Hi, remember me? From last Thursday? I’m the Whittle Springs squirrel that knocked out Marshall Stair with a pine cone.
In last week’s column I wrote: “When (Marshall) came around, it was Aug. 28. The election was yesterday and, we’re really sorry to say, but it looks like (he was) squeezed out. That’s too bad, because Marshall is a great general election candidate – everybody’s second choice.”
The darn squirrel was right. Marshall Stair was squeezed out on Aug. 27 with Eddie Mannis polling 7,005 votes (38 percent) to Indya Kincannon’s 5,568 (29 percent) in unofficial returns. Stair was third with 5,158 votes (27 percent). He lost by 410 votes.
What did we learn?
- Voters got what they wanted for the general election: A Republican (Mannis) vs. a Democrat (Kincannon), even though it’s a non-partisan election.
- Television advertising doesn’t work so well in a low-turnout city election. But I’m sure those Kentucky holler-dwellers will agree that Marshall and Natalie have a cute kid.
- The Nov. 5 general election will be a referendum on Madeline Rogero’s eight years. And the squirrel is whispering that more city residents are happy than not.
Amelia Parker has some magic going on. She led the ticket for at-large Seat C in the city council race that featured five candidates, polling 5,273 votes (29.8 percent) to 5,137 for Amy Midis (29 percent) and 4,654 for Bob Thomas (26 percent).
Parker and Midis will move on to the Nov. 5 general election. And this race may mark the end for Bob Thomas, Hubert Smith and David Williams – all candidates who have run and lost previously.
In 2017, Parker tied for second place with Harry Tindell in the District 4 city council race, won by Lauren Rider. Nobody then on the council wanted Parker so, rather than toss a coin to determine the winner, the council put Tindell, a former state representative, on the ballot against Rider. Parker then ran a write-in campaign and found 2,200 votes – a really strong showing.
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today. Reach her at 865-661-8777.