I Voted: Special Election Open Thread
As you know, today is the special election for New Castle County Council President. The candidates are County Councilperson Tim Sheldon and former State Representative Tom Kovach. Use this thread to share thoughts and observations on the election.
I visited three polling places this morning (putting up signs). None of the polling places had greeters and none had Kovach signs. So, if there is a hidden Kovach GOTV organization, it wasn’t in evidence. I was the first voter in my ED, so I think turnout will be abysmal.
What are you seeing?
I will be voting later this evening. I was running late this morning and couldn’t make it to vote. I see on Facebook that Mike Matthews voted for Kovach, so now I have to vote so as to cancel him out.
I will vote in the next 30 minutes. Sadly, with the snow on the ground and the fact that it’s Thursday, very, very few people will vote today for this important election.
The ‘best’ GOTV machine will prevail. Currently, with what we see in the NCCC and across the state as well, there’s very little counterbalance to the Democratic control. i’d love to see a lot more courage from our elected officials with respect to things like the DelDOT incompetence.
Even the News Journal’s editorial board is calling on the good Governor to boot Carolann Wicks.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110113/OPINION11/101130310
Little activity at Brandywine Hundred Library shortly after 8.
Poll workers at Bush School eager to engage in extended conversation with anyone who walks through the door.
If these sites are any indication of GOTV efforts, neither candidate deserves to win.
So what is the over/under line for total votes? Ill set it at 1,300. Takers? If the under wins, I like Kojacks chances. If the over prevails, I give it to Sheldon.
Just voted. Only item of middling note is that Sheldon had signs and Kovach didn’t at my B’wine 100 poll location (Arden Gild Hall).
Voted. Only Sheldon posts at my polling place.
Sounds like Sheldon has two signs at each location and Kovach has either none or a lot. They must be targeting – drove by a few places this morning and he had at least 10. I vote at claymont elementary and they were all over the place. Noticed a bunch at that church at Naamans/Darley, Concord HS and the brandywine town center.
I placed signs at 3 polling places. I didn’t see any Kovach signs at any of them when I was planting mine. However, by the time I returned to the first one, my polling place, Kovach had some up.
I did get calls from sign planters below the canal that Kovach had overloaded there, with as many as 7 signs at some polling places. In some of those places, that’s possibly more signs than voters today…
Well, if all they’re targeting are B’wine 100 districts then (a) they’ve missed some and (b) that’s just a miniscule % of polling places.
Of course, all this is can indeed be misleading in the Rosencrantz/Guildenstern sense, but it’s all we’ve got.
I’ve been robocalled by the D’s three times before today, received a mailer, and gotten an e-mail reminder from the party today. Not bad, really, for this type of GOTV.
I just voted. I saw no Kovach signs, plenty of Sheldon signs. There was no one outside working for either of the candidates. I was the only person voting inside.
Voted at Brandywine Hundred Fire Hall first thing this morning. Buckets of Kovach signs, (And, Tom Kovach in person). On my ride in to work, I passed Mt. Pleasant Elementary – tons of Kovach signs there too. Didn’t see a single Sheldon sign at all this morning.
BellefonteRoss’s info is helpful and not unexpected. Both ED’s are in the 6th RD that Kovach used to represent. Kovach really needs intense party assistance to gain traction elsewhere. It’s all about the GOTV.
Speaking of which, since my last post, I received a live call on behalf of Sheldon. I’ve already voted, but my wife and daughter will be doing so later.
I voted at Brandywine High School at 1PM: I was the only voter there at that time. Furthermore, when the poll worker was flipping through the binder of registration rolls (to sign me in), I was the only one out of the 16 or so on the page with my name on it and the page before to vote so far. Some Kovach signs, one sheldon sign really close to the school. I received a Kovach call sometime last week.
16:1 Is the inverse of the ratio of registered voters that will vote.
Saw one Kovacs sign across from the Farmer’s Market (273). I voted at Eisenburg an hour ago and Had the place to myself, or rather the polling ladies had me to themselves
I just voted at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. I was the only one there and didn’t see signs for any of the candidates.
My mom and I just voted at the Mary Campbell Center (B’wine Hundred), at about 4pm.
Six Kovac signs and two for Sheldon on the property.
The registrar said that turnout was better than predicted. As we went in one person was coming out and another was already signing in. As we were leaving, one person was signing in and another heading in the door.
It’s somewhat misleading there, though, because the people we see coming and going from outside might be visitors or employees, not voters.
To be fair about the signs – I put up signs in 3 EDs this morning. Perhaps I should say I stuck signs in convenient snowbanks, the ground was as hard as a rock.
If Brandywine Hundred is seeing good turnout, that could be good news for Kovach.
I voted at 2 p.m. in Glasgow. Lots of Kovach signs in the parking lot entry, then a couple Sheldon signs closer to the door. I was the only voter, but the public counter was 42 prior to my vote. Usually two districts vote at my polling place with well over 1000 voters registered, so this is extremely low, as expected.
I just voted at the East Side Charter School off of Governor Printz Blvd. No signs whatsoever from either candidate. Hell, the road to the school was still snow covered. I was the only voter there.
Voted for Sheldon.
I was a poll checker from noon-3pm at Branywine Springs and between two EDs about 70 out of over 1400 voters had voted by 3 pm.
Just voted in Odessa. When I joked “I beat the rush” I followed it up with, “im the first person ho said that right?”. And they tiredly said, “no. Not the first.”.
Have I missed the campaign of the ‘tariens or the B Enigma? And a quick view of a union job: I heard no other tradesmen talking election and when I talked up Sheldon all I got was glaze-over – “Must remember to remember then go out to vote.”
I voted a bit after 3 PM. Didn’t see anybody else there or other signatures in the binder. A guy outside in the lobby asked me if there was an election today, while surrounded by “Polling Place” signs.
Just voted. Asked how many had voted…about 120 so far in a solidly D district. This kind of turnout upsets me. Special elections suck.
2 Shelton signs.
Voted about 6:30 here at Quaker Hill Place Apartments in Wilmington. They said they had about 50 voters so far all day.
2 Sheldon signs only. Although when I went to Dover on Tuesday for the swearing in, there were signs for both along Rt 1 — probably an even number for them. The only signs I saw for them during the season, frankly.