One Comment to 'Handicapping the Knox County primary'
Subscribe to comments with RSS
:: Trackbacks/Pingbacks ::
No Trackbacks/Pingbacks
Handicapping the Knox County primary
Posted By katie allison granju
Metro Pulse breaks it down, with some interesting analysis and bold predictions:
It’s almost like a parliamentary election: Knox County voters will pick Commission candidates district by district, but the cumulative total will give one faction or the other control of the Knox County Commission. But the county’s legislative body won’t be taken over by Labor or Tories, but rather by forces aligned with County Mayor Mike Ragsdale or the anti-Ragsdale faction.
It’s the “pay-it-back” crowd versus the “let’s-move-on” boys.
While the over-arching theme of this election is which faction controls County Commission, each office is a separate story line. Not every seat or candidate will be part of the bitter battle over control of Commission, but all will be forced by key votes to take sides.
Voters angry with the incumbent Commissioners and wanting to throw them out may be disappointed—incumbent Commissioners are not on the ballot until 2010. This election is about the eight vacant positions as the result of the state Supreme Court upholding a term limits provision in the county charter. The Commission has voted to look at the primary results from Feb. 5 in picking replacements to serve until the August general election, which will finally select people to serve the remaining two years on the term. Picking a primary winner as a placeholder (bestowing incumbency) means picking between the winners of the Democratic or Republican primary, a system likely to produce even more controversy. But that’s an issue for after the election.
Campaign skills, name recognition, money raised, and the backing of key supporters usually wins elections. We offer this subjective view of the conventional wisdom in the eight Commission races, mindful that the voters in the recent New Hampshire primary demonstrated that the choice is up to you the voter and no one else.
Jan 24th, 2008
The first two paragraphs are a false conclusion. The writer seems to forget that there are SOME candidates out there (cough, cough) that are purposely keeping distance from any faction, and will hold everyone’s fee to the fire with respect to the law.