McNamara and Bakken win

Well, the voting is over and the results are in. My predictions were partially correct...

Art Bakken won in Ward 6 with 54% of the vote so my prediction in this ward was correct. I would have enjoyed seeing the new voice that the more liberal Tom Potter would have brought to the council, but Bakken - a former council member - should have a decent knowledge of how the city operates. I would have voted for Potter, but Bakken should be a decent addition to the council.

I was also right in Ward 4 when I predicted Hal Gershman would be returning for another four years on the council. Does it really make a difference that he was the only one that I could have predicted winning since he was the only guy on the ballot in Ward 4? Ok, maybe it does.

I was more surprised to see how things turned out in Ward 2. I had predicted a win by Tom Kenville, but it turns out that Mike McNamara's name recognition probably helped him more than I thought it would. He won with 49% of the vote. The next closest candidate - Jon Dorner - got just 19% of the vote. Maybe I'm being too critical, but I still don't really like the fact that McNamara will be in Iraq until fall and there is nothing that says he won't go back again in the future while still on the council. I would have liked to have seen a candidate who actually is in Grand Forks win a seat on the Grand Forks city council. Oh well, McNamara should make things interesting during council meetings. And just think of the boon this should be for his Grand Forks radio show!

It was fun watching the races this year. Since this was the first local elections that have taken place while I have had this blog, this is by far the council election that I have followed the closest.

Check out Tu-Uyen's Herald story on the election results.