My expectation: 100% JWC turnout

Happy Friday! Welcome to Early Voting, Day One.

I know what you’re thinking. Really, Mike? Politics on Friday? Can’t we catch one day’s break from this?

Yes! Starting Aug. 21.

No heavy lifting today, I promise. Just some odds and ends…

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— Early voting (here's the schedule) has definitely messed with the timing of elections. Candidates once knew when to spend money because, other than absentees, everyone voted on the same day.

Voting today is a month-long process. I checked the elections website before writing and saw that 11,000 people — 9.4% of total voters — have already voted by mail. It’s split fairly evenly between Republicans and non-Republicans, which is odd for a primary unless, like this one, there are popular races open to all voters.

So, Grandpa reporter time. There’s an unwritten rule in newspapering for as far as I remember about when we stop writing anything but the blandest election stories. 

Here’s why: I’d routinely get a phone call from someone the Saturday before Election Day with new scandalous info about a candidate. 

“We have pictures of Commissioner Wonderkind kicking puppies,” they’d say. Or inform me of an obscure lawsuit. Or an arrest from decades ago. Or just about anything.

Candidates and their supporters attempt this sandbag effort all the time. We’re not dumb, we know we’re being used. That’s why the cutoff is usually the weekend prior to voting day.


With early voting, I guess that means the cutoff is today. We just kind of float from here to Aug. 20. 

— Let’s put voter turnout in perspective.

First the raw data: The county’s population is around 167,000. Of those, about 85%, or around 141,700, are of voting age. There are 117,085 registered voters. That’s 82% of the voting-age population.

As I wrote a few days ago, voter turnout for a primary is around 35%. Based on what I’m seeing so far, we’re probably in that neighborhood.

OK, got all that?

Now, think of a residential street. There are 10 houses on the street. Ten neighbors. Of those 10, eight are registered to vote. Of those eight, three are actually voting.

Three people on your street of 10 decide the rules. Three of 10 on your street choose the sheriff, pick a new superintendent of schools, and the county court judge, among others.

Three of 10. For all the griping we have in this county, and boy we have plenty of it, that’s abysmal. Calling Sound Off or riffing on social media is easy and without consequence. Voting takes effort, interest, and shows you give enough damn for your community to participate in the choosing of its leaders.

I can't gauge this, but my expectation is 100% voter turnout of eligible Just Wright Citrus readers. No pressure.

— Had a delightful Cattle Dog chat Thursday with School Board District 2 candidate Laura Gatling-Wright (no relation to Just Wright Citrus). We talked for two hours, and I came away confident that no matter the outcome in this race, we’re in good shape.

What a great situation. Four candidates for School Board — Laura, Ken Frink, Dale Marie Merrill, and Victoria Smith — and not a question mark among them. Diverse backgrounds and opinions for sure, but it’s clear all four hold the school district’s best interest.

Remember that in this race, it’s a runoff unless the overall winner gets 50%-plus-1. With four candidates fairly evenly matched, and no incumbent, a runoff in the November election seems likely. I’m all for that. A two-person race will allow more focus and discussion.

— New Just Wright Citrus T-shirt for who can identify where I’m standing in today’s photo. Some friends should get it right away.

Whew. I think that’s it. Have an awesome Citrus County weekend.

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