Politics & Government

Democrats Assess Close Victory

Powers thinks it is a wake-up call.

Art Powers has seen hundreds of elections in his lifetime and the former Mayor is never wanting for an opinion.

"This is a great thing for the Democrats," he said. "I'm glad they got a scare. They need to change their procedures for the elections going forward. They sat on their hands and they got a real challenge from the Republicans. I applaud the Republicans. We need two strong parties and they did a good job this election. The Democrats, I think, got a little lucky."

While Powers thought the Democrats should have won, he was worried all election day.

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"Any time you have a low vote and don't get out the voters, it favors the minority party," Powers said. "There were challenges becaue there wasn't a lot of controversy. I think they thought they were a shoe-in to get back in but they got a scare and I think it's good."

Steve Morelli, who has served as Deputy Mayor, was the lowest vote getter for the Democrats. When asked why he thought that was the case, Morelli had a straightforward answer.

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"I'm a lightning rod," he said. "I am probably the most outspoken member of the council and I'm not afraid to hurt people's feelings to voice my opinion. There have been a number of issues over the last few years that have come before the ordinance committee and it has polarized people. I have always done what I thought was the right thing to do and that cost me some votes, there is no doubt about that. That's the truth."

While the Dems got a scare, the Republicans saw some hope in removing the Democrats from their minority.

"We have gone through a few election cycles now and we are starting to see some really positive numbers," Republican Town Council member Dave Evans said. "We have reached out to the community and shared our conservative vision. The Democrats have had a solid hold on the council for a while now so they are going to be tough to beat. I think we're making strides."


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