Phil Yerington won 25% of the ballot in a write-in effort for Mayor of Davenport with a budget of maybe a few hundred bucks* in a campaign that started a little over a month before the election. Supporters of Yerington pretty much just hand painted their own yard signs and stuck them up in support of his candidacy. It was not an organized opposition effort, in practical political terms it was spontaneous.
While doomed by the practicality of politics, that a last minute challenger received that amount should be an embarrassment to incumbent Gluba with all the perquisites of office, manipulable access to media and official standing for recognition at public events, not to mention the overwhelming structural advantage of being on the ballot. The prospects of winning a write-in campaign are very small in substantial sized communities, but Yerington showed great credibility by outperforming.
What is incredible is any claim by Gluba that a 14% turnout establishes anything like widespread support for his agenda. Such low turnouts reflect ignorance, resignation, apathy and opposition party failures (no serious Republican municipal organization exists to generate a candidate) not support for Gluba’s Big Government proclivities. According to Stephen Elliott reporting for the Rock Island Argus print edition:
At the Hotel Blackhawk Tuesday night after his win, Mayor Gluba said he also wants an updated plan for the city’s riverfront, Amtrak passenger rail service in Davenport and the creation of an environment committee “that can get ahead of climate change.” (use of bold typeface ours)
Lights out and other Glubaloney coming our way?
There will be seven nominally Republican alderman on the new Davenport City Council (of ten plus the Mayor). Congratulations to all of them on their elections. We pray they will ensure that no vestige of that Agenda 21** sounding, business strangulating, homeowner choking malignancy will be allowed to establish itself in the confines of the city.
Tomorrow, some brief observations on the campaign results of a couple of the other municipal races in Scott County and ongoing commentary on others across the nation. R Mall
* Spending amounts in Iowa are not required to be reported until thy reach $750. ** Find out more about Agenda 21 and the sweet sounding “sustainability” bureaucracies by visiting these sites: American Policy/ Agenda 21 and Democrats Against UN Agenda 21
Roger,
I don’t appreciate being called “nominally Republican.” I have been active in the Republican party here in Iowa ever since I moved here in 2005 from Laramie, Wy. I have pushed conservative causes on the Davenport City Council for the last 5 years. Last year I ran for the Iowa House of Representatives and don’t remember any support from you. No Agenda 21 agenda will pass in Davenport while I can still draw a breath.
I appreciate that you will oppose Agenda 21. Because I understand that you understand its dangers, even your singular resistance could be enough to stop it should it raise its ugly head. The “nominal” wording was intended literally, as in definition #1 in my American Heritage Dictionary. Because it has more than one definition or nuance I will work on more fitting collective description. That the race is theoretically non-partisan and some / most do not run as Republicans complicates the wording. As regards support for your state legislative candidacy you may recall I did request a few signs from you to put up even though I do not live in your district. You may not realize that I was a sign coordinator for my own state rep candidate Mark Nelson putting up several score. I also served as his campaign treasurer. I was also active in the Albracht for (Illinois) Senate race and dabbled in some other Republican impacting issue oriented ventures. All of our readers were encouraged to vote in the municipal election for candidates with Republican registrations first and foremost. Scroll through the recent posts and you will find a couple of references. Congratulations (again) on your re-election. Roger Mall
Thank you, Roger, for your support and advice in my recent write in candidacy for Davenport mayor. We got a late start and not being on the ballot didn’t help us either. We met hundreds of Davenport citizens who are disgusted with Davenport politics. So if I have to listen to Gluba and his band of slappys say one more time that they were reelected because people are happy with them, I’m going to puke. We need people to get excited about voting again and many of us are frustrated with the low turnout. This council and mayor have ignored the people for so long, nobody cares any more. That’s a shame. But I like the message we sent, and we kept the yard signs. If there’s enough of Davenport to save two years from now, we might try again. Only this time we’ll do it right. Would love to have coffee sometime and pick your brain. Again, thank you.
Thank you for running and to your supporters. Yes indeed we will get together soon.