Tag: special elections

Inauguration Day 2021

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The day has arrived—the briefly delayed third term of Obama’s presidency.  In the years since Obama left office, the progressive Left has become even more insane.  After a four-year reprieve under Trump, the radical progressives aren’t going to let another opportunity pass to transform the country completely.

Things are going to get worse before they get better, which is why I’m encouraging my fellow conservatives, Christians, and traditionalists to think and act locally in the years to come (H/T to historian Brion McClanahan for that pithy phrase).  Now is the time to attend town/city and county council meetings, to run for local and State offices, and to build up communities.  While we can do some of that online, we’ve got to get out and meet people—join Bible studies, form local clubs, revive forgotten civic organizations, etc.  Heck, even play at an open mic!

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The Last Day of Freedom?

The Portly Politico5 Comments

Here we are, 19 January 2021—the last day of basking in liberty before Biden the Usurper assumes the throne.  For all his personal foibles and occasional missed opportunities (while acknowledging, of course, his many achievements), President Trump at least fought to ensure that Americans could enjoy freedom and opportunity.  Under progressive rule, no such guarantees exist.

But rather than look about gloomily at what is to come, I’d like to offer some words of exhortation.  Times will not be easy for conservatives and Christians over the next four years, but I’m trying to embrace this new progressive era with some cautious, small-scale optimism.

For one, I think the whole sordid election fraud, as well as the bipartisan effort to impeach President Trump for—if we’re honest about it—discouraging violence and encouraging peaceful protest—has confirmed for many of us that the elites of both parties are against us.  As such, effecting change at the national level seems increasingly futile.

That might sound discouraging, but consider it from another angle:  if we can’t make much of a dent at the national level, then why waste the energy?  Instead, let’s focus our efforts locally.

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Lamar Town Council Special Election Results 2021

The Portly Politico8 Comments

Well, the results from yesterday’s election are in—and I won!  At some point (soon, I hope) I’ll be sworn in as a member of Lamar Town Council.

I don’t have photographs of the final print-out, so I don’t the breakdown by precinct, but I hope to obtain that information soon.  I got the results from the election workers as they pulled the receipt from the voting machine shortly after 7 PM EST last night:  121 for Cook, 69 write-in.

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Special Election Day 2021

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Well, here it is—my second special election run for Lamar Town Council.  Polls open at 7 AM and close at 7 PM at Lamar Town Hall.

This election is a special election to fill a vacancy, the result of another resignation from Town Council.  Lang Howell, the Mayor Pro Tempore, stepped down, triggering the special election today.  I paid my $17.50 filing fee back in November, and am the only declared candidate on the ballot.

That said, in last night’s Town Council meeting, Mayor Darnell Byrd-McPherson noted that a young college student, Keon Mack, indicated just yesterday his intent to run as a write-in candidate.

Regular readers will recall that this similar tactic was used—successfully—to defeat myself and another filed candidate in a 14 July 2020 special election race.  Some churches in town, heavily inclined demographically in one direction, fielded a last-minute candidate, Mary Ann Mack, who won a stunning upset victory, winning 86-28-23 (Mack-Cook-Segars).

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Delayed SubscribeStar Saturday Posted: Back in the Arena

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This past Saturday’s SubscribeStar Saturday was delayed, but I got the latest post, “Back in the Arena: Second Lamar Town Council Special Election” posted last night.  It’s about the beginning of my second campaign for Lamar Town Council, and my strategy to overcome secret write-in campaigns this time around (basically, get more people to turn out to vote for me—not too complicated!).

It’s available now for $1 and higher subscribers.  For full details about subscriber perks, read this morning’s TBT post.

Thanks again for your support!

—TPP

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Lazy Sunday LXXXV: Elections

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The fun of Halloween has passed.  Now it’s on to the election, which is just two days away.  The joyful gatherings of Halloween weekend might be the last bit of fun and togetherness for some time, depending on how things shake out this Tuesday.

I am praying fervently for a Trump victory, and for Republicans to maintain their control of the Senate and to retake the House.  Such an outcome would mark a major repudiation of the Democrats’ radicalism.  More importantly, it could save the Republic—or, at the very least, forestall its demise for another few years.

For this Lazy Sunday, then, I decided to look back at posts about elections from years past:

That’s it for this Sunday.  Please, please go out and vote for Trump on Tuesday, especially if you’re in any of the swing States.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

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SubscribeStar Saturday: Lamar Special Election Analysis

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Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive.  To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.  For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.  NEW TIER: $3 a month gets one edition of Sunday Doodles every month!

As readers know, I ran in the Lamar, South Carolina special election for Town Council this past Tuesday.  Former Town Councillor Tamron McManus resigned earlier in the year, triggering a special election.  The election was originally slated for 12 May 2020, but was rescheduled to 14 July 2020 due to The Virus.

I posted the results on Wednesday, after I spoke with the Darlington County Election Commissioner.  Of the two filed candidates—Buzz Segars and myself—neither candidate won.  There was a surprise, sleeper, dark-horse write-in candidate, Mary Anne Mack, who blew both of us away.  The final tally was 86-28-23, Mack, Cook, Segars (read Wednesday’s post for the full breakdown).

In my results post, I wrote that “I will offer more detailed analysis in this Saturday’s edition of SubscribeStar Saturday.  Some of my insights, while I believe accurate, are a bit spicy, and should be behind a paywall.”

So, as promised, here is my analysis of this highly unusual election.  While Lamar is a small town of just under 1000, I think this election has some important implications for small municipal elections, especially in the South.  The Mack Strategy of running a quiet write-in campaign among a tight-knit group, thereby catching the publicly announced candidates off-guard, could be hugely effective.  Implementing it—or learning to combat it—could significantly change municipal elections in rural and small town communities.

The rest of this post will be available on my SubscribeStar page shortly.  I am attending a family wedding this afternoon and will be a tad delayed completing the post.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

Lamar Town Council 2020 Special Election Results

The Portly Politico5 Comments

Yesterday Lamar held a rescheduled special election for a vacant Town Council seat.  I was hoping to have the results last night, but when I drove by Lamar Town Hall around 8:30 PM, the results were not posted to the front door.

I spoke with Darlington County Election Commissioner Hoyt Campbell this morning, however, and he gave me the results over the phone.  He also said the poll workers might have posted the voting machine receipts to one of the side doors of Town Hall.  Sure enough, I drove down there this morning and they were on a side door.  That occurred to me last night, but the prospect of lurking around a public building at dusk struck me as a tad sketchy.

The results were surprising—shocking, really.  This little off-cycle, middle-of-summer, Age of The Virus election came with an interesting twist.

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Special Election Day 2020

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Last November, my little town held town council elections.  Neither of the people I voted for won, and the two incumbents won reelection (there were two separate seats up, so we got to vote for two separate candidates).

In March, one of the Town Councillors resigned for reasons still unknown to me, which triggered a special election. I filed to run for Town Council on Friday, 13 March 2020—the Friday before all the schools in South Carolina shut down and went to distance learning.

With The Virus hitting, the special election was moved from its original date on Tuesday, 12 May to today, Tuesday, 14 July 2020.  My plan was to keep it simple, just talking to people and maybe going door-to-door, but quarantining—as well as a good bit of time on the road this summer—prevented that.  It also didn’t help that I was cooped up inside for two weeks with a gnarly virus (fortunately, I tested negative for The Virus, but I’m skeptical as to the accuracy of that test).

But that’s mostly me making excuses for myself.  I could have done more.  I did talk to my neighbor and a few other folks.  One older man approached me while I was loading my car up one morning and complained about a house with caged pit bulls in the backyard; he wanted me to introduce an ordinance banning pit bulls “when you get elected.”  I’ve actually given that a great deal of thought, and might explain my thinking on that proposal in a future post.  It will certainly become more relevant if I get elected.

As for the campaign, I resolved to spend $0 campaigning.  I didn’t do any fundraising, or even funded anything myself (other than spending $31 for the filing fee).  There’s no need to spend scads of money in a local election in a town of approximately 950 people.  Public office should be attainable to anyone, especially at the local level, and I want to see if that’s doable.

I did, however, create a small (free!) Facebook page eight days ago.  I wrote a short post explaining my vision for the town:

My basic pitch:  Lamar is centrally-located in a rapidly growing part of South Carolina.  Working families, especially young ones just starting out, are finding it more difficult to buy homes in the larger neighboring municipalities.  Lamar is well-positioned to welcome those young families with friendliness, affordable real estate, low taxes, and proximity to the three large towns in the area (not to mention two Interstates).

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