April 8, 2009

Breaking down the mayor's race

Here's the start of a breakdown of the mayoral primary by aldermanic district:

District 1 (Alderman Jeff Coe) - Turner

This is roughly the downtown area. Turner won this district with 128 votes followed by Dickert with 103 votes and Pete Karas with 62.

District 2 (Alderman Bob Anderson) - Turner

This near south-side district (roughly the "Towerview District") is one of those "battleground" areas for the candidates. The district is split between some of the richest and poorest homes in the city, and the vote reflected this divide. Turner won the district with 170 votes, followed by Dickert with 162 votes. But if you look at the wards, there's a huge discrepancy. Turner won Ward 4 (which is the west edge of the district) 99-8 over Dickert, while Dickert won Wards 5 and 6 over Turner 134-71. Plache finished third in this district with 92 votes.

District 3 (Alderman Mike Shields) - Turner

The district includes Uptown and neighborhoods to the south, and provided another big win for Turner. He carried 185 votes to Dickert's 60 votes. Greg Helding finished third with 43 votes.

District 4 (Alderman Jim Kaplan) - Turner

This district jumps to the near northside, running from the Root River to English Street, with some lakefront property mixed in. Turner and Dickert were evenly split in wards 9 and 10, but Turner carried Ward 11 by a 38-2 margin. He won the district 135-79. Karas finished third with 34 votes.

District 5 (Alderman David Maack) - Dickert

This district includes the Racine Zoo on the city's northside. Dickert won this one easily with 208 votes. Plache took second with 98 votes followed by Turner with 80, Karas with 77 and Helding with 68.

District 6 (Alderman Sandy Weidner) - Dickert

It's Dickert and Turner 1-2 again in this northwest side district bounded by Rapids Drive, Northwestern Avenue and Eaton Avenue. Dickert took 216 votes followed by Turner with 101. Plache and Helding tied for third with 74 votes.

District 7 (Alderman Ray DeHahn) - Dickert

Dickert easily won this district on the northside near 3 Mile Road and Green Bay Road. He pulled down 231 votes to Turner's 103 votes. Helding finished third with 94 votes.

District 8 (Alderman Q.A. Shakoor) - Turner

Turner easily carried this Central City district with 132 votes. Dickert struggled here, pulling only 24 votes and finishing behind Pete Karas and Q.A. Shakoor, who each had 29 votes. Incidentally, if you needed a sign that Shakoor's campaign never took off, this would be it. He managed fewer than 30 votes in his home aldermanic district.

District 9 (Alderman Terry McCarthy) - Dickert

West Racine was a battleground in the primary, and it may be the best example of why Dickert finished first. Despite strong efforts in this area by Pete Karas (his former district) and Jim Spangenberg (who representsa neighboring area), Dickert still finished on top with 159 votes, followed by Karas with 136 and Spangenberg with 119. Turner struggled in this area, finishing fourth just ahead of Kim Plache who took 78 votes. Greg Helding also had 59 votes, so there's lots of room in West Racine for Dickert or Turner to gain ground.

District 10 (Alderman Tom Friedel) - Dickert

Mayor Tom Friedel's district on the far southeast side was another competitive area. Dickert won with 174 votes, followed by Plache with 160 votes and Turner with 135. Helding pulled a strong 116 votes, Spangenberg took 89 votes and Jody Harding had one of her best showings with 67 votes.

District 11 (Alderman Greg Helding) - Helding

Helding dominated his home district, which speaks well for his political future. The city residents who know him best turned out and gave him 199 votes, compared to 102 votes for Plache, 99 for Turner and 82 for Dickert. Helding's endorsement could sway some votes here, but it wouldn't be a big surprise if he passes on that opportunity. It's may be safer for City Council members to play it neutral so they can work with the new mayor.

District 12 (Alderman Aron Wisneski) - Spangenberg

Jim Spangenberg won this district with 299 votes, the second most any candidate received in any district. Spangenberg was boosted here by the support of the district's former Alderman John Engel, who played an active role in Spangenberg's campaign. (For the record, Wisneski backed Helding.) Dickert finished second with 260 votes, Plache third with 184 votes and Helding with 150 votes. Turner did terrible in this district, finishing seventh behind Harding and Karas.

District 13 (Alderman Jim Spangenberg) - Spangenberg

No surprise Spangenberg won his home district in West Racine with 160 votes. He outpaced Dickert's 99 votes and Turner's 82 votes. The big surprise here is Karas' anemic showing. He managed just 35 votes in an area not far from the district he used to represent. It's also worth noting that Spangenberg, like Helding, could swing some votes with an endorsement. But since he's already looking at running for mayor in 2011, it probably doesn't make much sense for him to formally support either candidate.

District 14 (Alderman Ron Hart) - Turner

Turner had a nice showing in this far west side district. He took 108 votes, outpacing Plache's 106 votes and Dickert's 99 votes. This was Turner's best showing outside of the central city, and a sign he can carry votes throughout the city. A Plache endorsement would certainly help.

District 15 (Alderman Bob Mozol) - Dickert

Dickert dominated this north side district, winning 355 votes compared to 132 votes for second-place-finisher Jim Spangenberg. Dickert's total was the most any candidate received in any district. Turner pulled 90 votes here, falling behind Plache and Helding.

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for the interesting break down

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  2. The "sexy" pick will not beat the "Black" vote. Go invest in more junk property sir.

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  3. Oh brother. "Black" vote, by your own logic Dickert should win. If all the second and third place vote getters "white? (Karas, Plache, Spangenberg)" votes go to Dickert. Hopefully it will not be by skin color that we get our new mayor. I think these candidates have a short time to convince me to vote for them.

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  4. You seem racist Anon 4:50

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  5. Can you add the vote totals for the wards you reported on so we can more clearly see where the volume of votes were?
    So, where will the Plache votes go next is the big question now.

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  6. Kay-

    I'm just trying to slog through the data now. I'll go back through with more precise numbers once trends start to emerge. Thanks.

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  7. I hate racist comments like the one from anon 4:38. I don't have a lot of respect for anyone who votes for someone simply because of their skin color.

    However, I know many blacks will vote for Turner simply because he's black. How sad, and how very racist. You'd think we'd be beyond that by now.

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  8. Anon 7:15 Can you read? Comprehend? Slowly just for you..... I was pointing out the skewed logic of Anon 4:38. Black vote does not make sense. If it did Stella would have won for school board. I also pointed out that I hoped skin color wasn't the reason someone would win the mayor's race. Candidates is plural. Keep up.

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  9. I wonder if the Dickert machine will resort to tacky "push-polls" like they did years ago against Turner?

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  10. Anon 7:45 -

    And I hate the white people who will vote for Dickert simply because he is white. Are you saying that residents don't do that?? Are you telling me some white people don't say to themselves "I can't vote for that man, he's Black". You're mentally challenged if you don't think it goes both ways you bozo!

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  11. Still waiting for the rest.

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  12. What a waste. If there are voters that are so easily manuipulated that they will give up their one vote, to vote for someone based on skin color then what are you going to do? Their vote counts as much as my well thought out one.

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  13. Just because Helding carried his own district doesn't mean that he has a bright political future. Spangenberg carried his district and even though Wisneski supported Helding, it didn't carry much wait in Wisneski's district. Helding did well but he still came in 5th place. In order to have a bright political future he will have to do better city wide. And that may mean shedding his republican credentials.

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  14. Too bad we dont have some fresh faces in the race other than the same ol' same ol'. Everyone whines, pisses and moans about no change and the city going to hell. We have two people running for mayor now that have been in positions to fost change and I have seen nothing. Hopefully, Racinians will wise up and vote in an average joe with financial and decision making skills vs. these career polititians. I'm sorry, we have alot more critical problems than needing a senior center or one defending that scum that lives in the dump spots of Racine where thug life and crime is cultured.

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  15. I think the only thing that could save Racine now would be a write-in candidate. It is so sad that there isn't even a moderate choice in this election. We have only two hard core spendthrifts to chose from.

    When will the average Joe get a reprieve from these failed policies and high taxes.

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  16. We had plenty of fresh faces and the voters decided they did not want that. Get over it. A write in campaign will not work and will only guarantee us Mayor Turner.

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  17. If and when Racine Post tries another on-line poll in this race, it's worth noting that your earlier polls indicate Turner's supporters do not appear to visit this site much. Just sayin'.

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