I was hoping that this past Saturday would decide all of the city council races and that we would not have to suffer through a runoff. However, I guess you don’t always get what you wish. I am pleased to see that in the District 1 race that Louis Marshall has not made the runoff. I have to say I was surprised. I have not outwardly campaigned for any candidate due to the fact that Mr. Marshall might win and since our relationship is tenuous at best, I thought I would wait to see what happened. Out of all the letters and emails I have written him, the only one he ever answered was my most recent one this past summer right before re-election time. The second reason I have not openly pulled for one candidate over another is, I simply do not have enough information about either man.
I was hoping to get more information on the other two candidates, Michael Bordelon and Edward Lavardain, however, except from a postcard from Mr. Bordelon, I have heard nothing from either camp. I have also been puzzled at the lack of coverage by the Town Talk regarding these races. I may have missed it (please correct me if I am wrong), but I have not seen an interview or any type of article regarding any of the persons running for any of the council seats. The only coverage I saw was the issue regarding whether or not Jonathan Goins (Go Mr. Goins! I am glad to see you won your race) could run based on his domiciliary address and the shot someone took at Louis Marshall regarding him being a convicted felon (Uh, I didn’t know what my cousin was going to use those guns for…). Otherwise, the information has just not trickled down to me.
I was appalled at the number of votes cast for the District 1 council seat. around 900, less than a thousand votes were cast to choose a new councilman to represent this district. Shocking! Interestingly enough, this area’s population seemingly has the most to say about government assistance or the lack thereof, yet it seems that no one can get their “tush” out the door to go vote. Most of the people in this area are renters and are most likely not even registered to vote, nor have exercised their right to vote in many years, if they have ever voted at all.
I am not trying to make potshots here. I am just stating facts and my personal observances. I am also not limiting my remarks to any ethnicity. I live in District 1 and we are a very diverse group of people. I just find it very sad out of all the people who live in District 1 (I am not sure how many there are, maybe Lamar can help us with the numbers) that only 900 people cast a vote in the District 1 city council race. Appalling…
In contrast to our very low key local politics, the presidential race has escalated to an all time high and I cannot wait for it to be over! I am soooooo glad that it will be over in November. I am so ill of all the politics, potshots, negativity, debates, and on and on and on…. Someone needs to make a law that you cannot start running for president or even talk about it until one year before the election. Is two plus years really necessary? Sheesh! On a funny note….check out this link. I decided to run for president at the last minute.
I mean, hey, why not?
Andrea
Perpetual Renovator 
Andrea, you are absolutely right about the abysmal turn-out in District One, but I wouldn’t be too discouraged. Traditionally, Presidential elections inspire much greater turn-outs in all areas of the City. We could be looking at an additional 5,000- 7,000 votes in the City of Alexandria.
There were 904 total voters in District One on Saturday’s primary.
In the 2004 Presidential election, there were 4,103 voters in District One. Obviously, that is a huge difference, and granted I may not be precise to the number (some of these precincts may have changed or collapsed), but I think the trends are indisputable.