Tuesday, November 10, 2009
election results A City Divided or a City Apathetic
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 12:44 AM
At first glance, the detailed returns from this month’s City Council elections show a city split east from west, generally along Cole Road. But a closer look complicates that stereotyping.
First there is Vern Bisterfeldt, who fended off two opponents, winning every precinct in the city, all 81 of them. Vern transcends Cole Road.
Then there is Maryanne Jordan, who lost only one precinct, 27—in far west Boise south of Eagle and McMillan roads—to Lucas Baumbach, 106 to 92, with David Webb pulling in 41 votes there.
So Jordan also managed to win supposed “conservative” and "liberal" votes on both sides of Cole.
So why does the TJ Thomson-David Litster map below appear so divided? Well Thomson and Litster did the most outreach to voters and got the most press, and we can see roughly where they likely spent most of their time on the map below. But their impressions of city politics probably align with their personal politics to some degree, so the east-west divide represents more than mere electioneering, as we have seen in recent legislative and other contests.
View Larger Map
Precincts that went for Thomson appear in green, Litster precincts are orange. Click through to see vote totals in each precinct. Details on the map are in the more geeky post below.
One other factor complicates the picture: so few of ya’all voted, that it makes it hard to draw too many conclusions.
Related Stories
-
Mapping City Council Races
Boise orange-green divide
- Nov 11, 2009
Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
"Vern transcends Cole Road."
I'm afraid to say it - but there are differences in overall community patterns east / west. Also interesting that one of TJ Thompsons first public statements was that he was "not a liberal". That's not what you would glean from the map ...
I love and am a bit horrified at the turnout that can produce a 106/92 race with another candidate bringing in 41 ... not that many people really.
like
dislike
I think it's interesting that the districts that Litster won are those with poor bus service. Since they are currently not benefiting from public transportation these residents agree with Litster that the city shouldn't spend any more money on that type of service. Kinda selfish, but hey, that's Idaho.
Maryanne lost about 21 precincts, not just one. For an incumbent that's a pretty bad performance. She also did not get the endorsements of BCA and the Police Union. If you contrast the combined challenger votes with the incumbent votes, she lost 20 more precincts than she lost in 2005. The bloom is off the rose to say the least. You'll also notice that the precincts where Litster and Baumbach campaigned is where they won. I give you precincts 82 and 99.
The conservatives lost because conservative precincts, like 93 and 94 only had a ~16% turnout of about 6000 potential voters (because the City tampered with poll location?), whereas in Shealy and Eberle's north-end precincts turnout exceeded 30%.
if there were more journalistic attempts at educating the masses rather than promoting this weeks most awesome show or drink specials, then we would not have this apathy problem.
Which 21 precincts did Maryanne lose, Alva? I just rechecked the numbers and I don't see it...
Mockshift, have you downloaded Cocktail Compass to your iphone yet? You sound lost...
I voted, and I am glad to be on the green side. Do you suppose that people who really wanted Litster in went out and voted, and the rest of the citizenry just conked out in front of the tube after work (assuming they had work)?
North End precincts are comprised typically of highly educated people and those highly educated people tend to vote. It's always been the pattern in Boise for the past 30 years I've lived here. But turnout wasn't spectacular when the city council was the only show. You need a lot more to get folks out. Maybe if they'd given away Broncos-Vandals game tickets everyone would have voted and they could quit whining about not filling the stadium that they want to expand again.
- Home |
- About BW and FAQ |
- Contact Us |
- BW Classifieds |
- Submit an Event |
- Advertise |
- Post a FREE Ad |
- Subscribe |
- BW Feedback |
- Privacy Policy |
- Submission Guidelines |
- Code of Ethics |
-
|
-
|
- BW Local Guide |
-
|
-
|
- Job Opportunities |
- National Advertising |
- Check Out Food, Music, and Art in Other Cities
