Gonzo over Mozy by 1,047
More election returns came in last evening in the Portland City Council race involving Jo Ann "With the Bullhorn" and her two main opponents, Gonzo and Mozy. Gonzo's now ahead of Mozy for the runoff by 1,011 votes in Multnomah County, 22 votes in Washington County, and 14 votes in Clackistan.
There probably aren't many more ballots left to be counted, although any that show up between now and Tuesday will have to be tallied if they were postmarked by Election Day. The Clackistan counting circus will drag on for quite a while, but there are hardly any Portland voters in that county. I can't imagine there'll be a swing in Mozy's favor of more than 1,047. So barring a recount, it's off to the November runoff for Gonzo.
Good! The folks at the Weed, who seemingly tried to kill him off by ignoring him, were thwarted. Of course, those folks gleefully point out that Bullhorn Lady got the most votes, but the fact remains that 57 percent of the voters voted against her and seem likely to do so again. Gonzo and Mozy split the opposition basically in half. Between the two of them, they drew about 46 percent. If the votes that the other candidates received are split 46-43 in November, according to the primary results, then Gonzo will finish with 52 percent to Bullhorn's 48.
Let's hope so, for the city's sake.
Reading through some of the comments about this race on Portland Reddit last night, it seemed like there were a lot of people who said they voted for Mozy but wouldn't vote for Gonzalez in November. They'd go with Hardesty. So, unfortunately, while on paper the numbers look good for the remaining challenger, it may not be as straightforward as one would like.
ReplyDeletePortlanders have a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome...
DeleteIt will not be easy for him. WW and the Mercury will crucify him for the next six months. There will be probably be a big turnout after they demonize Betsy Johnson. But I don't see Bullhorn Lady making it to November with out some major embarrassments. So we'll see. Don't believe everything you read on Reddit.
DeleteRemember that if we had "rank choice" voting, she would have just won this thing with a minority of the vote. The runoff process can potentially save us from another term of the bullhorn.
ReplyDeleteRank choice voting doesn't work that way - she would have won with a majority of the preferred vote.
DeleteHow the heck *does* it work? Throwing it into the charter rerform package may cause it to fail.
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