by Joe Courter
The August primaries are over, and locally that means the School Board is settled with Gunner Paulson returning and Rob Hyatt coming on board. Lee Pinkoson defeated Harvey Ward, and will only have write in candidate Harry Patterson (I look forward to writing him in) to face in November before continuing his term as County Commissioner. Ken Cornell defeated Kevin Thorpe and will square off against Repub. John Martin for the other County Commission seat.
So on to November. There are a number of clear-cut races of import to local residents. Beyond the above mentioned Cornell-Martin race (we strongly support Cornell), there are some campaigns which merit attention as well as your time and dollars prior to actually voting.
In what will be an uphill fight thanks to a gerrymandered district, Marihelen Wheeler will try to unseat tea party backed “little millionaire” Ted Yoho for US Congress District 3. A win here would be huge, and she will need a lot of help but has the tools to take him on. She is an experienced candidate, knows politics and the realities that regular people live and can articulate that well.
Another race which should prove dynamic is Jon Uman taking on State Rep Keith Perry for District 21. Uman is a first time candidate but he is energetic and ready for the fight, quite progressive in his views and should make for lively candidate forums.
Replacing the iconic and beloved Tax Collector Von Fraser who died last year in office will be on the ballot, and we whole heartedly support John Power to move into that job. He worked under Von and has the same goals of preventing foreclosures and helping people have better service from that office.
Low voter turnout with the Crist vs Scott expected mud-throwing fest for Governor turning people off make all the grassroots campaigning to get out the vote all the more important. A couple initiatives on the ballot for the Springs and Medical Marijuana could play a big role in getting people nauseated by the Governors race to the polls (not the first time marijuana has been useful in relieving nausea).
So, yeah, it is two months away at press-time, there will be another edition of the Iguana in October, but elections matter, and at least for the progressive side, it is people power that needs to take on the corporate money that funds the opposition.
Plug in in the best way that you can.