A friend quipped to me recently how he was slightly embarrassed to be a part of the Republican party. I said I understood and we moved on. Hopefully he understands me as I claim that I’m embarrassed to be part of the Democratic party.
While there are Democratic politicians in our nation’s capital worthy of criticism, they are not the cause of my current embarrassment. The source is the Ellis County Democratic Party.
The race for State Representative of the 111th District between incumbent Eber Phelps and challenger Barb Wasinger ended election night extremely close. 32 votes separated the candidates when the initial votes were counted. With an incredibly tight margin between the two, a recount was appropriate. After another day of counting votes, Wasinger was ahead 35 votes.
And, before we move on, let’s acknowledge that registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats over 2:1 in our county. In fact, there are more registered Independent voters in Ellis County than Democrats. For Eber Phelps to have been only 35 votes shy of Wasinger, a candidate well-established in local politics, and to have served the district for 18 years says something about the idea-focused, rather than party-focused, nature of the electorate in the 111th.
Accepting a close loss tends to be more difficult than being blown out of the water. 35 votes is less than .2% of the 17,667* registered voters in Ellis County. With so few votes making the difference, could an extra three hours of knocking on doors changed the outcome? One more speaking engagement? A few extra phone calls encouraging supporters to get out the vote? Tiny changes in Phelps’s campaign could have made the difference.
However, since the recount, local Democratic leaders have decided to lay the blame on electronic voting machines.
Are the machines outdated? According to the Secretary of State’s office: yes.
Should concerns have been raised before the election? Absolutely.
To bring forth questions about the trustworthiness of voting machines only after your party’s candidate loses reeks of pettiness, only to be amplified by claiming you only seek the true will of the people.
When Phelps wrote a letter signifying he would abide by the 35 vote loss and asked his supporters to suspend any further action in order for Representative-elect Wasinger to focus on the coming legislative session, the matter seemed behind us all. The suit filed in hopes of an outside agency auditing the machines speaks to how a certain group of Phelps supporters truly feel about their candidate.
Just as Rep.-elect Wasinger should be focused on her coming role in Topeka and not a lawsuit, or trying to raise $20,000 for lawyer fees, Ellis County Democrats should be focused on the future instead of playing petty politics in a district that will have none of it.
In two years another election will take place for the 111th seat. With a Presidential election happening on the same ballot, voter-turnout will be even higher, giving an immediate edge to the Republican candidate. I suggest the Democratic party, my Democratic party, start finding a strong candidate and creating an even stronger campaign plan if they want a chance at winning the seat back.
*Unofficial number provided by the Office of the Secretary of State.
Zach Woolf, Hays