joshasbury.com

On Tuesday, my name was on the election ballot for Hamilton's 9th Precinct.  I ran for the Butler County Democratic Central Committee and won by a slim margin against my opponent -- a whopping 22 votes vs. her 21 votes.  By way of comparison, the Republican candidate from our precinct ran unopposed and received 29 votes.

Before continuing, I would like to thank the folks who voted for me.  Having your faith is a real honor, and I intend to serve our precinct well over the next 4 years.  Periodically, I will post updates to this blog about county activities and events that impact us here in Hamilton.  As soon as I get my bearings about this new role, I will create a space online where we can share ideas about how to make Hamilton, Butler County and Southwest Ohio more progressive.

I'd like to close this post out by speaking to momentum.  It is well known that we live in one of the most conservative areas in the nation.  Heck, John Boehner won 84% of the Butler County vote for the Republican primary.  But look at the voting numbers that we had in our precinct.  43 Democrats from our precinct cared enough to be informed and vote for the Central Committee compared to 29 Republicans.  2 candidates worked to become the representative for our precinct while the Republican candidate ran unopposed. 

What does this say?  Democrats in our community care about making an effective change in our area's politics.  We are currently outnumbered, outstaffed and outgunned -- but we are engaged and want to make a difference.  My gut tells me that area Republicans are frustrated with the recent ethical lapses of their party leaders and have, to a degree, checked out emotionally.  While unfortunate, this presents a great opportunity for us to build on our momentum and work together to put some great new people in office who are more concerned with the good of the community vs. their own personal agendas.

Take a look at this Hamilton Journal News article.  Voter turnout is way down.  People are losing interest.  My favorite piece of the article, though, is in the comment by Ethics Watch:
"Here is what voting Republican has done for Butler County:
Google: Fox, Dynus
Google: Boehner, Foley, sex scandal
Google: Jolivette, Furmon, nepotism
Google: Butler County Ohio ethics violations
Google: Boehner, Tobacco lobby checks
Google: Lang, Jag's, Dynus
Google: Ellis, GOP Headquarters, commission
Google: Butler County Ohio, cronyism
Is this really what we want Butler County, more of the same? Stop bending over and let's take our County back."

We can, and will, do better.