Salisbury primary election today

Step two of the three-step election process for Salisbury City Council hopefuls occurs today.

After filing to get on the ballot in December and January, the six-week primary campaign comes to a climax today with results probably known before 9 p.m. The top six of eight candidates move on to the April 5th general election (in other words, a five-week sprint to the finish.)

Obviously there are any number of ways the voting could turn out, with my hunch being that the veteran candidates will occupy the top three spots and three newcomers will lag somewhat behind.

But the results also allow everyone to know just how well their campaigns are running. Since primaries always have had a fraction of the general election turnout, candidates can see where they are performing best and can concentrate their efforts accordingly. There should be about 1,500 people voting today but the number will likely increase about 50% for the general election.

Having said that, though, the chances of the fourth, fifth, and sixth place candidates tonight will likely hinge on just how close they ran to the top three. Making up 100 votes is a lot easier than coming up with 300 or 500 (remember, each voter can have three choices so the actual number of votes cast should be around 4,000 for the primary and 6,000 for the general election.) Nor should the top three rest on their laurels.

Once the results are out, we can see how the remainder of the campaign could shake out.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.