Notes on the Campaign

The primary election is now less than two weeks away, so I wanted to take a few moments to comment on the campaign thus far.

First, I would like to thank my opponent for joining with me in keeping the campaign free of mud. Second, I would like to thank Julie Stenger of the Steubenville Herald Star for writing a balanced and fair profile of Mr. Fogle and myself. If you missed it, it ran in this weekend's Saturday edition of the paper and it has been re-published in today's Toronto Scene. I have linked to the article in the sidebar on this site.

Third, I want to thank all of the people I have spoken with about the campaign for their support and kind words. It's hard to know if your message is getting across when you are running this kind of local campaign. It's not like I can rely on polling or media reports. All I can do is rely on word of mouth and then trust the fates.

This week I began distributing pamphlets door-to-door to the registered Democrats in my ward. If I miss you, I'm sorry. And it doesn't mean that I'm not interested in the Independents or Republicans in the ward. Your opinion matters to me as well. It's just that the materials are costly, and I am on a limited budget. This being a primary election, I have to concentrate my efforts on those who are legally qualified to vote for me.

But while we are on this topic, if you are a registered Republican or if you have no party affiliation and would like to help, election laws in Ohio work like this; to vote for a candidate who is running on a party ticket in a primary election you have to declare for that party in the primary at the polling place on election day. If you are not currently registered with either party, you simply request a Democratic ballot, and you will be considered a Democrat until the following primary at which time you can choose to change again. If you are registered as a Republican, you can make the same change, but you will be requested to sign a form called a "challenge." So if you are currently noted as an Independent or as a Republican, and if you would like to vote for me, you may do so in this primary. There are no Republicans running in this primary for you to vote for anyway, and you can re-register however you wish to next year. On the other hand, if you are currently listed as a Republican or Independent and if you do not choose to take a Democratic ballot, you will be given an "issues only" ballot, and you will be unable to vote for any candidates in this primary election.

On election day, I will not be campaigning. In stead, I will be working at a polling place in Steubenville as "presiding judge" for the Board of Elections.

You may have noticed my signs around the ward and on the ramps leading in and out of town. The weather has been hard on my signs, and I have had to replace several stakes. I have been working lately on new signs, larger ones made of heavy wood. Hopefully these will stay put until after the vote.

Tuesday, May 8. That's the date for the election. Please turn out and make your voice heard. There are also several issues on the ballot that need your support. These are all levy renewals and will not result in a single tax increase. Thank you in advance for your support of these issues as well.