McCarter reappears ... is that good?
Not that it's terribly shocking since States McCarter did, during the first time he flirted with resigning his seat as District Eight commissioner, originally endorse David Hamilton ... but he's officially done so now. As has Ken Jordan, who served the district prior to McCarter.
Dear 8th District Resident:
The two of us, Ken Jordan and States McCarter, have represented the 8th District since unification of the Athens-Clarke County government in 1991. We hope that we have served you well. Both of us are asked frequently which of the two candidates we support in the upcoming election (on March 20th). Believing that we have more than an average level of understanding of what is required in the job, we feel compelled to share our views on the matter. This letter is the vehicle to accomplish that objective.
We are of the very strong opinion that David Hamilton will continue to provide the kind of leadership needed in the 8th District and beyond. David has been heavily involved in the community, serving as vice-president of the Cedar Creek Civic Association in 2006 and president this year. He is currently serving as the neighborhood representative on the Steering Committee appointed by the mayor to oversee the 10-year rework of the Land Use Plan. David is also a graduate of both the A-CC Citizens Police Academy and the Community Emergency Response Team program. We urge you to support David Hamilton by voting for him on March 20th.
The outcome of this special election will likely be determined by voter turnout. We urge you to go to one of the local area polling places (Gaines School, Cedar Shoals High School, or Fire Station 7) and vote on March 20th or go to the Board of Elections on Washington Street if you vote early (the early voting period is from 12th to the 16th of March). There should be no wait at either place as this is the only issue on the ballot. You can get an absentee ballot by calling 706-546-9083.
Whether or not McCarter's endorsement is a good thing or not depends on some of your political views, I would imagine. In Cedar Creek, it's understandably a good thing, though Hamilton probably already has that area locked up pretty good seeing how he's currently the president of the neighborhood association.
But how does that play in the rest of the district? While Cedar Creek may be the largest neighborhood in District Eight, one must look outside that area as well.
In 2004, McCarter won reelection by defeating Annette Nelson 3,171 to 1,431. Those results, despite McCarter's still relatively high popularity at the time, are misleading because of that 'R' that was stuck next to his opponents name. Folks in Athens-Clarke County, even in supposedly more moderate-to-conservative districts, still don't vote Republican en masse.
Examining the results of last year's mayoral race offers a little more light, but not entirely since the candidates' ideologies don't necessarily match up. While it's safe to say that Andy Herod lines up nicely with with the views of Heidi Davison and her supporters, it's much harder to put Hamilton, who did vote in the Republican primary in both 2002 and 2004, into a comparable category with either Charlie Maddox or Tom Chasteen. Hamilton is moderate-to-progressive on most local issues, and local politics matter in local elections.
In the 2006 runoff between Davison and Maddox, with the latter earning the endorsement of McCarter, Davison cruised in District Eight with 67 percent of the vote (812). In the 2006 general election, despite Chasteen and Maddox splitting the 'anti-Heidi' vote, Davison still won by a slim margin (1,149 votes to a combined 1,122 for Chasteen and Maddox).
Of course there are obvious factors to consider here as well. Davison had the luxury of having the incumbent status, while Maddox didn't have as many strong ties to the eastside as someone like Hamilton would.
McCarter's popularity across the community as a whole has declined, though he still enjoys favorable reviews by the majority of the residents of Cedar Creek.
Does McCarter's endorsement help? While it's a nice thing, ultimately what will help either candidate more will be their ability to work the streets and the phones and connect with the residents of District Eight.
Dear 8th District Resident:
The two of us, Ken Jordan and States McCarter, have represented the 8th District since unification of the Athens-Clarke County government in 1991. We hope that we have served you well. Both of us are asked frequently which of the two candidates we support in the upcoming election (on March 20th). Believing that we have more than an average level of understanding of what is required in the job, we feel compelled to share our views on the matter. This letter is the vehicle to accomplish that objective.
We are of the very strong opinion that David Hamilton will continue to provide the kind of leadership needed in the 8th District and beyond. David has been heavily involved in the community, serving as vice-president of the Cedar Creek Civic Association in 2006 and president this year. He is currently serving as the neighborhood representative on the Steering Committee appointed by the mayor to oversee the 10-year rework of the Land Use Plan. David is also a graduate of both the A-CC Citizens Police Academy and the Community Emergency Response Team program. We urge you to support David Hamilton by voting for him on March 20th.
The outcome of this special election will likely be determined by voter turnout. We urge you to go to one of the local area polling places (Gaines School, Cedar Shoals High School, or Fire Station 7) and vote on March 20th or go to the Board of Elections on Washington Street if you vote early (the early voting period is from 12th to the 16th of March). There should be no wait at either place as this is the only issue on the ballot. You can get an absentee ballot by calling 706-546-9083.
Whether or not McCarter's endorsement is a good thing or not depends on some of your political views, I would imagine. In Cedar Creek, it's understandably a good thing, though Hamilton probably already has that area locked up pretty good seeing how he's currently the president of the neighborhood association.
But how does that play in the rest of the district? While Cedar Creek may be the largest neighborhood in District Eight, one must look outside that area as well.
In 2004, McCarter won reelection by defeating Annette Nelson 3,171 to 1,431. Those results, despite McCarter's still relatively high popularity at the time, are misleading because of that 'R' that was stuck next to his opponents name. Folks in Athens-Clarke County, even in supposedly more moderate-to-conservative districts, still don't vote Republican en masse.
Examining the results of last year's mayoral race offers a little more light, but not entirely since the candidates' ideologies don't necessarily match up. While it's safe to say that Andy Herod lines up nicely with with the views of Heidi Davison and her supporters, it's much harder to put Hamilton, who did vote in the Republican primary in both 2002 and 2004, into a comparable category with either Charlie Maddox or Tom Chasteen. Hamilton is moderate-to-progressive on most local issues, and local politics matter in local elections.
In the 2006 runoff between Davison and Maddox, with the latter earning the endorsement of McCarter, Davison cruised in District Eight with 67 percent of the vote (812). In the 2006 general election, despite Chasteen and Maddox splitting the 'anti-Heidi' vote, Davison still won by a slim margin (1,149 votes to a combined 1,122 for Chasteen and Maddox).
Of course there are obvious factors to consider here as well. Davison had the luxury of having the incumbent status, while Maddox didn't have as many strong ties to the eastside as someone like Hamilton would.
McCarter's popularity across the community as a whole has declined, though he still enjoys favorable reviews by the majority of the residents of Cedar Creek.
Does McCarter's endorsement help? While it's a nice thing, ultimately what will help either candidate more will be their ability to work the streets and the phones and connect with the residents of District Eight.
posted by Jmac at 8:59 AM
10 Comments:
Mr. McCarter is still pretty popular in Cedar Creek, but I think many people were turned off by the way he resigned without explanation. I would agree with the statement that his popularity has faded. I also agree that Mayor Davison is fairly popular in the district and seems more closely aligned with Mr. Herod. (In fact, one of Mr. Hamilton's volunteers stated as much when he was canvassing the neighborhood yesterday. Apparently, this volunteer saw Mr. Herod's support of Mayor Davison as a negative.)
I wouldn't agree that Mr. Hamilton has Cedar Creek wrapped up. He had a number of signs up early, ahead of Mr. Herod, but there are suddenly a large number of Herod signs in Cedar Creek. I don't know about Green Acres, but since Mr. Herod is the president of their civic association, I'd have to give him an edge in that neighborhood.
The endorsement of former Commissioners McCarter and Jordan (Ken, not Carl) is a nice coup for David. These 2 are the only District 8 commissioners since A/CC consolidation.
I think it is clear that David's ideology fits more in line with these 2 men, who both served the community well. And David's temperment (sp?) fits very closely with Mr. Jordan's - which is obviously a positive as Mr. McCarter's only downside was his quick fuse and stubbornness.
Having said all of that, Mr. Herod's ideology fits very closely with Heidi and her band of merry Commissioners. The Heidi, Lynn, Kinman, Dodson, Girtz contingency grows stronger if Mr. Herod wins in D-8. I am concerned by that... not that any of these folks are bad people... just that absolute power corrupts, well, absolutely.
Nice coup? Ha ha. That's funny since this news is over a year old.
I seriously have to question the reasoning of anyone who thinks that having States McCarter's endorsement is a good thing. So far, all that Hamilton has demonstrated to me is that he is just as bipolar as States.
He's voted in four of six Republican primaries and hosted a fundraiser for Charlie Maddox. Then Charlie's general election vote count indicates he's going to get trounced so he gives money to Heidi. Now he's putting out there that he's going to end the absolute corruption of the Heidi-led Mayor and Commission. LOL! So he's going to vote against her and then give money to her.
Is Hamilton really going to campaign on being a Heidi outsider? That'll be really bad for the East Side if we have a minority of one commissioner who has to convince pro-Heidi Commissioners to vote with him.
I sure hope that he gives more thought to being a commissioner than he does to his campaign strategy.
Now I'll admit that I am a relative newcomer to D8 politics. I've only lived here since A/CC consolidation (or unification as someone more correctly put it). You remember that, right? Or were you still studying for the SAT then?
Regardless, I have not heard Mr. Hamilton campaign on anything even closely resembling your statement of being a Heidi outsider. But it's a nice try for you, obviously someone very close to her, to try and make that point. As a matter of fact, Mr. Hamilton has mentioned more than once that he was appointed to chair a committee of some kind by the mayor. That does take some kind of relationship, right?
As for that news (the endorsement by former commissioners), I thought the letter was dated this weekend. I must have misread it.
Last point of the evening relates to your vilification by prior voting record. I respect someone who has the courage and integrity to vote for the person best suited for a job. If that person has an "R" by their name, so be it. If that person has a "D" by their name, so be it. That is certainly better than the simple-minded approach by the fringe on either side voting for the letter alone.
I respect someone who has the courage and integrity to vote for the person best suited for a job. If that person has an "R" by their name, so be it. If that person has a "D" by their name, so be it. That is certainly better than the simple-minded approach by the fringe on either side voting for the letter alone.
I agree, particularly in local politics. In fact, some of the commissioners in Northeast Georgia who I respect the most for their approach to policy happen to be Republicans, and I'm a good card-carrying member of the Democratic Party.
I will say, however, that where one typically votes in a primary often is reflective of how they view and approach issues. It shouldn't be the only thing a voter considers, but it definitely should be part of the equation.
I cannot seriously believe Hamilton thinks having MacCarter's endorsment helps him! Why would Hamilton do this??? There's something seriously wrong with MacCarter - he can't get along with anybody and you know he is dying to be able to control who comes after him. Hamilton has made a deal with the devil. And I've lived over here 6 years and have no idea who Ken Jordan is. We all got letters over here during the last election from MacCarter endorsing CHARLIE MADDOX. Maddox lost BIG-TIME over here. Does not bode well for Hamilton or this district.
States' support for Hamilton has been out since September of 2005:
Here's the link:
http://onlineathens.com/stories/091405/new_20050914052.shtml
A simple search on onlineathens would have found it.
Thanks for pointing out what I said in the first line of my post.
Just trying to square that with Jmac's previous assertion:
Anonymous said...
It's my understanding that Hamilton is States' hand picked successor. That's enough to lose my vote right there.
8:03 AM
Jmac said...
Not at all. That's a misconception that was put out there.
If by 'hand-picked successor' you mean 'yeah, they kinda know each other' then you would be correct. Hamilton had planned to run for that seat eventually, and McCarter just knew him. I think it was a quote taken out of context, and a way for McCarter to keep his name in the limelight.
To suggest McCarter recruited him is flat-out wrong.
8:14 AM
Sorry, monticello_pres, but I don't think any endorsement shows the "integrity" of a campaign. There are many ways to show integrity in a campaign, but an endorsement isn't one of them.
I've lived in Cedar Creek a long time and certainly know Ken. I have a great deal of respect for him. However, there is only one person living anywhere near me who was here when Ken was commissioner. There is a lot of turnover in district 8. While I'm sure David appreciates his endorsement, I don't think it is going to sway many votes.
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