Philip Dale Pregent, who did not run for re-election as mayor, was the top vote-getter with 1,522 votes; he was followed by incumbent Kris E. Roberts (1,256), incumbent Ruth R. Venezia (1,045); Carl B. Jacobs (925) and David Meader (721).
They bested Joseph W. Bendzinski (668), Robert B. Sutherland Jr. (645), Steven W. Lindsey (594), Dorrie Faulkner O’Meara (429) and Heika Courser (208).
I am surprised by some of these results. I was using the results of the primary to predict the results of the general election, expecting that the vote totals would be roughly proportional in both cases. This was largely true, with two glaring exceptions.
Steve Lindsey (endorsed by me) did worse than predicted. Bob Sutherland (endorsed by Ian) did better than predicted.
Lindsey has suggested that the order of names on the ballet would depress his vote total. (The order of the names is decided by performance in the primary, with highest vote-getters at the top. Since Lindsey tied for fifth in the primary with David Meader, the order of the two was decided randomly. Meader got the fifth spot, and Lindsey the sixth.) If ballot ordering was the cause, then that hit him particularly hard, costing him over one hundred votes.
At the moment, I have no theory to explain Sutherland’s strong performance.
I want to know what’s driving these two exceptions. It would be helpful to have a more accurate model for future elections.
Ward 2 incumbent Pam Slack, who has had a contentious relationship with liberty activists over the years, lost the election tonight to Bettina Chadbourne.
Tomorrow you can vote for five at-large city councilors. Will’s last blog post (which also has voting instructions and details) suggested Steve Lindsey, which I think is a good choice. Also, I reached out to as many candidates as I could in a short time, as I have been loaded with stuff to do since getting out of jail. I had a series of questions that I invited them to answer, which will appear below.
In addition to Steve Lindsey, I’d recommend voting for Robert Sutherland (scored a 90/90 on the World’s Smallest Political Quiz), Heika Courser (also scored Libertarian), Joe Bendzinski, and Dorrie O’Meara. These candidates are mostly new faces for the city council (Bendzinski is a former councilor who made a name for himself by voting no on things.) and friendly to the liberty community.
City council elections are tomorrow. Most readers already know that Free Keene blogger Heika Courser is running.
But there’s another reason to show up at the polls: Steve Lindsey.
Steve Lindsey is the most libertarian state representative from Keene (beating six other state representatives). He is not a liberty activist, but he is generally on friendly terms with liberty activists. And he’s this close |-| |-| to being elected to city council.
There are five city council seats at-large. In the primary election, Steve tied for fifth place with another, less libertarian, state representative, David Meader. (Surprisingly, I have never met David Meader, so I won’t judge his friendliness.)
Steve’s views are hard to pin down. Left-leaning, and civil libertarian, but very eclectic.
This election will be very close, so every vote counts. The outcome tomorrow will determine the character of the council for the next two years, and could mean the difference between success and failure in future activism. I hope you will consider helping our friend Steve. See voting info below
CONCORD – After a spirited rally in front of the New Hampshire State House, liberty activists opposed to the ongoing prohibition and prosecution of peaceful people marched to a nearby State-owned liquor store to point out the hypocrisy of a State that sells one type of drug while caging people for selling another. Ironically this state’s motto is “Live Free or Die,” though it is surrounded by other states that have more lenient drug laws, many having enacted some form of decriminalization for the possession of cannabis.
The first song that the Shire Choir sang at State Liquor Store #1 was “A Lay of Anslinger.” The words of both songs are by Richard Only. This song is to the tune of “Away in a Manger”:
Shire Choir sings “Violent Blight” at State Liquor Store #1 to the tune of Silent Night:
Courtesy of NH Liquor & Wine Outlets
The opening song is Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) by Arcade Fire and is dedicated to the men and women employed by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission. These workers should find common cause with the message of the Shire Choir. Our main concern this holiday season is that all peaceful people should be released from N.H. and U.S. cages. 80 years ago, people selling liquor were killed or caged for doing the very same activity the employees of the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets do today.
Here are the lyrics to the opening of the song:
They heard me singing and they told me to stop
Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock
These days my life, I feel it has no purpose
But late at night the feelings swim to the surface
Courtesy of NH Liquor & Wine Outlets
I hope these State employees find purpose along with the Shire Choir and support having the freedom to trade drugs like liquor, coffee, cannabis or whatever else an individual decides to put into his or her body. I’m not much of a drinker but if someone wants to drink responsibly then I have no problem with their choice. The same goes for cannabis consumption which has been found to be far less harmful than alcohol consumption.
The puzzle is why does the State lock up one type of drug dealer, as they allege Beau Davis to be, while the New Hampshire Liquor Commission employs others? Some tell me it’s because the State brings in over 1/2 a billion dollars. But if this money is spent to lock up peaceful people, like cannabis merchants and consumers, then what is the point?
