The results are in for the 2005 election. On the bright side, Democrats won governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s initiatives were all defeated in Coll-ee-for-nee-ya, and Maine reaffirmed their gay rights laws. On the dark side, Texas passed an anti-gay marriage amendment to their Constitution.
But that’s not the election I was following. I was watching the crown princess of the American Taliban, Generation Life’s Brandi Swindell, in her bid to unseat long-time incumbent Boise City Council member Maryanne Jordan.
I was worried about the City Council being her springboard to more influential positions in politics, especially in Idaho, the 2nd-reddest state in the nation. She’s been a force behind a fight to restore a Ten Commandments monument in a city park, and that’s a very popular position in Boise and the surrounding areas. I really feared that she could be successful in her bid.
Turns out, it wasn’t even close:
Boise Council - Seat 6
Precincts: 81 of 81 (100%) reporting
Winner Candidate Votes Percent
X Maryanne Jordan 22918 70%
Brandi Swindell 9758 30%BOISE — Incumbent Maryanne Jordan won her re-election bid against Brandi Swindell for seat number six on the Boise city council.
Maryanne Jordan has been reelected to the Boise City Council.
Jordan is the current city council president and a small business owner.
“Well I’m just so grateful and so pleased I had fantastic help and support and I think that in local elections voters understand the issues that are important to their community, and I think they came through in a big way,” Jordan said.
“This has been a phenomenal experience. Obviously, we wish we had gotten a few more votes, but this has been such a positive campaign, my volunteers have been amazing,” Swindell said.
Jordan retains her seat with 10,000 more votes than her opponent.
Or as I like to think of it, a better than 2-to-1 margin. I underestimated the votes Jordan would pull from Boise’s North End residents, one of the few blue spots in that all red sea of Southwestern Idaho. It’s good to know that for every babbling Biblical literalist supporting Swindell, there are more than two other voters with the common sense to choose education and experience over looks and religious credentials.
On the other hand, this frees her up to continue her national anti-woman, anti-sex-ed, anti-privacy, and anti-seperation-of-church-and-state advocacy activities…
