Trego's Mountain Ear

I drove my wife to the medicos in Kalispell this morning.  I wound up parking next to a little rig that wore a bumper sticker reading McCain Palan.  It’s been a long time since that election, and the bumper sticker was obviously more durable than the political partnership.

Still, we need to appreciate the politicians who lose – they’re the ones who give us choices.  Without them, we’d see the words “win by acclamation.” 

Lincoln County Election Results shows us this:

2024 Primary Election – Pre Results

Superintendent of Schools: Suzy Rios (Win by Acclamation),  Clerk of Court: Tricia Brooks (Win by Acclamation),  Lincoln County Conservation District Supervisor: Donald Crawford (Win by Acclamation),  Lincoln County Conservation District Supervisor: Ed Braaten (Win by Acclamation),  Precinct 1 Committeeman: Gregg Johnson (Win by Acclamation),  Precinct 1 committeewoman: Jennifer Curtiss (Win by Acclamation),  Precinct 4 committeeman: Neil Duram (Win by Acclamation), Precinct 7 committeeman: Mark Cratty (Win by Acclamation), Precinct 8 committeeman: John Boyke (Win by Acclamation), Precinct 8 committeewoman: Rhoda Cargill (Win by Acclamation), Precinct 10 committeewoman: Christie Silva (Win by Acclamation), Precinct 11 committeeman: Mike France (Win by Acclamation), Precinct 11 committeewoman: Katrina Newton (Win by Acclamation), Precinct 15 committeeman: John L. Stoken (Win by Acclamation), Precinct 15 committeewoman: Bobbie Stoken (Win by Acclamation).

Not to point out the obvious, but that’s a long list of people who were ‘elected’ that nobody voted for.  Our elected politicians last session repealed subsection 7, eliminating the option of writing in a candidate where only one person had filed for the office.  Oh, you can still write in a candidate -but a write-in candidate’s votes won’t be counted unless he, she or it has filed paperwork and written the county the required check.  Thanks Neil.  Thanks Mike.  Zooey Zephyr has done a better job of representing Trego voters, and doesn’t even ask for our votes.

On March 26, 1989, voters in the Soviet Union participated in their first multiple candidate elections – for 70 years they had held single candidate elections.  You know how their multiple candidate election turned out – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formally dissolved as a sovereign state on December 26, 1991.

I’d like to get back to voting in multiple candidate elections – of course, I’d like to see a box alongside the phrase “none of these candidates are acceptable.”