With less than two weeks before the important primary election, is anyone excited about it? I haven’t found any excitement around Hamilton County.
This lack of interest comes despite the fact that county voters in the Republican primary may play a big part in choosing our representative in Congress, our Senator and Governor.
Hamilton County now has the fourth largest number of voters among the state’s 92 counties, and probably the third largest number of Republican voters.
The primary races for 5th District Congress and governor have created a storm of TV advertising, mostly negative, but seem to have resulted in little interest for the average local voter.
This year is a presidential election year, but with Donald Trump and Joe Biden having their nominations seemingly locked up, the upcoming vote lacks the interest that a presidential primary usually brings. It takes a burning local issue to generate wide interest for county voters. Primary voter turnout has been dropping to new lows in recent years partly because issues are lacking.
This year’s primary features almost no contests at the county level where judges for Circuit Court, Superior Courts 1 and 6, County Auditor, Treasurer, Surveyor, County Commissioners in Districts 2 and 3 along with three County Council seats are on the ballot.
Republicans have only two contests for county office: a race for the treasurer nomination between incumbent Susan Byer and challenger Robert Bragg. Also, a race for County Council-at-large where incumbents Brad Beaver, Sue Maki and Steve Nation are challenged by Elizabeth Fouch. Three of the four will be nominated.
Democrats have no county contests, and only a lone candidate, Keely Gladieux, running for County Council, although the party has until the end of June to file more candidates.
As large as the county has become, it costs a lot of money to wage a countywide campaign. Thus, most Republican candidates are expected to be elected in November without opposition.
So, it appears that the only hope for a respectable voter turnout May 7 lies with the GOP congressional and gubernatorial contests if the massive TV advertising has its intended effect.
For folks wanting information on the candidates, The Reporter runs biographical sketches in each issue along with a listing of voting precincts and their locations.
Columnist Fred Swift has worked in newspapers for decades. He has been sharing his opinions in the pages of The Reporter since it began. Email him at swiftfred19@gmail.com.
Excitement? No, but I vote in every primary the county/city holds. It’s sad that there are so few choices sometimes. The primary is the time to chose those running for offices where there will be no opposition to them in November.
Republicans have owned Hamilton county for the last century and they all pretty much think alike, so there is little reason to vote.