By Harold
Today I feel like I participated in my first actual election. I’ve voted before, but it’s always been in New York City, where the Democrats outnumber Republicans so much that the only real suspense was whether I would remember how to use the antique voting machine, or at least figure it out in enough time so it’s not completely embarrassing.
This time was different. The race for Chapel Hill mayor was so close that the latest poll had the two candidates within one percentage point. It was a classic left-right confrontation between an openly gay leader of the state ACLU who was endorsed by the Sierra Club, and his opponent, who spent four times as much and was endorsed by the CEO of the town Chamber of Commerce.
These were two completely different candidates, and with low turnout expected (actual figure: 16%), it was exciting to actually feel like your vote might count. It was less exciting to actually vote, since the election officer handed me a pen and a sheet of paper and I had to bubble in my choice like this was a middle school math test.
Anyway, the results are in, and Democrat Mark Kleinschmidt won 4,006-3,766 according to one early report. And in case you were wondering how progressive our new home is, Kleinschmidt isn’t even the first openly gay mayor in the state — that honor goes to the man already in charge of neighboring Carrboro.
Laura
Harold
