Go vote
Today is a municipal primary election day in Durham. Municipal elections are, by state law, non-partisan in North Carolina. This means, among other things, that there are no party primaries to determine an "official" party candidate for office. Anyone may file and run for a municipal office.
The purpose of the municipal primary is to reduce the field to no more than two candidates for each open seat. There are three at-large seats open in this year's election; ten candidates filed to run. Following today's primary, the top six finishers will have a place on the November general election ballot. There were only two candidates filing to run for mayor, hence no primary election for that office.
Municipal primaries generally have a very low turnout, usually around 10% of the eligible voters. This means that a handful of votes, yours included, can decide who advances to the general election. Good candidates can, and have, fallen out of the field as a result.
So get out and vote today. Polls are open until 7:30 pm.
DE voted this morning for the People's Alliance slate of recommended candidates: Incumbents Eugene Brown and Diane Catotti, and David Harris, who is a past president of the Inter-Neighborhood Council, co-facilitator of Partners Against Crime, District 2, and all around voice for strong neighborhoods in Durham. I encourage you to do the same, but even if your choices are different from mine, get out there and cast a ballot.
The purpose of the municipal primary is to reduce the field to no more than two candidates for each open seat. There are three at-large seats open in this year's election; ten candidates filed to run. Following today's primary, the top six finishers will have a place on the November general election ballot. There were only two candidates filing to run for mayor, hence no primary election for that office.
Municipal primaries generally have a very low turnout, usually around 10% of the eligible voters. This means that a handful of votes, yours included, can decide who advances to the general election. Good candidates can, and have, fallen out of the field as a result.
So get out and vote today. Polls are open until 7:30 pm.
DE voted this morning for the People's Alliance slate of recommended candidates: Incumbents Eugene Brown and Diane Catotti, and David Harris, who is a past president of the Inter-Neighborhood Council, co-facilitator of Partners Against Crime, District 2, and all around voice for strong neighborhoods in Durham. I encourage you to do the same, but even if your choices are different from mine, get out there and cast a ballot.
Labels: 27701, Durham, local politics
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7 Comments:
I'll be taking the kids with me later today. Train 'em early! ;)
By
Anonymous, at 10:07 AM
Good for you, Valerie! Hope others follow your example -- as of 10:00 AM, though, turn-out at the 7 precincts I checked was very, very low. Lower than last year's, for sure, which had the Nifong element to it, but also lower than 2005's.
By
Anonymous, at 10:24 AM
Is that lower than the 2005 primary, or the 2005 general?
as i recall, the numbers for 2005 were appx 10% registered voters for the primary, and 25% registered voters for the general.
i'm expecting turnout of around 10% for today's primary again.
the 2006 election also was an off year Congressional election, with no Senate race in NC, which also tends to depress turnout.
By
Barry, at 10:30 AM
Good suggestions, but I took a different tact: I voted for a couple of mid-tier candidates at the expense of one of the incumbents, in the hopes of crowding out Peterson from the top six.
Mine'll probably be the rare ballot with Ali and Harris both marked.
By
Anonymous, at 3:01 PM
There will definitely be others voting for both Ali and Harris.
It was a tough call for me, but Eugene Brown's Democratic Party activism, especially his willingness to do fundraising last year for Larry Kissell in the 8th CD, was a big plus for me. Maybe that shouldn't be a deciding factor in a City Council election, but there you go.
As to your point, to be honest, i'd rather see Peterson on the final ballot than Funderburk. There's absolutely no chance she could win a seat in the general.
By
Barry, at 3:05 PM
Ah, but Barry -- Peterson being on the final ballot causes BIG problems for the Democratic Party -- they would be put in the position of having to push a candidate who rejects three of their major planks (pro-choice, gay rights and no capital punishment). They would have to include her in all GOTV efforts with the other final Dem candidates since they're not allowed to push one Dem over another -- and that would truly suck. I swear she's a Republican plant they paid to switch to Dem, just to be a pain in the ass.
By
Anonymous, at 4:56 PM
I did Brown, Harris, and Ali. Two reasons -- trying to push either Peterson or one of the GOP 3 off the ballot, and because Diane really pissed me off with her complete tone deafness over the Cleveland-Holloway land transfers. Don't worry, I'll be voting for her in the general, but for the primary it gave me a chance to pull a vote in protest.
So out of the eight with any chance to move on (Cattoti, Brown, Harris, Ali, Peterson, Monks, Parrish, and Funderburk), which two get left? I'm guessing Monks and Peterson. Just a hunch.
By
Unknown, at 5:33 PM
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