Residents give their take on elections

What May’s primary ballot speaks of our past or portends for our future is best left to the social scientists to figure out.

But like in nearly every election in the past - the names on the top of the ballot notwithstanding - this year’s primary is again dominated by white men.

On May 6, Iredell County residents will be asked to chose among 84 total candidates, 61 of whom (73 percent) are white men.

Other than Iredell-Statesville School Board Member Keith Williams, who is running to keep his seat, the only other African-American on the entire primary ballot is Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barrack Obama.

“But one is better than zero,” said NAACP Statesville Branch President Woody Woodard, referring to Obama. “And I think it’s great to have that candidate.”

Woodard pointed out that African-American candidates in Iredell are more prevalent in municipal elections, which are nonpartisan and, in the case of Statesville, carved into districts more amenable to minorities.

“But to win a countywide office in Iredell County, you have to be of a certain party and that is the Republican Party,” said Woodard, a former Democratic candidate for county commissioner. “And most people of color are not in that party.”
Women fare a little better, but gender, too, seems to have a partisan tilt to it.

Of the 17 women whose names will appear - depending on the district in which one lives in Iredell - nine are Democrats (25 percent of 35 total candidates), five are Republicans (16 percent) and three are running in nonpartisan races.

Local races, however, have more of a business-as-usual look to them.

Of the 17 people vying for seats on either the Iredell County Board of Commissioners or the Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education, only one female can be found: Democratic county commissioner candidate Barb-ara A. Orr.

Only two of the candidates vying for one of seven N.C. General Assembly seats that are at least partially located in Iredell are women. And only one of them - Rep. Karen Ray of Mooresville - faces a primary.

Most of the women running for office would be deemed serious contenders.

The list includes presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Beverly Perdue, incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, and Dole’s likely November opponent, State Sen. Kay Hagan.

“It is possible, depending on where you live, to have a woman representing you right down the line,” said September McCrady, an officer with the Iredell County Democratic Party. “From the White House all the way down to the county commission.”

McGrady said a woman’s role in politics, while not where it should be, has been a long time coming.

“Most women are in charge of their households,” she said. “And that has almost always been the case.”

Warren Boone, a 58-year old textile worker, said the same thing. But, he noted, race and gender should not even play a role in politics.

“The fact that people even ask about those things seems racist and sexist to me,” Boone said. “I vote for the person.”

He added, however, that neither Obama nor Clinton is the type of person he would vote for.

“Between the two of them, I couldn’t care less who wins,” he said. “I’m not impressed by either one of them.”

But Jill Shelnut is.

“Oh, I really want Hillary,” she said.

Shelnut said that while she feels that the senator from New York is “a very smart person and good politician,” that it is former President Clinton that gets her excited, politically speaking.

“I think everything was really going well in this country when Bill Clinton was president,” she said. “And I think Hillary can bring some of that back. I think she can change the world.”

Shelnut, 46, also dismisses the notion that Hillary’s positives or negatives derive from her being a woman.

“I don’t think that has a lot to do with it,” she said. “I think she’s just a really good candidate.”

Polly Hollar said she has witnessed a number of changes in the world of politics during her more than eight decades of life.
“I think politics has been mostly men’s work,” she said. “But there have been a lot of changes over the years. In fact, everything has changed.”

On the other side of the age spectrum is 23-year-old Emily Williams. She says that a big part of the change people are talking about is personified in one person: Barack Obama.

“I think his campaign has already generated more excitement and brought more energy into this than everyone else combined,” Williams said. “There’s almost no way to not be excited when you hear him speak.”

But apparently there are some who are not.

Gene Muse is a 62-year-old living on disability.

Like Boone, Muse said he would not vote on people based on their race or gender. But, also like Boone, he is not voting for Obama or Clinton.

“But I do think their being in the race has gotten more people involved in all this, especially blacks and women,” he said.

Becky Galliher, director of Iredell County Board of Elections, said her office is ready to handle the crowd.

“I think we’re going to see a very big turnout of voters from both parties,” Galliher said.

She specifically noted the county commissioner races, which features five Democrats and five Republicans. Only three from each party will make it through to the November general election.

With the big crowds expected, voters should take advantaged of the one-stop voting, which this year will have voting places at four different sites, Galliher said.

“It would make things a lot easier on everyone involved for as many people as can to use the one-stop voting,” she said.

Those who wish to vote in the May 6 primary must have all their correct information - including party affiliation - to the Iredell Board of Elections by April 28.

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Posted on 03/11/08 at 07:26 AM
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