Local Politics Raise Eyebrows in Neighboring Metros

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February 13, 2005

Local Politics Raise Eyebrows in Neighboring Metros

Curtis Adams officially switched his party affiliation. That's not huge news, but it apparently helps to perpetuate our city's reputation for "wacky" politics. I am of the nearly-neutral opinion that it does not matter what label a politician uses, and that what matters is the sum of his or her official action; but partisans of all types naturally feel that if a politician explicitly misrepresents a party's core constituency, that person needs to find a more suitable label.

Adams, who has held office as a Democrat for nearly two decades, plans to ask to be re-elected to the Commission as a member of the Republican Party. This may work against him in the long run,

as it gives his District 8 opposition an advantage in their effort to engineer his defeat. If he had remained a Democrat, I'm guessing they would have had to have fielded and promoted a candidate who could have defeated him in the primary, which will be early in May 2006; or they would otherwise have had to have backed a Republican candidate (one who would, it's safe to say, have offered much less of a distinction). Now they have until the County General Election, when there is much more public focus on politics (there will be at least one exciting statewide race drawing voters to the August primaries).

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