Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Park County election results and questions

 You know I can't start a post without a picture.  Yes, I know the saying about mushrooms and BS, but that really was just coincidental; politics and BS, good one.

As you all know by now, I am somewhat of a political junkie.  Now, this comes from necessity these days, I believe.  A person can't really go about spreading their opinion if they don't really know what they are talking about, much less if they don't walk the walk, so to speak.  And when I say that, I don't mean that I think a person always needs to be the smartest gal in town to be a part of politics, but I do think that if a person is going to sit around bitching about the place that this country is in right now, well he/she darn well be informed!

Case in point; I have some learning myself I'd like you all to help me with right now.  Yesterday were the primaries here in Colorado.  I won't bore you with all of the results of the bigger elections, because those are all over the news!  What I had a little bit of a hard time finding, until early this morning, was news of our anxiously awaited Sheriff's race.  Incumbent, Fred Wegener claims victory by almost double the votes this morning.
So, my questions may be silly, but I believe the only stupid question is an unasked one, so, what if he had lost?  Since it is a primary, would he have been out of office, or would it have waited until the actual election, even if no one is running against him?  And couldn't his opponent pull a Tom Tancredo and switch parties and still run against him in the main election?  Please, please people, not only do I want to know these answers, but my kids do too, so make me look smart to the kiddos!!!

By the way; David Kintz will be representing Republicans in the election for our Coroner, as will Mark Dowaliby for a commissioners seat, which is quite interesting because at the assembly he was the under dog.  Most of our other offices were uncontested, so Debra Green (County Clerk), Dave Wissel (Assessor), Michelle Miller (Treasurer), and Jack Kirby (Surveyor) will all retain their jobs.

4 comments:

Daisy said...

The sheriff would stay in office until his term is up - if he lost. That would give him a lame duck period where he's still in charge, but only until his successor takes over at the beginning of the next term.
Our primary comes up in September. I'm more concerned about the November elections; informed voters need to keep going to the polls!

lfhpueblo said...

I agree with Daisy.
As for the other runner changing political parties, he probably could. I know an independent voter can declare themselves a Republican or Democrat to vote in the primaries, then switch back to independent before the main elections. So I imagine those running for political office, still can change parties before the main election. Yet, I'm not absolutely sure about that.

Jim and Pat Shepherd said...

Really poignant post. It leaves us with so many thoughts. Mom and I know a bit about your struggles and we could tell that things were not good when we saw you on Friday.

Like most folks, we really struggle with what to say. It is easy to ask how you are doing, but we can usually tell when you are struggling. When we ask, we would love to have you tell us what is going on and what we can do. Most of your good friends probably feel the same way.

When you do open up a bit and folks say that they can relate (of course they have no real concept of your "pain") that is a typical "I don't know what to say" nervous remark.

We do need to be better listeners and sounding boards. That burden is on us. The burden for you is to contact any one of us and let us know that you are struggling and open up a bit. We would be glad to listen or help in any way we can. You don't need to suffer in silence.

So, pick up the phone and call us when you need to. And that goes for you to Irina.

We Love you, Dad and Mom

Judy Jeute said...

Just a quick note about Mom and Dad's comment; it was meant for my post on "Washing away the smell of seizures". Check it out.