One Month Left: Not Too Late (Especially if you Live in an Uncontested District) Run for Delegate!

Today (May 13, 2017) is 31 days until June 13 when either the GOP or Dems can run candidates in uncontested districts by fiat or others – Libertarians, Constitution, Green, Indy Green (not related to the Green Party), or independents – with just 125 voters signatures (better get about 225 to be realistically sure to get enough) to get on the ballot.  (There may be permissions to get to run on a party line still but you are ON THE BALLOT!)

Why run?

• Uncontested elections are bad for the polity.  Yes it is great when a delegate or senator or supervisor you like gets a free ride – but it is corrosive for the democratic process overall in the long run.  And it takes away from the winner’s victory.
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• In the NOVA and other elections where the Democrat has the uncontested seat the conservative/libertarian message needs to be heard.  A GOP or LP or Constitution candidate who is articulate, not kooky for sure, with a solid background, who understands the issues, who likes people and has some speaking skills can bring more voters into the voting booth who will also vote for GOP in the statewide (or local) elections.  Compare District 4 with District 3 – the turnout in Senator Norment’s district was 45,000 votes compared to the 38,000 in Senator McDougle’s.  The GOP turnout was about the same but Reyes brought in 15,000 votes that mostly likely voted Democrat in other races on the ballot.
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• The GOP should not get a free ride either.  See above.
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• The people need choices.  Look at the number of write ins in uncontested races such as Senate District 4 (McDougle – my senator) where over 1500 voters wrote in someone else (it’s 4 percent!) in an uncontested race.  Now I like Ryan McDougle but it won’t hurt him or the electorate if he had a contest.  (You need 250 signatures to run for state senate – but my friend Corey Fauconier got it in a long weekend in a special election.  He had a cadre of signature circulators to call on; I could probably get Corey’s crowd with a call or two and we’d have the signatures in three or four days.)
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• Finally the BTSED rule:  It’s a great thrill to meet people who agree with you and you can articulate ideas and issues important to you.  You WILL make a difference.  If you ever wanted as a kid or teenager to change the world – time now to do it.

You can certainly talk with me about it.  I can be reached at ssanders [at] varight.com.

Article written by: Elwood “Sandy” Sanders