- Rs and Ds listed below. Vote today at your precinct. Polls open ’til 8:00pm
This post is a result of running out of time to do better and is perhaps disjointed and we apologize for that. Some day we would like to survey municipal candidates as to political philosophy and timely issues and then be in a position with reportage to evaluate their performance. That should be a job of the Scott County Republican Party, (SCRP) but alas they do not even publicize which candidates belong to which party! At least we show you that.
We fully realize party registration is no sure indicator as to the best candidate, but when there is nothing else to go on, we will give Republicans the nod. Would that the Scott County Republican Party would promote the same. Unfortunately our reach is limited compared to their existent potential, although looking at their Web site we note that they have essentially abandoned that as a tool or information hub. Months have gone by without more than a calendar entry. Their Facebook posts are a bit more timely but weeks go by there without officially engaging, guiding or informing the troops.
Most of what we can offer here is a recitation of party affiliation and some general commentary. A few of the races will get some highlights or specific recommendations.
Voting with marginal information is less dangerous in municipal races that are largely ministerial, as many of the small town races reduce to. Larger budgets and all manner of “social services” and policy choices creep into the larger jurisdictions of Davenport and Bettendorf. We regret not having more to go on than the generalities and pablum spouted by candidates there and their too close for comfort “one Quad City” orientation. Yeh lets bind ourselves with agreements with the likes of Illinois politicians.
You will see that orientation in the signage of several Davenport candidates, particularly the ones getting the support of the Chamber of Commerce PAC (Gripp and Condon) and in the commonality of the ones using Victory Enterprises (Gripp and Condon again). Klipsch uses the theme as well. The bridge theme, and the involvement of those players is always discomforting.
Such visionaries. Sheesh
Nevertheless we recommend giving the nod to Republicans, (Condon is not). Vote Republican when there is opposition or even when there is not. That assumes you do not have sufficient contrary information not to advance the particular Republican. But voting generally for the lesser of evils, or simply for the one who had the good judgement to register as a Republican is a valid strategy. Democrats will fall for anything and are worse in so many ways. Straight ticket voting is not available in most of the municipal elections as most are non-partisan. So you need a clue and we provide it below. In most cases that is about all it is.
As regards No Party registrations like Mayor Klipsch, and 6th Ward candidate Lidell, well it depends on the opposition, and relative to that they can prove to be good choices.
The registration data we use here is from the Scott County Auditor’s (SCA) February 2017 data base (available for purchase). There are a few candidates on the ballot we could not find in that data base. That might reasonably be considered a red flag as it may indicate candidates very new to the area or not previously registered — too young or too lazy or whatever. There could be errors in our recitation so we offer a link to the SCA Web site.
Keep in mind that when there is more than one position to fill in a given race, voters can limit their approval vote to certain of the candidates. You do not have to vote in the race or fill out all the positions just because there are no others running. You can bullet vote and make a statement of sorts or when there is more than one position to be filled and more than that running you improve your favorite candidates chances or standing by bullet voting, leaving the rest unmarked.
No need to throw a Democrat a vote unless the alternatives are that bad (very rare) and especially if no one else is running . In that case don’t vote the race or consider writing in a qualified candidate. If there is a NP person running, find out about them. They could be more conservative than the registered Republican.
Overview. At a glance there are 44 races on the Scott county municipal election ballots but of course your precinct voting place will only have the races valid for your municipality and precinct. Of the total of 44 about 30 are uncontested. In those 30, assuming insufficient write ins, the candidate(s) get a free ride. In some cases particularly the smaller towns, that there is no opposition is somewhat understandable as most of the role is ministerial, but even at that it does not mean the candidate is doing a good job, or that interest is absent, only that others can’t run. Again, no need to honor Democrats with your vote, it only encourages them.
Party affiliation per Feb 2017 SCA data (i) indicates incumbent (u) indicates uncontested R = Republican; D = Democrat; NP = registered No Party. Our recommendations in bold relies on party affiliation when no other comparison available. Other notes may be appended.
City of Bettendorf
Alderman at Large
(Vote for no more than one)
• Lisa M. Brown (i)
R
• Kylah Rasche
D
City of Bettendorf
2nd Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Scott Naumann (i) (u) R
City of Bettendorf
4th Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Gregory P. Adamson (i) (u) R Good guy
City of Bettendorf
Park Board Commissioner
(Vote for no more than two)
• Larry E. Makoben (i)
(u) R
• Steven Wilger (i)
(u) R
City of Blue Grass
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Larry D. Guy
NP
City of Blue Grass
City Council
(Vote for no more than two)
• Chuck Barton (i)
NP good guy – former deputy sheriff)
• Donna Kinzer
D and wife of D Scott County Supervisor
• Timothy E. Rhoades
R
• Emilyne Slagle
D
City of Buffalo
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Doug Anderson (i)
(u) R
City of Buffalo
City Council
(Vote for no more than three)
• Trent Adams
D
• Judy Hammons
No clear registration info found in data base
• Sally Rodriguez D
City of Davenport
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Frank Klipsch (i)
(u) NP will toss him a vote but always worry about Chamber of Commerce influence and the bridge thing.
City of Davenport
Alderman at Large
(Vote for no more than two)
• Andrew Walker Arnold
No clear registration info found in data base
• JJ Condon D — no need to vote for a registered Dem in this race
• Kyle Gripp (i)
R reluctantly as Chamber endorsement always worrisome
• Toby W. Paone D big time DEM avoid this
City of Davenport
1st Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Rick Dunn (i)
(u) D
City of Davenport
2nd Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Maria Dickmann (i)
R
• Mike Prunchak
D
City of Davenport
3rd Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Marion Meginnis (i)
D — sheesh, she is interested in a county wide school system, have Davenport School board run your successful district
• Wil Patton Not listed in data base that we found. How comparatively bad could he be compared to above?
City of Davenport
4th Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Raymond A. Ambrose (i) R
A good responsive Alderman. We admire that he did not respond to the stilted Chamber of Commerce survey. Make the extra effort to call people you know in the ward to vote Ambrose
• Susan Weir D did not respond either but she is a product of the “educator” machine
City of Davenport
5th Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Rita Rawson (i)
D
City of Davenport
6th Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Richard A. Clewell
D perenial candidate for everything. Active lefty Democrat
• Sean Liddell NP says he is a fiscal conservative, Neil Anderson, conservative Illinois State Senator endorsed him (Liddell served as a Moline alderman a few years ago before moving here). That is good but seems too much a Chamber parrot for great comfort. Against Clewell there is no other choice than Liddell.
City of Davenport
7th Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Mike Matson (i)
D this is the clown prince who used his influence to reject an offer to rent space at the Davenport American Legion for a rally in support of Trump this past spring as being too political for the venue. Never mind that political candidates often rent the facility. This jerk then used the same facility to further his candidacy for the Democrat nomination for Iowa Governor. Incredible and dishonorable. He has since abandoned his gubernatorial pipe-dream. Mickey Mouse in his case is a good alternative.
City of Davenport
8th Ward Alderman
(Vote for no more than one)
• Kerri Tompkins (i)
(u) R
City of Dixon
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Steven Laughlin (i)
(u) R
City of Dixon
City Council
(Vote for no more than one)
• Sue J. Motz (i)
(u) R
City of Donahue
City Council
(Vote for no more than three)
• Timothy Arp (i) (u) NP
• Rachelle Troje-Hayslett (i)
(u) NP
City of Donahue
City Council
To Fill a Vacancy – To end of term
(Vote for no more than one)
• Brittney Noel
no listing found
City of Eldridge
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Martin P. OBoyle (i)
D
City of Eldridge
City Council
(Vote for no more than two)
• Brian Dockery (i)
R
• Frank King (i)
R
• Marcie Ordaz
NP
City of LeClaire
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Ray C. Allen (i)
R
City of LeClaire
City Council
(Vote for no more than three)
• Amy Blair (i)
D
• Barry A. Long (i)
R
• John A. Smith (i) R
• Jim Work
no listing found
City of Long Grove
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Michael Limberg (i)
R
• Jackie Wilcox D
City of Long Grove
City Council
(Vote for no more than two)
• Cindy Blinkinsop (i)
R
• Michael Oechsner (i)
R
• Al Pawloski R
City of Long Grove
City Council
To Fill a Vacancy – To end of term
(Vote for no more than one)
• Brandon J. Cronise R
• Jon Drumm
NP
City of Maysville
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• David Sindt (i)
(u) R
City of Maysville
City Council
(Vote for no more than three)
• Rodney Ferris (i) (u) D
• Dale Fischer (i)
(u) R
• Duane Harvey (i) (u) D
City of McCausland
City Council
(Vote for no more than two)
• Karen Carsten (i) (u) R
• Sally Wuestenberg
(u) R
City of McCausland
City Council
To Fill a Vacancy – To end of term
(Vote for no more than one)
• Joyce A. Williamson (u)
NP
City of New Liberty
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• No Candidate Filed – Write-In
City of New Liberty
City Council
(Vote for no more than three)
• No Candidates Filed – Write-In
City of Panorama Park
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Ronald Rice
(u) R
City of Panorama Park
City Council
(Vote for no more than five)
• Beth Elmore (u) No listing found
• Jacque M. Krause
(u) R
• Mandi Lauritzson (i)
(u) R
• Shawn Rice (i) (u) R
• David White (i) (u) R
City of Princeton
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Roger Woomert (i)
NP
City of Princeton
City Council
(Vote for no more than two)
• Amy Simmons
(u) NP
• Karen Woomert (i)
(u) D
City of Princeton
City Council
To Fill a Vacancy – To end of term
(Vote for no more than one)
• No Candidate Filed – Write-In
City of Riverdale
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• Michael Bawden
(u) R this is a special case. He is unopposed, an “R” but a supporter of Cheri Bustos, liberal Democrat congresswoman. No need to hold your nose –write in appropriate
City of Riverdale
City Council
(Vote for no more than two)
• Paul D Camp R
• Anthony Heddlesten
No listing found
• Linda Hupp (i)
D
• Bonnie Grindle
D
City of Walcott
Mayor
(Vote for no more than one)
• John Kostichek (i) (u) R
City of Walcott
City Council
(Vote for no more than two)
• John L. Brockmann
R
• Virgil Wayne Latimer (i)
D
• Jackie Puck (i)
D
• Larry L. Smith
R
Chamber of Commerce
We were hoping to do a deeper analysis of some of the implications of the QC Chamber of Commerce endorsements in the Davenport and Bettendorf races. They sent a survey to candidates presumably focused on their priorities. Their survey is available here. In general we are not fans of what is their typical approach to city government — insiders, businesses at the trough, bigger is better, new development at the expense of existing. They do not report surveys in uncontested races but in one of their favored matters — four year terms, we suspect there may be support. We oppose it but note some of our R’s and others indicated support. That is one reason some of our endorsements are with trepidation.
R Mall
