Well, the dust has settled on another election day, and there were a few surprises. I am sure that I will spend a couple columns going over what happened, but I think we should probably start with things that gave me pause.
The trouncing that Scott Rupp gave Joe Brazil was pretty impressive. I can’t honestly say that I was surprised, as I suspected that Rupp would carry the day. The surprise comes from the losing camp. I can’t believe what a sore loser Brazil is. I mean, what’s up with this guy? He has whined to anyone who will listen that he was somehow persecuted by the Republican Party. Okay, seriously, couldn’t his duck hunter sugar daddy protect him? His campaign staff (namely Malcontent MacNab and Pathetic Brandy Pedersen) were way out of their league and he was plain old fashioned whupped at the polls. While in the heat of battle, some things may have been a tad overblown, I’m not sure that he should be trying to “correct” the misconceptions. For example, I’m not sure stressing that the death of his best friend from high school resulted from an accident, as opposed to anything specific, was the way to go. I might have just let that issue go away quietly. Also, being specific about which women from his past may or may not have worked over in East St. Louis was probably not the way to go either. Had he simply left these issues alone, they would have gone away. Now, everyone is wondering exactly how bad this bad boy really is. Not the best result for Brazil. The Republican Party neither needs nor wants you Brazil. I might agree that perhaps the party (and the Governor by extension) maybe should not have taken such an active role, but this seat is important to us, and we can’t afford to let a whacko into the State Senate on our side of the aisle. We can see through your smart growth schtick and it’s not impressing any of us. That duck boy cash was not sufficient, and the voters saw right through you. Go away and continue to cause trouble on the County Council. Leave the governing in Jefferson City to those far more qualified. Oh, and P.S. what were you thinking putting your political future in the hands of a nutball like MacNab. You might consider more mainstream values when re-election time rolls around or you too may be done with your career in public service.
The margin of victory for Nancy Matheny was extremely impressive. She rolled right over St. Peters Alderman Patrick Barclay without even breaking a sweat. Unlike Barclay who was sporting a sunburn from pounding the pavement for several weeks. Apparently he knocked on people’s doors and they were just plain unimpressed. Either that or he failed to explain his general wishy-washiness and inability to actually case a vote, and people wanted someone to represent them who was willing to do the job. He sold his soul to the duckboys for very little money, alienated his colleagues, and got very little to show for it. His squeaky wheel gets the oil approach to governance is unimpressive and not worth much to any of his constituents. I wonder if he’ll actually go back and try to represent his constituents now and maybe cast an occasional vote or two. Might help, who knows? In any case, I suspect Barclay better get comfortable where he is. His rather impressive loss does not bode well for any higher aspirations on his part.
Now, on to even bigger surprises. Bob Schnur lost, and not by much. When the margin of victory for your opponent is right around 40 or so votes, that’s when you start banging your head against the wall. A more decisive loss (as in Barclay or Brazil’s case) is generally more desirable. It’s too bad really, I think he would have done a great job, and notwithstanding a brief dance with the duckboys, he’s been a great public servant. He may come back to us in a different role one of these days, but who knows? I guess the Collector’s race will come down to two employees of the former Collector. Certainly interesting. Maybe the voters are sending incumbent office holders some kind of message. We’ll see.
Darrel Lackey lost to Joe Cronin. This was the only victory of note for the anti-growth, green wing of the Republican Party and possibly the biggest disappointment. Talk about a significant issue of qualifications. Cronin is and was simply a spoiler. Had he gotten out of Lackey’s way, we would not have lost a seat on the County Council to the Democrats. Clearly this is a guy willing to put his pathetic, fringe personal agenda ahead of the interest of his party. That being said, it is highly unlikely that Cronin survives the race in November against Cheryl Hibbeler. She is doing and saying all the right things and that bodes well for her. Too bad really, it was good when we could say that we had an all-Republican County Council. The Democrats are in a position to pick up seats one-by-one, which gives an interesting forecast with regard to what’s happening in the County.
That probably covers the big surprises. There were some relatively predictable victories including Neer for Sheriff and Thornhill beating Gartner. RINO Rick Zerr won his race as well, so his pension will be safe after all. Considering the fortune he must have spent on the multiple mailings and television commercials, it was relatively predictable. The only surprise in his race was the number of Republican notables who were convinced by Senator Gross to throw their support behind Zerr (who used to hold the office as a Democrat), but I guess Gross is just that kind of guy.
I think I’ll save my other observations for next time. After all, sometimes you need to take a wait and see outcome regarding the results on Election Day.
