When all was said and done last night, the two incumbents prevailed over the first-time challenger. From the first report of absentee voters to the final count after 11:30 pm, the order and the margins were pretty stable; as they usually are. Here are the results:
Deal 2,879 36.74% –
Nagel 2,780 35.84% -99
Ortiz 2,177 27.78% -702
This is the first time Terry Nagel has slipped from first place in her three races. She beat Jerry Deal by 352 votes four years ago, so last night represents a 450 vote swing towards Deal. Ricardo Ortiz did quite well for a first-time challenger with a limited budget. He was likely aided by having Measure E on the ballot. It passed by 1% above the two-thirds majority required and drew out school parents. Ortiz' fiscal emphasis also resonated with some voters, but my sense of it is that it will be a longer term "timebomb" story that he will have to build on.
If we assume very little "bullet" voting, we had about a 26% turnout, so three quarters of everyone you run into in the grocery store or at the park cannot complain about things in B'game!
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