Although the Libertarian Lass went down in flames on her Rostra Election Contest Picks (Gore wins outright? Brian Jones wins? Zapf beats Wayne? Ay carumba), post-election observations are always correct, thank God. So let me be among the first to weigh in.
The much ballyhooed “anti-incumbent fervor” may have shown its presence, but primary elections reflect the votes of the insiders and the true believers, NOT the general public. I don’t expect it to manifest in a big way when it really counts in November. Yes, the voters approved term limits for supervisors, but they also approved the strong mayor initiative for the City of San Diego. The message from the tea leaves is still cloudy because we haven’t gotten to the bottom of the cup just yet.
Although Ron Roberts and Bill Horn were both given big scares last night, I don’t believe either one of them will lose in November. Stephen Whitburn has an outside chance of beating Roberts, but only because he is a relentless campaigner who actually enjoys the process, including hitting the streets and the phone lines. He’s a thoughtful and engaging guy. Win or lose in November, Whitburn is one to watch.
Bill Gore’s stunning outright victory reflects his visibility in the Chelsea King/Amber Dubois matter. All the money in the world couldn’t have helped either Jay La Suer or Jim Duffy overcome it. The criticism leveled at the Board of Supervisors about appointing an interim sheriff who was then allowed to run for re-election came to pass as predicted. Let’s hope Sheriff Gore does a fine job, because he’s going to be in the job as long as he wants to.
Props to the San Diego County Taxpayers Association (full disclosure, one of my clients). Eight of its nine ballot recommendations were followed by the voters, an impressive .899 batting average.
A personal thanks to the great folks at San Diego CityBeat Magazine for inviting Barry Jantz and me to be part of www.sdvotes.com, a grand experiment in live Election Night political blogging. We may have only been talking to ourselves but we had a super time and we’re impressed by our wit and insight. I’m looking forward to doing it again in November.
BTW, anyone notice the beverage theme emerging from my posts lately? Hmmm. Theories?
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Talking to ourselves? You mean all 450 of us? 🙂
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Did we really have that many people following us? Damn, I’m impressed.