Victory for Harrington for Metro

A belated recap of the election:

You can't say she didn't earn her victory - the final official vote count was 24,756 (44%) for Cox and 31,328 (56%) for Harrington. The under-vote - people who turned in ballots but chose not to vote for either candidate, totaled 24,506.

My strategy, to try to reach the folks who historically ignore the Metro race, didn't pay off, or didn't pay off enough to make the difference. (If you run the percentages as total votes available instead of votes cast, it comes out as 39% Harrington, 31% Cox, and 30% no opinion.)

There's no question in my mind that Harrington (and her husband, both retired) worked a lot harder than I did on her race - I know she knocked on more doors, and she certainly raised more money.

Interestingly, despite being recruited by the outgoing Councilor Susan McLain and supported by the status quo forces at Metro, Harrington ran a very centrist campaign, even claiming publicly to support a West Side Bypass freeway - the completion of the I-205 beltway around the region - which is anathema to her base.

So at this point it's up to her to show us how centrist she'll be in office, and up to us to give her the chance to live up to those promises. I'll certainly work with her on ways to increase regional mobility.

Apologies to those who have been asking about my blog - I just fell out of the habit of posting, and hope to pick it back up.