The polls have closed
In a few minutes, I’ll be headed over to watch the returns roll in at the Roanoke registrar’s office. That means I’ll be out of pocket so far as the blog goes.
I have pre-written some material (there are at least two versions, depending on who wins the mayor’s race) that my editor will freshen up a bit and post here and on the roanoke.com gateway when we’ve got a definitive result, or at least enough returns to make a call on the outcome.
If you can’t wait, though, here’s a link to the State Board of Elections unofficial results site. Sometimes they post pretty fast, and other times there’s a lag.
If you want the latest breaking news on who won what precinct and by how much, follow me on Twitter. I’ll be tweeting results from the registrar’s office as they are reported.
– Mason Adams
May 1, 2012 - 7:09 PM
Looks like the same old same old for Roanoke. Hard to believe, but the real story is in the breakdown by precinct.
Roanoke is divided, segregated, and apathetic. Welcome to America!
Most folks just simply don’t see where a local city or county government has much meaning to their daily lives, they view it as more of a pest that nickels and dimes them over silly things like meals taxes and vehicle taxes and a property tax that most folks don’t even really know that they pay since most folks are working class stiffs who pay the bank or finance company for their house note or some landlord for rent every month. Oh yea, and then there are the cops that give them traffic tickets but sometimes take their time to show-up when they call for them to come.
GIANT DISCONNECT
I agree with Sandi. Segregated, apathetic, divided. Make you proud?
No gofigure, it makes me immeasurably sad. When one side of town votes one way and the other side of town votes another, there is a bigger problem than just Bowers/Lucas. That there remains two sides of town for starters and that they see the role of even local politics through such a prism is not achievement. And then the paltry turn out that says so many just did not even care. Not that it ever stops anyone from complaining. No, it was for me, a very sad election, and would have been no matter who had prevailed when you look at it by precinct.
I think you nailed it there Sandi. I agree completely.
Thanks Uptheriver, when we agree it should be celebrated as a hopeful sign. Or, one of us has lost their mind?
Please read the 4-29-12 article at http://www.roanokefreepress.com:
Mark Lucas’ past donations to the Tea Party”.
@mj 9:25:
Don’t you think that story proves Mark Lucas is a visionary after all? That he foresaw Al Bedrosian’s subsequent career and the formation of the Tea Party all the way back in ’97 and ’99?
If you can predict a good decade into the future, that’s pretty good!
– Mason Adams
Key quote in response to my inquiry to Lucas, Mason: “I haven’t talked to him in years so I really don’t know his stance now or if I would support him [in the future] or not.”
This was after I explained to him why I was asking about Al and his associations. The “spanking” of the 2-year old by Al was at the same time of the donation. I expected him to say no or probably not now but he didn’t. And there was Dick Cranwell’s quote that “He [Al] was a tea partier before it had a name associated with it.”
This is germane when so little is known about a candidate who claims to be really an Independent or moderate Republican. The public needed to know what he’d be like once on council as he learned about the issues. Ralph Smith was a amicable self-made man too and people took a chance electing him.
What did Lucas say about the contribution to Mark Warner?
And did you ask Bowers about his contribution to Mac McCadden when he ran as an independent against Del. Onzlee Ware — a prominent city Democrat — in 2007?
– Mason Adams
No I didn’t ask Lucas about Mark Warner’s contribution to Warner’s inaugural. I don’t find that tells anything about his future. Certainly not like that of Al. Why didn’t you ask since it seems to bother you?
Bowers was out of the Democratic party at the time. Don’t get me started on the incumbent. Where was Mr. Ware – he was a no show at any Bowers’ event that I attended. Rosen missed most Bowers’ events too. As I said in my other post he is playing both parties and it worked. That shows in the precinct votes.
If you notice I mentioned quite a few other current office holders in my article. I agree with posters who say do away with party labels if it is just a front or game to play.
@7 – We may not see eye to eye on every or most issues, but I think in a general concept of politics we are on the same page. Your statement couldn’t be more spot on, and being in this region, I want that statement to be changed. I have a hard time being optimistic about the area when 85% of the people stayed home.
Give it up Val. Move on to covering the stalled Countryside plans, the ones put forth by your buddies in NW with no funding to carry them out. Or start looking into the relationship between Court Rosen and the Republican party. Or tell us more about the efforts underway to undermine and unseat Onzlee Ware by your buddies in the city Democrat Party. You’ve got plenty of issues to investigate, and apparantly plenty of time on your hands to do it. I’ll be watching your columns to see what you come up with, along with the other six people who read it.
Well, one reason I tried to keep our examination of campaign finance largely confined to what was given in this year’s race was that I think if you’re going to go down the rabbit hole of past contributions, you really have to look at the big picture instead of just picking out one.
The other thing you have to do when looking at the past, I think, is put context on it. What was the atmosphere like at that time? Were conditions different? I think you get into that a bit with the Bowers to McCadden contribution.
At the same time, the Warner and McCadden contributions jumped out at me because those are times when those guys went either against their party or contributed to the other party. I think it sheds light when you have those going-against-the-grain moments and can dig in and explain why they happened.
There are things I could have done better (there always are), but in general I think we dug into a lot of different issues this race as well as the personalities and resumes of the respective candidates.
And I can’t thank the readers of the Blue Ridge Caucus enough for helping ask questions and contribute ideas over the last few months. I’m only human and can sometimes get defensive when I get criticized, but your comments really do help improve the coverage, I think.
– Mason Adams
@gofigure I’ve already written about the Ware issue many times in the past but have not recently. All is quiet and no one seems to care. As far as Countryside everything is stalled except for an amendment to the Master Plan coming up that needs attention. More recently we were shown by Mr. Price their “hopeful” profssionally designed layout of the sportsplex they are trying to fund.
Most information come unsoliticted as Mason knows.
BTW, give what up?
FWIW, I do not think Al Bedrosian was any different back then than he has become, but that is my speculation. Either way, it was hardly a decision that was going to decide the race for anyone who supported him or anyone who did not IMO.
I only asked originally because I felt that Lucas was no where near as “fleshed out” as a candidate for people to be comfortable changing from a Mayor who has not ill-served and who, if we are confined to this year’s race, has been a good ambassador for Roanoke. The point is not the donation, the point is that we do not know Lucas well enough to know if it meant he agrees with wild Al Bedrosian. We still don’t. He wanted to start at the top and that was a pitfall in and of itself as only those on “his side of town” knew him, and damn, tell it like it is, their support was guaranteed.
I am with Uptheriver, this crap needs to change. One way it changes starts with people like Mason and Michael and Dwayne. (repeating myself from the RT Blog), I believe Roanoke has work to do and I hope that during the “re-vamp”, you get some local issues on the burner with some credible regular local commentary. I hope you look for some vibrant, eclectic local voices and give them a platform. I hope you give the conservatives a blog home and the liberals a blog home and I hope you continue to give everyone who wants to voice their concerns a safe place to do that (troll free). I hope you can have the blogs feed each other, there are often topics on one that would mesh well on another for example. Folks, either we bridge the divide or it grows. Either we work together or we fall apart. A city, this valley, needs vibrancy and participation. That over 75% of voters stayed home is not a sign of either.
Also, lobby to change the election to November. It will save time, money and get greater participation.
We need to apply some national lessons to our self and see if we can preempt the unrest, division, fear and anarchy that fester too quickly in this nation instead of always just laying blame and insulting each other.
Lay off Valerie, she is doing her best to cover what she sees as important and she has her name and credibility out there (and takes her knocks) which few haters here have the courage to do. I cannot abide anyone who attacks from the safety of anonymity. People are still talking to her and granting her interviews and they would not do so if she had no credibility or integrity. She should be as welcome here as anyone else and her opinions are more informed than some others. If this is a personal grudge, take it private! Could we have one blog on this site that does not need to hurl personal insults to each other? Just one?
Your points are well taken Sandi. My frustration with Valerie stemmed from the fact that she started a p…..ing match with Mason representing herself as the ipitomie of unbiased and thorough reporting. That’s just not accurate. She is a former Democrat Candidate for Council and remains an insider with the DParty. Her “reporting” always has an agenda. As far as “laying off” her, she writes a public column and therefore is open to any and all criticism. I will admit I got smartass with her, and for that I apologize Valerie. As far as the anonymity, unfortunately some of us work in such scrutinized enviornments that expressing viewpoints like you and I do would bring dismissal. Sad, but true. I relish the day I can sign each post I write, and I hope I do it as thoughtfully as you do (most of the time). As our buddy Rodney King said “Can’t we just all get along”?
We can surely try Gofigure! I CAN attack with the best of the worst, I just don’t enjoy it. I think if we try a little harder, we could have some great and real discussions in here without all the trash talk and insults to people’s beliefs and principles. I am more than willing to work on myself if you all will join me in that effort. What I do know is that we are not going to win by hurting each other and minimizing reality.
Well there you have it, common ground and a dose of civility to boot. Now if we can just get Suzie on board.
Well I posted here twice and got an error when submitting so if you want to read me anytime you can go to my website.
This is frustrating Mason.
#21 gofigure, dreaming big is one thing, being delusional is quite another.
Bite your tongue, gofigure.
Didn’t the same parts of town that went for Lucas also go for Obama? Is there a level of that detail on what happened in our last national election? I say this because I don’t think for most of the Lucas voters the “R” was much of an issue.
As for SoRo being Lucas’s “side of town”…Bowers doensn’t live a quarter mile from him.