Gwinnett Buzz

Normally a primary election is simply a step on the road to elected office, but in a county such as Gwinnett with a predominantly Republican voter base, the primary is often the election that determines who will represent the people during the coming term.  Tonight some candidates tasted victory, several tasted defeat and still others hang in limbo as they face the opportunity or threat of a runoff.

I spent this evening at the Doug Stacks election night gathering at Lil River Grill on the square in Lawrenceville (beautiful restaurant, if you have never been there!).  While the results from District 3 were not as we had hoped, it was a good time to meet people and make new friends.  (To any Buzz reader I met tonight, it was a pleasure meeting you and I hope that you have found something in the Buzz that will keep you reading past the election.)  Unfortunately, Mike Beaudreau will go on to represent the district for another term assuming the nearly impossible does not occur in the general election where he will face Earl Herndon.  I am disappointed but I was realistic.  I understand the mindset of many Gwinnett residents and expected them to buy into Beaudreau’s candidacy.  That is the their privilege in a country where we elect our leaders by popular vote.  However, the majority does not always rule.

Yes, the majority carried the night and they do rule in selecting the District 3 commissioner.  Where they do not rule is in taking away our private property rights.  A victory does not give Beaudreau, homeowner activists, or any other government official the right to deprive of us our private property rights.  For that reason, we have laws to protect those rights from the tyranny of the majority.  Hopefully, Mike Beaudreau will see that being fair to all that come before the Board of Commissioners is the way to govern in his second term. I hope that Mike gives me the opportunity to applaud his decisions and celebrate the fairness of his judgment in the next four years.  If not, my goal for the Buzz is to remain a watchdog and advocate for property rights.  On a lighter note, I do understand one thing more clearly after tonight.  I now can appreciate why Neal Boortz always talked about why Hillary getting elected would be a boon for his radio show.  The Buzz promises to be a much more interesting place if the next four years of Mike Beaudreau match the first four.

District 3 was not the only commission race tonight.  In the crucial chairman’s race, as I write this post, Charles Bannister is mere tenths of a percentage point away from winning the Republican nomination outright and moving on to the general without a runoff.  Incumbents do not generally do well in runoffs because all those who voted for opponents were dissatisfied enough to choose another option.  This was precisely what happened in 2004 when Bannister took then-Chairman Wayne Hill into electoral overtime. That summer, I fully expected the anti-Hill voters backing third-place finisher Marcia Neaton to flock to Bannister.  They did and Bannister won the runoff after finishing second in the primary.  This time the role is reversed and Bannister faces the prospect of being the incumbent in a runoff, this time against Lorraine Green.  An interesting twist is that Lorraine Green is somewhat of an incumbent as a sitting commissioner.  If the numbers hold and these two face off in three weeks, projecting the outcome is tricky.  Glenn Pirkle, with all due respect, was not a serious candidate and is not clearly labeled as a “developer candidate” or a “homeowner candidate.”  I suspect his voters were simply saying  “none of the above.”  The question would become were PIrkle supporters generally more opposed to Green or Bannister?  The margin plays in Bannister’s favor.  With the chairman mere fractions from a 50%+1 majority, Green would have to pull nearly 100% of Pirkle’s voters to win a runoff.  I find this highly unlikely.  However, the runoff is a new election.  Turnout becomes key as voters have to trudge back to the polling place for possibly just that one race.  Whichever candidate’s supporters are more energetic and motivated could prove decisive.  Lorraine Green has her vocal supporters who seem to be motivated not just by support for her but dislike for Bannister.  Are Bannister’s backers equally as passionate about him?  Given that the chairman’s race was probably the biggest draw on a fairly sparse Republican primary ballot, I suspect that many of the today’s voters will be inspired enough to vote again.  I expect it would be a close runoff, but I would take Bannister in an absolute squeaker.

District 1 is almost certainly going to be a runoof between Shirley Lasseter and someone.  The question is will she face Bruce LeVell or Carol Hassell?  I don’t suspect it much matters.  With 94.6% of precincts reporting, Lasseter has just over 42% of the vote.  There is not an incumbent so that factor in projecting the runoff can be tossed out the window.  I suspect the vast majority of votes in this race were cast in favor of a candidate as opposed to against another.  With few voters of the “anyone but Shirley” perspective, I look for the third place finisher’s votes to be fairly evenly distributed with Shirley Lasseter emerging as the District 1 commissioner replacing Lorraine Green.  (”Replacing Lorraine Green” - if Bannister can just get over 50% tonight, that is a very sweet-sounding phrase!).  I am not a huge fan of Shirley but I am even less of a fan of Carol Hassell and would gladly take Shirley in the runoff.  I still hold out hope that Bruce LeVell can hang onto his less than 100 vote edge over Hassell to get in the runoff and then find a way to win but, I think that would be an uphill battle.

A quick note.  TADs appear to be on the way to approval by the voters and GOP voters say no to MARTA while Democrats say yes.  In total, MARTA barely fails.

Tags: Bruce LeVell, Carol Hassell, Charles Bannister, Doug Stacks, Earl Herndon, election, Glenn Pirkle, government, Gwinnett County Commission, homeowners, Lawrenceville, Lil River Grill, Lorraine Green, Marcia Neaton, MARTA, Mike Beaudreau, politics, property rights, Shirley Lasseter, Wayne Hill

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