patrickmurfin

Meredith Reid Sarkees and Patrick Murfin wish to thank all of our volunteers, contributors, supporters and the voters.  We lost the election, but are proud to have stood up to be counted.

Here are the results as posted on McVote.  These results are not final.  Early and absentee ballots have not yet been recorded.  But early voting was very light and will not significantly affect the out come

So what happened?

Support for the Democratic Party candidates closely tracked the turn out in most Democratic Primaries (the last Presidential Primary excepted.)  In other words folks who are so strongly committed to the party that they have been willing to let their friends and neighbors in a traditionally overwhelmingly Republican area know who they are came out to vote.  The much larger number of folks who now vote Democratic in state and national elections, but traditionally pay no attention to local races, could not be turned out despite a concerted effort.  Some how we have to get the “national Democrats” to recognize the importance of local races.

Meanwhile the Republican Party, stung by the loss of McHenry County last November, was highly motivated to re-assert their traditional dominance of local governments.  The party raised and spent unprecedented money in support of their Team Nunda slate and in support of Algonquin Township trustee candidates challenged by another Democratic slate. 

The township was blanketed by hundreds of Team Nunda signs and hundreds more signs for each individual candidate.  By contrast the Change for Nunda campaign could only afford 50 signs at least half of which were stolen.  There were also multiple mailings and robo calls.  Change for Nunda got out one targeted mailing and volunteers made about 1000 phone calls in concert with McHenry County College Trustee candidate John Darger.  The Republicans also actually got out and canvassed door-to-door in some areas, which has been unheard of in recent elections.  They had ceded the shoe leather department to Democrats who have tried to make up for less well funded campaigns with personal campaigning.

So it became a turn-out-your-base election.  And the sad fact is that in Nunda Township the Republicans can still turn out a bigger base than the Democrats.

The Nunda Open Space Referendum was also a factor.  Murfin and Sarkees enthusiastically supported the referendum, which would have issued bonds to buy and preserve open space to protect ground water reserves.  Although the funding mechanism failed to pass it by a mere handful of votes the last time it was offered, bringing it back to the voters in hard economic times was risky.  But it was a matter of conscience for both candidates.

You can see that the yes vote closely paralleled the Change for Nunda numbers.  Murfin and Sarkees got the majority of yes voters.  On the other hand support for the referendum undoubtedly cost the candidates some votes even among Democrats voting their pocket books over environmental concerns.

Finally, did the last minute smear campaign launched against Murfin have much effect?  For all of the strum und drang it was essentially shouting down the rain barrel.  It got  half a dozen lunatics into a froth in the on-line comments to letters to the editor in the Northwest Herald.  “Discussion” there quickly spun out of control and ended with accusations that Murfin was an actual “Communist.”  But most voters of either party disregarded the noise.  It certainly did not effect the Democratic base.  At worst may have motivated a couple of dozen knuckle draggers to turn out to vote for Team Nunda—and to oil their guns in preparation for the upcoming insurrection against the “socialist/facist/muslim/terrorists/gun grabbing/baby killing regime in Washington.”

But despite the defeat, this election was an important skirmish in the on going guerilla campaign to “Turn McHenry County Blue.”  By not ceding local races to the Republicans, Democrats force them to spend large amounts of cash.  We keep our campaign organizations intact and in practice between even-year general elections.  And we develop experienced candidates who learn the ropes and can go on to bigger things.  First time candidate Sarkees, who outdrew old timer Murfin, has all of the credentials to go on to other races.

It seems just yesterday since Nunda Township Democrats caucused to nominate Meredith Reid Sarkees and me as candidates for Township Trustee.  Less than three month is not much time to pull together a campaign, even one for an often neglected local race.  So we have been pretty busy.

We appreciate the support offered to us in donations of time, talent, and treasure.  Without it he could not hope to challenge one of the most entrenched political machines in McHenry County.

Now we need you to go the final mile.  VOTE!  Call your friends and neighbors and remind them to VOTE!  In the race for Nunda Township Trustee vote only for you Change for Nunda candidates, Murfin and Sarkees.  Do not “fill out” your ballot by voting for any of the Team Nunda Republicans.  You don’t need to vote for all four positions.  Vote only for the best.

While you are at the polls, please support the Nunda Township Open Space Referendum, which we have enthusiastically endorsed.  And vote for John Darger, candidate for McHenry County College Trustee.

 And after the polls close please join us and the friends and supporters of Algonquin Township Democratic Candidates—Frank Hyden, Robert Franks, and James McTague—and John Darger at Porter’s Oyster Bar, 446 W Virginia Street, Crystal Lake to follow the returns and celebrate the campaigns. 

On Saturday, Patrick Murfin, with Meredith Reed Sarkees one of the Change for Nunda candidates for Township Trustee, was out canvassing for votes the old fashioned way—by ringing door bells and talking to actual voters.  He had to work fast with a heavy spring snow storm threatening to close in.  He will be hitting the bricks again next weekend.  So will volunteers in other “urban” precincts.

While the tactic may be traditional, a high tech voter data base enables Democratic Party Precinct Representatives to target likely supporters.  Getting those supporters to the polls on April 7 or to cast an early vote is critical to electoral success.

Voters, including those in more rural areas of Nunda Township, are also being contacted by phone and by  post card mailing.

Our Change for Nunda yard signs are in!  If you would like to host a sign, please e-mail your request to pmurfin@sbcglobal.net.  Hurry, supplies are limited!

Change for Nunda candidates Patrick Murfin and Meredith Reid Sarkees  congratulate the winners of the Republican Party Primary, Tom Palmer, Joni Smith, James C. Schlader, and Kelvin “Lee” Jennings.  We look forward to engaging them in a vigorous debate about the future of our township.  The vote totals courtesy of McVote are:

All four trustee candidates ran together as part of Team Nunda, which was led by powerful highway commissioner Don Kopsell, who was unopposed in the primary.  Dennis Jagla crushed Alan Weaver, the candidate who ran as a “soft” Republican and who appealed for Democratic support with a disingenuous mailer.

All in all, it was a triumph for the regular Republican political machine and business as usual.  Team Nunda can leave out all of those campaign signs already dotting the township.  They probably believe that they can sprint toward victory in the April 7 Consolidated Election while hardly breaking a sweat.

But only about 850 voters participated in the primary.  They represent, for the most part, the core of party diehards. The spring election is also typically a low turn-out affair.  But this time Democrats and the many Independents, who are loath to identify party preference to their friends and neighbors, will be in the mix.  And these voters are eager to see the refreshing winds of change and reform blow through this corner of the county as they have blown through Washington.  They know that the economic crisis faced by all of us will bring new challenges to township government that can only be met with fresh eyes and hands.

Meanwhile, over in Algonquin Township Linda A. Lance, Joseph H. Powalowski, incumbent Niels E. Sorensen, and Lowell A. Cutsforth crushed perennial looser Mark Guerra upholding the unchallenged supremacy of Highway Commissioner Bob Miller.  What is it about highway commissioners as Republican satraps anyway?

They will face Democratic nominees Robert Frank, Frank Hyden, and James McTague.

Democrats and Independents have often skipped the spring off-year election because the races are low profile and they have assumed the contests—when there are any—have been decided by an unchallengeable GOP machine.  But if we can get only one quarter of the folks who cast Democratic ballots in the 2008 Primary or who in the privacy of the voting booth changed the political landscape of McHenry County forever by decisively supporting Barack Obama, we can win.  Yes we can!

It is our job to make sure those Democrats and Independents know what is at stake.  You will be hearing from us.  We will be reminding you to vote—and to cast your votes only for the Democratic Party nominees in these townships.

McHenry County Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Bergan Schmidt addressed confusion over the upcoming Republican Party primary elections in Algonquin and Nunda Townships in a recent statement.

“The only way voters can support Democratic candidates in these townships is to cast their ballots in the April 7^th Consolidated Elections,” Bergan Schmidt said.

Republicans chose to select their candidates in a primary election scheduled for Tuesday, February 24.  Democrats elected to choose their candidates by caucus, which Bergan Schmidt noted was a considerable savings to tax payers.

Winners of the Republican primaries will square off against Democrats for trustee seats in both townships.  Frank Hyden, Robert Frank, and James McTague are the party nominees in Algonquin Township.  Patrick Murfin and Meredith Reid Sarkees will be on the ballot in Nunda Township.

“If a voter chooses to participate in the Republican primary, however, he or she can still vote for Democratic candidates in the April election,” Bergan Schmidt pointed out.

Voters with questions should contact the party at 815 788-9540 or e-mail info@mchenrydems.com.