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A perspective on the Metro Louisville Election

By George Baumler

  As a candidate and Libertarian with no realistic chance of winning, I was often asked, "why are you running?" 

Well, I answer that there are two major reasons for my candidacy.

1.    Neither of the major party opponents voiced concerns near and dear to my heart. 

2.    Additionally I wanted let the voters know that there is a party (The Libertarian Party) that is dedicated to principles of freedom, tolerance, responsibility and smaller government. 

The Voters rewarded me with fewer than 250 votes for my efforts.  On the bright side, I believe they chose the better of the two major party opponents, Stuart Benson, to represent the 20^th District in the Greater Louisville Metro Council.  I send my congratulations to Republican Stuart Benson, and I hope to keep in touch with him, since he will be my representative on the Metro Council.  The Republicans won the entire eastern section of Jefferson County and one district in the western portion in spite of heavier than expected voter turnout, which historically favors Democrats.

 One telling moment on Election Day came when a TV news reporter stated that the Democratic candidates were hoping for a large turnout of low income and less educated voters who generally favor Democrats.  The Democrat party did win 15 of the 26 Metro Council seats along with the Metro Mayor’s office in a poorly contested race.  It may be an interesting demographic study to see if the patterns of voting results mirror education and income in the Metro Council districts. 

Below is a map of the Louisville Metro area, with Republican-won districts in gray and Democrat-won districts in pink.

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