2008 Election Results Analysis

In my 2008 race for State Representative, I received 43% of the votes on election day, and 30% of the early votes, for a combined total of 37% - the same percentage that B.J. Lawson (aka Ron Paul, Jr.) received in his Congressional race in North Carolina this year. That is a higher percentage than the following Republican candidates received in Salt Lake County: Rob Bishop, Bill Dew, Mike Renckert, Jon Fidler, Gordon Storrs, Joe Jarvis, Garrett Clark, Seth Robert Wright, Kay Garske, Lisa Morrise, and Linda Cooper.

My opponent was two-term incumbent Democrat Mark Wheatley. His 57% on election day this year is the same total percentage he received in 2006 against my current Republican Senate District Chair, Jay Brummett. Brummett spent over $11,000 on the 2006 race compared to the under $6,000 that I spent this year.

My 2,727 votes this year are more than the 2,433 votes Wheatley received in his 2006 victory (for which he spent over $16,000).

This election wasn't a rejection of my volunteers, me, or our message of liberty, prosperity, and transparency. We received positive feedback from most people with whom we communicated. It also wasn't an endorsement of Wheatley or his campaign. Most people with whom my volunteers and I communicated had never heard of him. We basically didn't get the message out early enough or to enough people. If 972 of the 4,670 people who voted for my opponent this year would have voted for me instead, I would have won. The early voting and the Obama/Matheson/Corroon/Horiuchi Democrat tsunami really hurt us. Straight-party votes accounted for 46% of the votes cast in my district. Among those, 61% were Democrat and 37% were Republican.

Thank you to each of you that have contributed time, money, effort, and/or advice to my campaign for State Representative. It has been humbling to witness your generosity and a pleasure to work with you. I will be having a volunteer appreciation dinner on Saturday, November 15, at which we will be discussing lessons learned and ideas for the 2010 election cycle. If you're interested in attending, please RSVP online at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=32187324098 - it doesn't cost anything. :-)

P.S. Tonight (November 20th) I received the precinct-by-precinct results and found that we tied or won in 7 of my district's 27 precincts on election day, with an average of 62% of the vote in those precincts! :o) I will look more closely at why we did so well in those precincts, and plan on duplicating that as much as possible in all of my district's precincts in 2010, with increased focus on early and absentee voting.

Election Day Has Arrived!

This is a reminder that today (Tuesday, November 4th) is Election Day! :-) You can search for your voting location at http://www.facebook.com/election08. Utah voting locations are open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM today. If you have not yet registered to vote at your current address but you have registered in Utah before, you can still vote today. To do so, take a picture ID and two pieces of mail with your current address to your voting location and ask for a provisional ballot.

I recently added a couple new sections to the right column of my campaign Web site: "My Audio Files" and "My Printed Material". I also added a new video to the "My Videos on YouTube" section. I recommend that you check out these items to learn more about my campaign for State Representative.

Fiscal Policy (Taxes & Spending)

One of the pillars of my campaign is economic prosperity. A key element of that is fiscal policy, particularly taxes and spending. For the 2008 legislative session, my opponent (two-term incumbent Mark Wheatley) tied with three other state legislators for the worst score in the entire State Legislature from the Utah Taxpayers Association. I have signed the Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, in which I pledge to the taxpayers of my district and to all the people of Utah that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.

For additional information on how my opponent and I differ on fiscal policy, I suggest reading the following blog posts of mine:

• Socializing Risks and Losses While Privatizing Profits
  
  
• Income Tax & Gasoline Price Relief
  
  
• Property Tax Relief
  

10-10 Moneybomb Today

As a Ron Paul-endorsed candidate for public office, I am having a moneybomb for my campaign today (the third and final moneybomb of my campaign). Since the date today is 10-10, I encourage you to donate either $10.10, $20.10, $50.10, or $110.10 via the Donate button on the right side of my Web site. Here are some historical events that have taken place on 10-10:

• 1845 - In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.
  
  
• 1970 - Fiji becomes independent after nearly a century of British rule.
  
  
• 1973 - Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal income tax evasion.
  
  
• 1985 - United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.
  
  
• 1990 - The U.S. freezes $564 million in economic and military aid to Pakistan, because of its suspected continued development of nuclear weapons.
  
  
• 2001 - Americans George A. Akerlof, A. Michael Spence, and Joseph E. Stiglitz win the Nobel Prize in economics for research into how the control of information influences everything from used car sales to the rise and collapse in high-tech stocks.
  
  
• 2004 - Afghans pack polling stations for a historic presidential election that is blemished when all 15 candidates opposing U.S.-backed interim President Hamid Karzai withdrew, charging the government and the U.N. with fraud and incompetence.

My goal for fundraising today is $1,010. That can be reached by 100 people donating $10.10, 51 people donating $20.10, 21 people donating $50.10, 10 people donating $110.10, or any combination of those. If each of you reading this message will please just take a few minutes today and donate via my campaign Web site, we should be able to reach the goal of raising $1,010 today, on this 10-10. Thank you for your support of liberty.

10-10 Moneybomb Totals

• Amount received on 10-10: $280.70
• Amount short of 10-10 goal: $719.30

9-19 Moneybomb Today

As a Ron Paul-endorsed candidate for public office, I am having a moneybomb for my campaign today. Since the date today is 9-19, I encourage you to donate either $9.19, $29.19, $59.19, or $109.19 via the Donate button on the right side of my Web site. Here are some historical events that have taken place on 9-19:

• 1737 - Charles Carroll of Carrollton, American patriot leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and U.S. Senator was born (d. 1832)
  
• 1777 - American soldiers won the First Battle of Saratoga/Battle of Freeman's Farm/Battle of Bemis Heights during the Revolutionary War.
  
• 1778 - The Continental Congress passes the first budget of the United States.
  
• 1796 - President George Washington's farewell address is printed across America as an open letter to the public. In it, America's first chief executive advised, "Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."
  
• 1893 - Women's suffrage: In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.
  
• 1940 - Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz in order to smuggle out information and start a resistance.
  
• 1983 - Saint Kitts and Nevis gains its independence from Great Britain.

My goal for fundraising today is $919. That can be reached by 100 people donating $9.19, 32 people donating $29.19, 16 people donating $59.19, 9 people donating $109.19, or any combination of those. If each of you reading this message will please just take a few minutes today and donate via my campaign Web site, we should be able to reach the goal of raising $919 today, on this 9-19. Thank you for your support of liberty.

9-19 Moneybomb Totals

• Amount raised: $225.95
• Amount short of goal: $693.05