Gauntlet Flung in HamCo District 8

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June 21, 2005

Gauntlet Flung in HamCo District 8

Oh, and you thought that the US Senate race of 2006 was going to be the exciting part. Not. Even with rumors circling that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. may actually enter the race to succeed his self-term-limited self, the hot topic from here on out is Hamilton County.

Think about it, though: does the US Senate make such directly, daily impactful decisions as do the County Commissioners, School Board, County Mayor, and Sheriff? I really think that, through decades of political campaigns being merely an arm of the television entertainment conglomerate, society has placed an imbalanced sense of importance on national elections. Yes, it's important who your President is, and who your representatives in the chambers of Congress are. But it is my view that the importance factor is strongest at the local level, and then the relative importance of state, national, and super-national organizations probably decreases with breadth of jurisdiction.

So, with that, I am kicking off a more focused coverage of the 2006 county elections now -- and it pleases me that the first real news I have regarding potential candidates comes from my own County Commission district. It can't get much more local (and so, following the crude algorithm above, it can't get much more important). Educator, blogger, and Pulse reporter John Bailes has all but declared his intent to seek qualification.

An earlier development involved a spate of challengers for Sheriff John Cupp's position. No recent buzz there, but if anything changes I'll update the page.

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