Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
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Thursday, November 05, 2009
Will Ott Seek a Recount?
According to Lehigh County's web page, Don Cunningham has succeeded in his bid for re-election as County Exec, garnering 21,333 to Scott Ott's 20,332. But Scott Ott has yet to concede. Inside sources within the Lehigh County Republican Party tell me Scrappleface may ask for a re-count.
29 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
All of that money raises big questions about Cunningham's operation. Half of voters didn't trust him to continue as executive. A thorough recount should be undertaken.
ReplyDeleteDon't give it up, Scott. We supported you with our votes. Please fight assure those votes were properly counted - and any phony ones were not.
Glenn Eckhart has always been friendly and polite with Hillary Kwiatek, even shaking her hand several times and her kid's hand, and always wishing her good luck.
ReplyDeleteGlenn confided in me before the election that if he lost, he would call Hillary Kwiatek to concede.
But, on election night as the results came in, only one newspaper called Glenn, it was the Express Times. They asked if Hillary had yet conceded and he said no. Why has Hillary Kwiatek not had the common courtesy to concede?
Fast forward to Scott Ott, right before the announcement on TV. Scott Ott says, "The Morning Call is stalking me (on his phone), where were they before the election?"
Insider
to assure
ReplyDeleteI think the time has come to institute instant replay.
ReplyDeleteEverybody has it - the NFL, college football.
It was even used in the World Series for the first time ever, much to the chagrin of Phillies fans.
The owners and commissioner must act now.
Look at what happened with Colorado and Missouri.
:)
Cunningham paid $72K for 2 Commish races. How much did he pay to buy off judges of elections and voter registration personelle?
ReplyDeleteIt's over, Johnny. IT'S OVER!
ReplyDeleteI hope Ott gets it,then he'll have enough money to move out of that church and into a house.
ReplyDeleteToo much of a margin to overcome in an election with so few votes to count. If there is 1,003 votes to be found there is a real issue in the voter registration office in Lehigh County and I am sure that is not the case.
ReplyDelete40,000 votes cast...how many more absentee ballots?? A hundred? A thousand?
ReplyDelete" How much did he pay to buy off judges of elections and voter registration personelle?"
ReplyDeleteWow! Do you honestly think that Cunningham would be able to pay off judges of elections in precints all over the county andf no one would know about it? And what a terrible thing to say about voter registration in LC, a very professional office under Stacy Sterner. There is not a shred of evidence to back this up. It's just one of those vicious sour grapes.
And Cunningham did nothing illeal or even improper in funding two Commissioner races. Dean Browning's sole criticism was that it would make it more difficult for those candidates to be independent. No one ever suggested anything remotely illegal.
Insider,
ReplyDeleteHas Hillary Kwiatek conceded as of yet?
Anon 10:15, I may be wrong, but think that absentees are included in that tally.
ReplyDeleteAbsentee ballots are opened and tallied after the polls close in Lehigh County.
ReplyDeleteEach voting machine produces a tape which is than recorded on 6 certificates one for each official working the election.
I don't really see how a recount will produce much, unless there is a 400 vote math area out there which seems statistically unlikely.
If it's like NC, there will be an official count following this unofficial tally. Sometimes, numbers are transposed. So I'm not sure if ott is waiting for the official tally or is demanding a recount of the official tally before it is done.
ReplyDeleteScott Ott ran a fine campaign, but it's over. The margin was more than a thousand votes. Maybe not the most commanding margin, but common sense tells one that there are not 1,000 votes miscounted.
ReplyDeleteI think it's unlikely that Scott would ask for a recount. Especially since he'd have to pay for it since the margin was too great.
It was a great showing by Ott, and by Republicans Valleywide and nationwide.
Don't confuse that with an unrealistic recount. It diminishes what he ran on and stood for.
Scott Ott can come back as a credible candidate for another office now, or for county exec in four years.
ReplyDeleteHe's got a great story to tell. He's the David who almost unseated Goliath.
He will undoubtedly lose a lot of that credibility in pursuing a wild goose chase recount.
Remember, it's not Scott Ott saying he wants a recount, it's "insiders," who may not necessarily have his best interests at heart.
The smart thing for him to do is concede graciously and go on to win his next race.
Good advice.
ReplyDeleteIf Cunningham's campaign hadn't been so negative and underhanded, there wouldn't be questions about his slim margin of victory. The religion bashing by his supporters amid pleas for Scott to concede have continued here. What's the harm in keeping a very sleazy Don Cunningham honest. Remember, HALF of county voters don't want him any more. They don't trust him with county affairs. He should support any effort to clean up his well-earned bad reputation among the HALF of voters who have NO CONFIDENCE in him. Perhaps this mostly lame duck can attempt to finally lead by acknowledging his stunning, resounding unpopularity. He's arguably the LV's most hated sitting politician now that Dertinger has been purged.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else find the Irony of Republicans and recounts?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Scott Ott was in favor of the Florida recount in 2000 based on his ideology.
To Anon 12:21
ReplyDeleteSo any election that isn't by 10 points means that the person is hated and not liked?
Lots of elections are decided by less than five points. Doesn't mean the winner has any less responsibility to govern or less hold on the office.
Heck some offices if there are 3 candidates mean the office holder doesn't even get a plurality of the votes.
"He's arguably the LV's most hated sitting politician now that Dertinger has been purged."
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a stretch. I presume the Ott campaign will deposit the funds to pay for this recount?
The Lehigh County Republican Committee was asleep at the switch again. They did believe Ott would do so well so they were reluctant to to make any real effort that would have produced the 7 more votes per precinct needed to win.
ReplyDeleteLehigh County Republicans need to put their egos and good ole boy arrongance aside and learn a thing or two from the Northampton County Republicans! (i.e. Bill Platt, Dean Browning, Charlie Dent, Percy Dougherty, and the rest of the wishy washy likes!)
at least in lehigh, poll workers have the absentee ballots on election day. they open & count them after the poll closes and add them to the machine vote before turning in the results to the county.
ReplyDeleteI spoke with Glenn an hour ago and he informs me that Hillary Kwiatek has not yet conceded. Her signs are still littering the public roads.
ReplyDeleteInsider
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteI participated in the Slonaker-Shaffer recount for Lehigh County Controller two years ago. Your assessment of Stacy Sterner and the rest of the staff of the Lehigh County Voter Reg office is right on the mark.
They were all professional, diligent and thorough. And when one considers that such a process is laboriously boring, I was even more amazed at the professionalism and even good humor they used for such a daunting procedure. Yet, they took their task very seriously.
And they even shared some pretzels with me! Now if I could only have figured out who the evil plotting Democrats were on that staff...!
I also ended up discussing engineering with the Slonaker observer, who was an engineer, and we batted some humorous jokes back and forth as well.
Democracy sure is sloppy - but it is also awesome.
hillarykwiatek tweets:
ReplyDeleteHeading into NYC with the family. We'll be uptown for the most part. Museum of Natural History top of list today.
Hey, Hillary is it that a liberal like you can spend $35K on mailers and yards signs; what about all those trees you wasted on a lost cause?
How about picking up all your signs before running out of state in shame. People who care about a clean environment don't leave litter behind for municipal, county and state workers to pick up using our tax dollars?
Winners should be gracious in their victory, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteDespite being sober, well "educated", well financed, and generally more presentable (except for the dyke haircut), Hillary Kwiatek had a worse showing with the voters on election day than Patrica Smith!
ReplyDeleteHillary has never been graceful nor shown any grace and it needs to be called out.
Called out by an Anon who makes disparaging remarks about the gay community. How brave you are!
ReplyDeleteKwiatek may or may not have acted graciously. I have not spken to Glenn Eckhart. But that comment is a real disservice to Glenn and Hillary Kwiatek both.