As you can see there is a lot more fish in the barrel when it comes to the city election. These are my early predictions (I will probably change these predictions closer to the election).
At-Large (A)
I think Kooistra will win this race by at least 70%, his opponent, Gaetze, is unknown, and what we have heard so far about him he kinda sounds like an intolerant, teabagger. This will however be a fun one to watch. I support Kooistra in this race. He is a former Republican who switched his registration to Democrat before he ran for County Commission. Kooistra is a fiscal conservative but appears to be aware of the social problems facing our city and state. He will be a strong city councilor and I look forward to his term.
At-Large (B)
James Entenman has no challengers right now, but even if he does, I predict he will win this race. Jim is well-respected in the community as a business owner (J & L Harley Davidson) and has lot’s O’ money. I predict he will outspend any of his challengers 4-1. Jim knows how to stop competition, he has proved this by the monopoly he currently owns and runs with his brother. Rumor has it that he ran the Easyriders franchise out of town a few years back. Jim has clout. I do not look forward to Jim as a councilor, I think he will use his position to better himself and his friends, he also appears to be a spend happy big government Republican.
SE District
I give this one to Bob Christensen by at least 5 points. His challenger Sue Aguilar is well known as a community activist, but she is unknown outside that world. Bob is a popular barber in town. I like Bob and am kinda on the fence about this race, I think they would both do a good job. During the last few Event Center Task Force meetings, Bob got heavily involved in the discussion of the final proposal. He asked great questions and gave good insight. I think as a city councilor he will do the same. Not sure how he stands on the big issues, but I like the fact that he likes discussion (well, he is a barber) that has been missing on our council for a very long time.
Central District
Michelle Erpenbach doesn’t have a challenger, yet. I predict someone will jump in the race after the first of the year. I have vowed that if another challenger doesn’t appear by the filing deadline, I will run against her. I just think that Michelle shouldn’t have a free ride. If the obvious challenger of Michelle appears after January 1st, they will beat Michelle by at least 10 points. I’ll keep you posted on this one.
Mayor’s race • General Election
6 – Janoct Ajda; Janoct doesn’t have a chance in Hell of winning, but he is fun to watch at debates. I think it would be funny if he came in at 5th.
5 – Bill Peterson; Bill is too unknown to garner enough votes. He has the money to run, but not the popularity. If the first mayoral forum is any indication of how he will present himself in future forums, he will be going downhill fast. He comes off as ‘bossy’.
4 – Pat Costello; Pat’s stance on the Event Center funding source and being born with a silver spoon in his mouth will not help his candidacy. I like Pat, but he flip-flops on too many issues and that hurts him in appearing as a leader.
3 – Vernon Brown; Vernon is popular, but not popular enough to be mayor. His sunshine and butterfly speeches get old and people can see right through the bullshit. But my prediction has more to do with his win in the last city election. He only garnered 64% of the vote against a relatively unknown candidate in a city wide election. I don’t think Vernon will be able to close in on that spread in the mayoral election.
2 – Mike Huether; Mike is popular and has a very positive message. He is also a Democrat and doesn’t always agree with the other rubberstampers in the race. It also helps that Mike (and Staggers) have been campaigning like mad since this summer. The only thing that Mike lacks is political experience, heck I have more, but that is what will also help him garner the #2 spot.
1 – Kermit Staggers; Kermit has it all. He is the underdog, the lone dissenter on the council, he has over 20 years of combined public service experience (AF Intelligence officer, international ambassador, state legislator, city councilor). Kermit is also a fiscal conservative, which is a very popular position to have in this economy. Kermit never waivers and you always know where he stands on issues, this is a strong leadership quality. He is very respectful of citizens and is always there to lend an ear. He is also well liked not just by joe six pack but also by small business owners because of his stances on taxes and deregulation.
RUNOFF
There will obviously be a runoff, a candidate must garner at least 51% of the vote in the general to win the mayor’s race, that won’t happen with this many people running. I predict the race between Mike and Kermit will be very close, but I give it to Kermit by the skin of his teeth, we might even see a recount.
I definitely believe it that Mike and Kermit will be the top two, however I’m going to go on a limb and say that I highly doubt Kermit has that much of an advantage.
I think Michelle has a great thing going for her, but if I was old enough, trust me I would be running for one of these spots and I would expect all of ya’ll to vote for me 😀
downtown has it in the bag. old keloland watchers (and those who actually VOTE in these type of elections) LOVES them some vernon.
Yeah, keep smoking that schwag.
Vernon Brown does not have a chance, he is so fake and uses his News Reporter talking style to try and go all Sarah Palin on us by ‘answering’ the questions but actually not by going off and babbling about how Sioux Falls “needs to continue growing, and we need to grow and grow and not improve any other part of the city but grow and insert smile”.
Sorry, but I can not stand him, or the rest of the council (except Kermit, who even though is a typical Northern, I agree with him on funding for the Events Center from the city council).
Kermit Stagnate doesn’t play well with the other boys and girls.
That’s right, he doesn’t play the reindeer games, one more reason why he will be popular with the voters. I told him once that getting bad press from the local media is actually a good thing because no one trusts our local media to be fair.
maybe if vernon is elected, jodi schwan will get to keep her job. i actually think vernon is running so he can host all the shows on city-link.
I think she got a job transfer already, that is the rumor.
If Vernon wins he will finally get to open the Unicorn and Rainbow park.
Which one of them mayors would look best on a plaque?
When citizens versus city lawsuits are soon decided (camera tickets, civil rights), a democrat will win. Republican candidates (mostly council members) will be associated with Munson. Heavier (than reported) debt, lawsuits liability, and the economy in general will stall events center planning 4 to 8 more years. Huether will be the fall guy but Munson is the villain. Through either repeal or state court charter revocation, Home-Rule will be replaced with constitutional democracy and the ‘EL Developer’ bid rigging network will cease to exist.
PG- We will see.
Well dang I think I need to march down to the clerks office and get papers to run for the Central district. Regardless of Michelle’s stance I’m sure I can be much more tight fisted with TAXPAYER funds.
Rock it out, Bro.
Thank you. Just to update (if anyone cared) I went down and did declare my candidacy for the central district today. If you have a minute stop by and show some support, http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/James-Milne-for-Central-District-City-Council/233559819293?ref=nf
Congrats James! I will post this. The more the merrier. I am supporting ‘Another’ candidate that has not announced yet, but like I said, Michelle does not deserve a free ride.