The show, or in this case the runoff election, must go on.
Wake County Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher said state law requires them to continue with the runoff election in District 2 even though Cathy Truitt conceded the race today. She said all the precincts, including the ones where the runoff is the only thing on the ballot, have to be open on Nov. 3.
Poucher said the problem is that the runoff officially began Thursday when early voting started. She said holding the runoff will cost more than $30,000.
Truitt had requested the runoff on Oct. 7, the day after the election. But Truitt and Brad Crone, her campaign consultant, said they didn't realize until more recently that she couldn't win the runoff.
Crone said that the requirement that candidates request a runoff soon after the results are certified doesn't give campaigns enough time to speak with the supporters and groups they need to contact.
After the request was made, Crone said he had the time to look over the detailed election results and determine that Truitt couldn't win the runoff. He said no new polling was done.
"It was a mountain too high too climb," Crone said today.
Comments
Crone Misspeaks
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 19:05 — concerned2According to the Wake County Board of Elections, candidates had until 12:00 noon on October 15th to submit their request for a runoff. That caused a bit of a sticky wicket with early voting, but the law is the law. Mr. Crone, who is a long-time professional democrat strategist would have known that. If he did not, any campaign 'worth it's salt' would have made a simple phone call to the Board of Elections to find out how long they had to make a decision.
Instead, Mrs. Truitt's campaign announced they would seek a recount within hours of the polls closing and submitted the paperwork the next day.
(Note: Is our good reporter, Mr. Hui, not savvy enough to press Mr. Crone on his answers, or is he simply 'carrying the water' for Mr. Crone and the status quo crowd?)
It was reported yesterday that Mrs. Truitt was delivering her letter of concession to the Board of Elections. As of 4:15pm today, the BoE still had not received it. Is this bunch playing fast and loose with the truth?
We need to start calling them on every lie so we can get at the truth, or we're going to have a Richard Morgan re-run on our hands...
Candidates historically
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 00:26 — KeungHui (author)Candidates historically have tried to get PR out of filing for runoffs. What complicated matters for Truitt is that most of the period between Oct. 7-15 she was out of town. Not quite the same PR effect having your campaign consultant dropping off a letter saying you want a runoff.
As for the concession letter, I can assure you I'll be continuing to monitor to see that it's filed. I didn't press on it more today because there was a small matter of a school board meeting to cover. If it's not filed by the end of the week there will be something in print about it. That would form a story that would indicate that people who are suspicious of her may be right that her concession wasn't legit. It's not like the newspaper was going to pretend that, oops she forgot to file the concession letter, and not mention anything until after the runoff.
I hear you, it's just that
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 09:28 — concerned2I hear you, it's just that Mr. Crone made the assertion that it was the tight deadline for a candidate to file for runoff after the votes had been certified.
Sure, there were only a few days after the votes were certified in which to file, but the votes weren't certified for about a week after the election!
Add to that the fact that Mrs. Truitt didn't even wait until the votes were certified to declare her intent for a runoff. She stated that within 2 hours of the polls closing! I'm sure she wanted some time off after the campaign, but she couldn't have made room some other time in a week and a half to curtsy into the Board of Elections for her PR show?
Lastly, rumors surfaced at least by Friday, Oct. 16 that Mrs. Truitt would hold a press conference on Monday of this week and withdraw. Don't you think that conversation had to occur over some time. Isn't it convenient to arrive at the conclusion that Mrs. Truitt couldn't win (since she had only received 23+% of the vote) just one day after the deadline that would have saved Wake County taxpayers at least 1 teacher's salary?
I'm not trying to advance some "conspiracy theory", I just think that Mrs. Truitt, Mr. Crone, and their ilk have proven to be untrustworthy and have, at the least, an ego-maniacal motive to cost the taxpayers of Wake County and, at the most, an alternative agenda yet to be revealed.
Hear, hear
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 19:13 — J8307200You hit the nail on the head! These were the points I was trying to make to Mr. Hui as well when he asked me if I was paranoid! All the articles I read seem to be slanted toward the 'resegregationist' angle and how all the status quo supporters are up in arms and how hard it is going to be to implement neighborhood schools, etc. etc. I thought I would puke today when he wrote that Calla Wright stood up to give Kevin Hill a standing ovation when he took the CUBE award. Is this news? COME ON!!!!!!!! Yeah, how about investigaitng whether or not Ms. Truitt actually has conceded and handed in her letter or is this really the conspiracy that we have said it is!! BTW hate to show my ignorance but can you give info on who Richard Morgan is.......
Richard Morgan / Cathy Truitt
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 21:12 — concerned2In the 2002 election, the will of North Carolinians was to elect a Republican majority in the NC House - which they did. It was a slim 61-59 majority, but a majority nonetheless.
However, those in power had a different agenda. With the help of turncoat Republican, Richard Morgan, convicted felon (and Speaker of the House) Jim Black bribed Michael Decker to switch to the Democrat party. That made it 60-60. Black then bribed Morgan (with power primarily) to gather a gang of five Republican turncoat cohorts to vote with the democrats for a "power-sharing" co-speakership of Black and Morgan.
Of course, Morgan was just a puppet and Black ran the show as the democrat-led Legislature engaged in gerrymandering the redistricting process so that it was impossible to elect a Republican majority in the House. The effect of that gerrymandering was so good that even in an "Obama year", the democrats couldn't beat incumbent Republicans to pick up seats in the House. Forget Reps defeating Dems. No problem for them though, a majority of any size still gets to lead.
People do funny things when power and/or money is at stake. While this may be a smaller scale, it's a 2002 kind of scenario - the people have clearly chosen a major shift in leadership, but we see the 'powers that be' moving to thwart the will of the voters.
silence
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 22:15 — loriacI still want to know - who is making the money here? Follow the money, and it will be clear. Why pony up $20K in the last days to run an attack ad? That is a huge amount for the average school board candidate to gather during the whole campaign, never mind a couple days... why? The silence on this is just deafening.
This latest move by Cathy Truitt has fooled no one, and people are POd.
Small potatoes?
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 21:52 — SDR256A 1 billion dollar budget and the 18th largest school system in the US is not small potatoes. Maybe not as GLAMOROUS as the House and Senate, but power - oh yeah, plenty.
not really
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 21:20 — AngelaW"While this may be a smaller scale,"
think about it from the current BoE, Raleigh Chamber, Friends of Diversity, Calla Wright's group, etc.etc...the stakes ARE HUGE!!
This, as "they" (meaning status quo) see it, is the end of every "award winning" possibility they've ever had....these stakes are in actuality very VERY large, don't be misled. and back-door shenanigans are surely going on and probably have been ......
...speaking of which, anybody seen Perry?
certainly not the greatest sources but FYI
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 19:20 — AngelaWhttp://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A35486
It's not Wacky, it's just Wakey
Mon, 10/19/2009 - 23:50 — JustWonderingHey, do you think there's a "conspiracy" to make you cast a vote for Tedesco even though the only other candidate on the District 2 run-off ballot has already quit the race? Nope, this nuttiness is not a conspiracy, it's just wonderful Wake wackiness, quite appropriate for an election to the same school board that brought you Wacky Wednesdays ('cause we all know that the young'uns spend too much time in school as it is). And this Carolina Craziness is quite fitting recompense for a state that repeatedly inflicted the racist U.S. Senator Jesse Helms on our great nation.
Her own words
Mon, 10/19/2009 - 22:12 — SDR256Cathy said that the election is not the way to win. The status quo is looking for another way. Do you think that with all the wailing in the Indy, N&O, by the Friends of Diversity, that they will just let this go? Come on folks. Are you that naive?
OT
Mon, 10/19/2009 - 21:32 — shank56http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6242013/
"Officials say the 11-story, estimated $210 million Wake County Justice Center is needed to help keep pace with the rapid population growth and will also help meet growing safety needs."
This was approved in a unanimous vote. Sure hope the CC will agree that WCPSS is deserving of school facilities to meet growth and safety needs when the new BOE takes office.
Does common sense...
Mon, 10/19/2009 - 21:02 — woodstockDoes common sense even matter anymore?