Democratic nominee and Walton voters

[DemoLady]

www.waltondemocrats.org
Barak Obama did poorly in the January 29th Florida Primary Election -- coming in strong in only the Rosemary Beach area and Point Washington -- along with 2 small precincts in north Walton with a high African American population. How do you think he will do in the general election?

 

[scooterbug44]

I think he will do much better in a general election because:
1) Everyone will be voting, not just the registered Democrats
2) IMO many people didn't vote because they thought their vote wouldn't count.

 

[rapunzel]

Further, he was still relatively unknown around here...and I don't think people did a lot of legwork for the election because they were told it wouldn't count.

Beyond that, I think we'll have a strong organization come November and a good get out the vote effort in the area may work wonders.

I just wish there were going to be some down ballot candidates! Walton County may be red, but there's a strong blue undercurrent.

 

[DemoLady]

Some local politicians have switched parties

Some local politicians who were former Democrats switched parties when Walton County became predominantly Republican. Joe Roberts and Gordon Porter are two examples. We now don't have a Democratic bank of citizens interested in serving and it is a disadvantage to have so few Democrats on the local ballots.

 

[Beemn]

In walton county, dem's are left out of the decision. The local election will be decided in the republican primary. By running a dem, we are prevented from voting among the republican candidates. The winner there will get 60% of the general election vote.

 

[ShallowsNole]

Some local politicians who were former Democrats switched parties when Walton County became predominantly Republican. Joe Roberts and Gordon Porter are two examples. We now don't have a Democratic bank of citizens interested in serving and it is a disadvantage to have so few Democrats on the local ballots.

Not just some. Pretty much all, with a few key exceptions. And the same goes for much of the voting public. If you grew up here, chances are pretty good that you were registered Democrat at some point. Not 100%, but certainly in the 90% range.

 

[Jdarg]

I am still trying to figure out why the county commissioner and sheriff races are partisan. What the heck does a political affiliation mean in these positions? Nothing! I would like to see these races become non-Partisan, so voters would actually have to learn something about the person running for office.

How have other communities changed this? I am imagining that this would be hard to change here, since most local elections are dominated by Republicans. Is this because so many people just pull the party lever?

Help!!!!!

 

[JustaLocal]

Not just some. Pretty much all, with a few key exceptions. And the same goes for much of the voting public. If you grew up here, chances are pretty good that you were registered Democrat at some point. Not 100%, but certainly in the 90% range.

Either that or you couldn't vote. It wasn't that long ago...15 years?

 

[ShallowsNole]

Either that or you couldn't vote. It wasn't that long ago...15 years?

Yeah, about 15 or so. By 1996 the tide was turning. I want to say I switched in '98 or '99, but I don't remember. I do remember there was a purpose behind it. ;-)

 

[DemoLady]

Unfortunately, voters seem to just pull the lever on local candidates. In 2004, the Democrats had 3 candidates on the local ballot. Two candidates worked hard, were credible, ran ads, put out signs, attended forums. The third candidate did nothing -- actually crossed out his party affiliation from a previous election year and wrote in "Democrat." All THREE candidates pulled about 31-34% of the votes cast -- just about the number of voting Democrats. It didn't seem to matter who they were or how qualified. Of course, that was quite disappointing to the two candidates who had worked so hard.