09 November 2023

2023 #COV Municipal Election In The Books: A Look Back

 Howdy, pals, and hope everything is going everybody's way out there. 

Well, another Covington election in the rearview mirror. Time just marches on, doesn't it? 

So let's break it down. 

I was very happy to see that both of the candidates I endorsed & publicly supported won their respective East Ward city council races. 

Congrats to good friend Travis Moore in Post 2, as well as Jared Rutberg for Post 3. Both of these fine gentlemen will be a great addition to the home city's voting body. 

Let's start w/ Post 3

As predicted, Jared won this one easily. 65% of the votes cast vs Dania's 35%. Honestly, for a municipal race, that's really a whooping. But again, not surprising. Having moved here only a year ago & being a relatively unknown quantity, it was expected for Bernard.

Again, congrats to Jared Rutberg. He's a good guy & he'll do a good job, I think. And if he doesn't - I'll let him know about it & will let you guys know as well. 

I will commend Dania Bernard for running a clean campaign apparently devoid of any lies or dirty politics. 

On the other hand, Post 2 played out much differently except for the final tally. 

Travis Moore won bigly, getting 64% of the final vote, basically winning 2-to-1 over Carla Ferry. 

But as mentioned, this one was different. It was NOT a clean campaign. It DID have dirty politics. 

I know for a fact that Travis was planning on & was wanting to run a campaign solely on the issues but Ms Ferry saw to it that that wouldn't happen. 

It started w/ the event at Corrydale early on which is when the wheels really first started coming off her campaign. Making it abundantly clear that basically her entire campaign would be focused on lies & half truths directed at Mr Moore, her campaign never really had a chance for getting traction. 

After that early performance, the writing was already on the wall. 

She turned it up to 11 a while later when she sent out a direct-mail hit piece against Travis, again completely NOT rooted in facts & full of non & half truths, and really showing a lack of any fundamental understanding of how the planning commission, or really simply government in general, works. 

After that, it was Newton's Third Law time. 

The Moore campaign hit back - and they hit back HARD - as well he should've. 

Once the other side plays that game -- all bets are off. 

And I'm hoping folks now will finally appreciate the old adage of -- "Signs Don't Vote" 

There's no substitute for canvassing & "REAL Politick." And obviously likability & credibility are key as well. 

Well done, Travis Moore! Congrats & looking forward to your contributions. 

Mayor 

In the semi-surprise of the night, Fleeta Baggett won the Mayoral race WITHOUT a runoff. W/ five candidates running it seemed as if a second round would be a foregone conclusion; however, as the race wore on, and as Fleeta got after it (by all accounts she ran one helluva campaign) while her opponents floundered, the word on the street leading up to election day was that she was going to take care of it Tuesday night. And by golly that she did! 

Congrats to my old frenemy. It was kind of weird voting for you. We expect big things & we'll be keeping an eye on you, Madam Mayor. Remember: "Do the right things & do things right." 


And to cap off a pretty darn good night for the home city & county, the referendum for senior citizens relief on the BOE tax passed easily. 

Alright, gang, until next time. 

- MBM