The More Things Change

You can finish that sentence without my help. Talking about elections in Lauderdale County, this time. 

The incumbent mayor of the county announced that he would not run again and the flood gates opened. Seven, count them, SEVEN people threw their hat into the ring. Add to that, every seat in the county was up for election.  Wow, throw in the primary candidates for governor, state and federal representatives, state judiciary positions, and we had a ballot consisting of 13 pages.

But bringing it back home. Some candidates were well-qualified.  Others, not so much.  But it really didn't matter, you can best summarize it as a popularity contest. Some of the incumbents were shown the door; others held on to their seat.

Sistah Girl dipped her toes into the political waters by hosting a meet and greet for one of the mayoral candidates, Judy Criner, and the sitting Juvenile and Probate Court Judge, Rachel Jackson.  Not sure if my choice of a date (Father's Day) was the reason for the small attendance OR whether I was being snubbed.  Regardless, the goal was accomplished; both candidates met and/or renewed acquaintances and walked away with email addresses and phone numbers.

Next up was participation in formatting the West Tennessee Business and Civic Leaders forum.  Highly successful with a great turnout.  Of course, success begs for imitation, so another group held a similar forum in Halls, located in North County.  Lawd, I didn't know that the county was divided into north and south. Learn something new every day.

Yard signs galore.  I had them in the front and the back.  Either someone didn't like my choice of candidates or they didn't like signs in my yard, period.  A little mild vandalism, signs taken or destroyed.  Not to be deterred, however.  Sistah Girl brought the remaining and strung them in a line in the middle of the front yard.  Now, get caught up in my yard, why don't you?

I gave serious consideration to mounting a write-in campaign for my commissioner district but, of course, when I thought about it,  the election was two weeks away.  No way in holy hell was I going to spend money on that cause. I did sign up to work the polls for Judy Criner on Election Day.  Kept The Lauderdale Drum, a FaceBook page, humming with all kinds of information.  Must have done something right because the number of likes went from 30 to 300.  Now to maintain.

They don't run elections down here the way they do back home.  Of course, I wasn't in the inner circles for any campaign, but they don't organize the same way. Oh well, like I said, it was pretty much a personality contest.  Those with the largest signs got the most attention, it seemed. Nor did mismanagement of an office seem to be an  issue to the populace.  They, too, retained their office.

So now you want to know who won?  Not my mayoral candidate, although she made a decent showing for her first time out. Nor did most of my other choices.  Judge Rachel Jackson retained her seat but the rest...nope.

I learned a great deal about the county, the positions, and how things work.  No one told me that the results are read at the Courthouse when the polls closed.  Definitely the place to be. Nor did anyone mention that the swearing in would be held two weeks after the election.  I thought it would take place in September.  Missed that.

The August election is in the books.  Be safe. Be Blessed.