So, just to be clear, I am aware that I'm a political neophyte compared to most of my opponents in this race. Nobody knew who I was two-and-a-half months ago and with no money but whatever I had to spare from my paychecks, I've done no advertising. That's not a winning formula. I am aware.
But here's the thing: You never know. When I was a 20-year-old kid running for the school board, nobody really thought I had a chance to win that either. I lost that election by (ultimately, following the recount) three votes. And I had at least 11 people the next day tell me that they would have voted if they'd known it was going to be so close. Now, check out this item from Electoral-Vote.com in which two different recent results were closer than the polls predicted (Poll Position Part I and Poll Position Part II) and in which they discuss the idea that this is a "throw the bums out" election. For all the polling that has been done in our race, none of it seems to be published anywhere. But the scuttlebutt I'm hearing is that a large portion, maybe as much as 40% is undecided. And as stated in the E-V.com piece, it's hard to predict how that's going to play out. And as outsiders go, no one is more of an outsider than I am.
We also know that in the South Dakota Governor's race, when the GOP nomination went to a run-off, thousands of South Dakotans registered for the first time or changed their party registration specifically so they could participate in the run-off. There's no direct comparison here, but it does show that even in very red states, people are motivated to get out and vote against very MAGA candidates.
So, you never know. Chuck Gray has a good name recognition because he's the sitting Secretary of State who has already won Statewide but people come up to me specifically to say they don't like him. Reid Rasner and Steve Friess have lots of money and therefore are able to get their names in front of people. But Rasner had a bunch of money two years ago against Sen. Barrasso, and it did him little good. Everybody seems to think that they key to winning is tying themselves closely to Trump. Well, except me and Kevin Christensen. And Kevin is doing really well. Apparently. So I hear. Because the polls aren't public.
So no one knows. I guess we'll all find out on Tuesday. Yes, Primary day is less than a week away. The key takeaway here is that everyone needs to vote. If you were thinking of giving this election a pass because your preferred candidate can't win, you're wrong. If you're frustrated because voting for the lesser evil is still voting for evil, I hear you and I sympathize. But, don't give up, because you don't want to leave this decision to the people who are okay voting for evil. The only wasted vote is the one that is never cast.
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