Election Night Closing Observations

In a rematch of the 2002 Juvenile Court Clerk race, Steve Stamson eeked out a win over Shep Wilbun by 313 votes, a mere 0.2 percent margin of victory (although a winner in this race has yet to be officially declared and it's nearing 3 a.m.). This is in spite of the fact that Stamson unseated Wilbun in 2002 as allegations of sexual misconduct swirled around Wilbun's administration. And in spite of the fact that Stamson stepped into a mess of a court and got things running smoothly.

Debbie Stamson (yes, she's Steve Stamson's wife) took Shelby County Clerk by 303 votes, also 0.2 percent of the vote (a winner has not been officially declared in this race either). I'm wondering why 3,648 fewer people would vote for Shelby County Clerk — a position that affects every taxpayer — than Juvenile Court Clerk? I can't imagine. I'm just pleased Stamson beat out opponent Otis Jackson (pending recount, no doubt).

Another sqeaker is Steve McManus' win over Brad Jobe for TN House District 96 by 67 votes — a 1 percent margin of victory. McManus has been active in the party for some time, so young Jobe ran a heck of a race.

The big news in this county is that Steve Cohen won the Democrat primary for U.S. House District 9, the seat held by Senate candidate Harold Ford, Jr. A Ford has held that seat for over 30 years. But the reason that Cohen's win is big news is because Cohen is white, and the air waves are crackling with rhetoric saying the black population of District 9 needs an African-American representing them. While there were 15 names on the ballot in this race, if the black population wanted a black representative then over 23 thousand of them (31%) shouldn't have picked Cohen! And can you imagine the outrage if someone said a black politician couldn't represent a virtually all-white district? Double standards and hypocrisy abound.

Mark White sailed to an easy win in TN House District 9 Republican primary. Now comes the hard part — he'll be facing Cohen in November. At one time I would have said "not a chance in hell", but I won't in the post-Terry Rolland world.

I am gratified to find that Sherrif candidate Reginald French only garnered only 37% of the vote. He's shady but has close ties to the Democrat machine in this town. I thought this race would be a squeaker but Mark Luttrell won with 63 percent of the vote.

Today's stunner in this neck of the woods is how badly John Farmer trounced Rory Bricco for TN House District 8: 78 percent to 22. I picked Bricco but am certainly not displeased by Farmer's win. I've met Farmer several times — hell, he has even commented on my blog and I on his — and liked what I heard. I just didn't get the sense that he was a force to be reckoned with. I was obviously incredibly, astoundingly wrong. Congratulations John! District 8 will be well represented.

I'll not comment on the Bob Corker win as it would come across as more than a little bitter. Is it small of me that I take some solace in the fact that I spent about ten minutes verbally abusing Josh (who works in Lamar Alexander's Memphis office) about how Bush came to Alexander's aid in 2002, yet all of Washington abandoned Tennessee conservatives in 2006? (Josh is a great guy and Alexander is lucky to have him — he handled the scolding with grace and patience.) Can you say "Senator Ford"? You'd better learn 'cause Corker can't stand up to Ford, no matter how much money he raises.

On a final Ed Bryant note, I urge you to read this heartfelt post from Volunteer Voters.

Half-Bakered has some closing thoughts that are well worth reading. For instance, Mike notices that the Tennessee Waltz hasn't made much of an impact on Shelby County races (not surprising in the town of Herenton and Ricky Peete) and that the County Commission is finally going Democratic (I hadn't yet picked up on that).

A well, it's 3 a.m. and I must get up at 6:30 to go to work. One of these year's I'll learn to take vacation days around election time. [Mental note: this happens again in November]

 

Posted on Friday at 3:11 AM in category Races of '06
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

---