Primary will tell all, given patience
Published 10:18 pm Saturday, August 18, 2007
On this eve of the eve of the primary, candidates are knocking on doors, waving at street corners and dialing up homes in a final push for votes.
They’ve got a tough path to hoe this year. Let’s face it; most voters are dug in to summer and not climbing out for the election.
There is some intrigue fused into this seemingly drab election. Issues of money and power dot the ballot as voters act on tax hikes and set the final match-ups for contests in November.
I’ve been compiling a bunch of questions for which answers won’t be known until sometime Tuesday night.
Or maybe Wednesday afternoon.
Possibly Thursday.
But no doubt by the end of business Friday.
This is the vote-by-mail era. Results will trickle in with each day’s postal delivery and close races will be resolved at a first-class rate.
As tabulators sharpen their envelope-opening skills and oil those ballot counting machines, I offer these queries.
How many voters remain angry enough with the pick-a-party primary rules that they won’t check either the Democratic or Republican box?
How many voters will, through defiance or confusion, check them both?
Will Republicans vote for Jack Turk for county executive?
Do many of those in the Grand Old Party even know he’s running?
How many will write-in former candidate Rick Bart instead?
Will Jean Berkey’s inconspicuous campaign overcome Brian Sullivan’s more visible effort?
Can Sullivan capture enough votes in Everett to beat Berkey?
Will these two Democratic state lawmakers be colleagues when it’s over?
Will John Lovick be celebrating with all his new MySpace friends?
Are Rob Beidler and Tom Greene competing for second in the sheriff’s race?
Will the third-place finisher endorse by November?
Should county Treasurer Bob Dantini start looking for a job that isn’t elected?
Will David Simpson’s comeback bid for Everett City Council continue?
Why did Lynnwood City Councilman Jim Smith endorse an opponent for his seat?
Will Mukilteo residents raise their property taxes?
If they do, will Mukilteo’s favorite son Tim Eyman file an initiative to overturn it?
And finally, when all the ballots are counted and the totals recorded, will Aaron Reardon don sunglasses and rap on the results?
Reporter Jerry Cornfield ‘s column on politics runs every Sunday. He can be heard at 8 a.m. Monday on the Morning Show on KSER 90.7 FM. He can be reached at 360-352-8623 or jcornfieldheraldnet.com.
