And Sandy Isenberg was their pawn in the whole game.
There is no reason democrats shouldn’t win muncipal court races with regularity; control at least 10 of the 12 seats on council; 4 of the 5 school board seats and the Mayor’s office at a minimum.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:05 pmLisa Renee said: “Sujay, I’d recommend you spend some time researching Toledo Municipal Court judicial races, it has not been “decades” since an endorsed Democrat won a contested race.”
It’s been a long long time. I honestly can’t name the last endorsed Dem. who won a contested muni court race. I genuinely don’t think it has happened since the early 90s (1993, I think), when Judge Dartt, as an incumbent, rebuffed Amy Berling’s first challenge. Please someone correct me if I’m wrong. But since muni court is practically all-Republican, odds are that I unfortunately am right.
Lisa Renee (#43) said: “Sujay, I do know such a very thing, it was expressed by the actual judicial candidates and I wouldn’t have posted it if it were not accurate.”
Well, not even they know, unless they did some independent polling, which I doubt their budgets permitted.
Notagain (#44) – Don’t worry: The judicial candidates endorsed by the LCDP lately aren’t sharp enough to pull off the shenanigans that you describe. Their problem is incompentence, not warped ideology. We basically don’t see these ideological struggles at the state court level, especially the trial courts and courts of appeals, so you need not worry about judicial activism. At these stages, the sole issues are usually competence and temperament. Cosme, for example, is a horrible pick because she’s ill-tempered and totally inexperienced and wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for her contact with Matt Szollosi.
Lisa Renee (#54) – I think that Polly lost because of her name. Like I posted earlier, other Democrats in strongly Dem areas with popular surnames, like English last night, and like Marty Skeldon a few years ago, lost races that conventional wisdom would otherwise have them winning big. That’s only 3 races, but I think something might be going on here ..
November 4th, 2009 at 10:15 pmBrian Maxson wrote:
Wow..! I was actually referring to another “crazy man from Florida”, but thanks for checking in, brian.
Sheeeesh…!
November 5th, 2009 at 12:21 amBrian seems to think the world revolves around him. Hahaha!
November 5th, 2009 at 5:37 ambgdemocrat Says:
“As for Sykes, I wish I could say I was surprised but unfortunately, I’m not. School board races are all about name recognition…”
I think in this case, it was all about skin color.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:46 amTom (#52),
It was not a waste to not vote all of your 6 options. If you wanted the ones you voted for to win, any vote to someone else you didn’t want to win would only give them more numbers against your candidates. I think not voting like this only really works in this scenario where you get to choose multiple candidates.
Lisa, I couldn’t even begin to imagine why Polly didn’t win. According to everything you were arguing previously, she should have had it hands down considering she is a woman with name recognition. Since that is how most of you believe the great majority of Toledo votes, I’m interested in hearing what you all think that doesn’t contradict your previous posts.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:48 amI already did that Doug, it’s well established name recognition can be positive as well as negative. It’s not a given that having a known name will be a positive with all voters.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:01 amSo the Gerken name is a negative name in Toledo? I think with how many times Gerken has been elected, the name carries some kind of positive weight.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:32 amI don’t know, was it? We don’t know beyond knowing if it was a positive it was not enough for her to beat Martinez. I’ve already stated there is always more than one reason, but something happened where being the only woman “really” on the ballot did not translate into a win.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:36 amSo again I have no idea why she didn’t win if what you say about Toledo voters is true. If like you said before, and I believe you, that uninformed voters base thier choice on name and gender she should have won. By all accounts the Gerken name has an overall positive view. Now we have an assumption that the majority of Toledo voters are uninformed. But can that be completely true if she didn’t win? Her not winning says that maybe the majority actually voted for who they wanted based on more than just gender and name.
Just because we don’t like or understand every result, we shouldn’t just discount everyone else as uninformed.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:17 amDoug, what I have said that you have tried to take issue with is a fact, there is a base of voters in Toledo who do not vote from an informed position. I never said it was a majority, but they exist and they can have an impact on an election if it is close.
That’s a reality that extends beyond Toledo.
You want to believe all of those who voted for Lyons did as protest votes, I never stated the protest votes did not happen, I disagree that was the main factor. As I also stated, it’s been fairly well discussed, more than those who actually continued campaigning….
November 5th, 2009 at 11:24 amI understand why, it serves a better purpose for some of you to be able to say over 10,000 joined you in a protest vote than to say large numbers of Toledo residents didn’t pay attention to signs (though they were not posted at all precincts in a visible position) and voted for someone who quit.
I just don’t happen to believe given electoral history, that a majority were protest votes.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:28 amI never said all 10,000 people who voted for Lyons was a protest vote. I just think a very good many of them did and that i’m not quite as much in the minority as you have said I was. Ironically, people saying a protest vote wasn’t really there serves another purpose.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:06 pmNot Again & Brian,
“Nope, we both picked it up from a crazy man from Florida…”
Rogue’s right…we picked it up from one Mr. Dickson, from St. Pete years ago when we were both young and had good attitudes! Looong time ago!
BTW…Rogue, Mr. Dickson and Melvin send their regards.
mj
November 5th, 2009 at 12:24 pm“I can’t believe Larry Sykes was returned to the School Board ”
—
I can’t believe that either. *shakes head*
November 5th, 2009 at 2:51 pmWell, the voters chose political operators for the TPS board. Our reform efforts have completely failed. Ms Fisher was our only voice and now she’s been removed. We’re probably going to see efforts from TPS administrators to pay themselves fat bonuses again. It’s so terrible to watch nearly a decade of any progress be so summarily erased.
November 5th, 2009 at 4:46 pmbgdem (#56 and 57) – You’re 100% right.
Also, Polly lost in part because she entered the race so late. Yes, the lack of a Blade endorsement hurt, as did the unpopularity of the Gerken name with Republicans and some independents. But I really think that had she started early, raised money, gone to events and gotten her name out she would have edged out a previously unknown Adam Martinez and captured the #6 slot. Live and learn.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:25 pmGreat minds …. Here’s my comment from November 4:
“The real loser tonight was voting for a name. English and Polly both lost, despite their popular surnames. And two years ago Marty Skeldon lost to an unknown Tom Waniewski. Voters might just be getting sick of playing the name game. Only time will tell….”
A bit slow on the uptake was Johnny Hildo, who only today made the vary same point in the City Paper. Go to http://www.toledocitypaper.com/index.php?/The-City/Politics/a-dogs-life.html
November 25th, 2009 at 7:46 pm