We hope you got a chance to check out the Countian’s Web site for this week’s primary election coverage.
In the spirit of fun, we made a few predictions as to how some of Tuesday night’s results might come out, knowing fully well the very serious potential to be completely wrong (Editor's note: we ended up going 2-for-4, coming within three percentage points of correctly guessing both the Markell and Atkins wins).
With football season kicking off this past Sunday – as well as the moans, groans and shouts of joy of millions of football-pool participants – we’re just in the mood to prognosticate (we promise this was done on Monday night, just in case by some miraculous stretch, we go 4-for-4):
• Governor (Democratic) – This might be the toughest one to handicap. Carney has a built-in upstate base, but Markell has been chipping away at it during the course of the campaign, and any Democrats who are a bit bored with the Minner model may be looking for a change. There’s also a large number of state residents who switched their registration to Democrat, and the primary will tell why. Prediction: Markell squeaks by with 54 percent of the vote. (ACTUAL RESULT: MARKELL WINS BY 2 POINTS, 51 PERCENT)
• County Council (District 2): Robert Reed barely missed an additional term as county sheriff in 2006, and Sam Wilson has been active in the local Republican party for quite some time. Ricker has the highest profile of the three candidates, however, as a former mayor and current councilman, which has to make him the favorite. Prediction: Ricker captures 42 percent of the vote, with Reed and Wilson splitting the remaining 58 percent. The number of votes Wilson takes from each candidate will be key. (ACTUAL RESULT: WILSON WINS BY LESS THAN 2 POINTS, 37 PERCENT)
• County Council (District 3): Jud Bennett was only three votes away from unseating longtime incumbent Lynn Rogers last time around; if his GOP constituency carries over from 2004, he should come away with a win. Prediction: Bennett takes 66 percent of the vote. (ACTUAL RESULT: BAKER WINS BY 10 POINTS, 55 PERCENT)
• 41st House District: If history is an indicator of how the contest between Atkins and three-time challenger Barbara Lifflander will go, Atkins (who won 70-30 in 2004 and 65-35 in 2006) should come away with a 60-40 primary win. Then again, quite a bit has happened to Atkins since then. Prediction: Atkins ekes out a win by a 4 percent margin, taking 52 percent of the vote. (ACTUAL RESULT: ATKINS WINS BY 8 POINTS, 54 PERCENT)
In the coming weeks, keep an eye on the Countian for coverage of candidate forums, general-election previews and more.
