North Nampa Residents Association (NNRA)

North Nampa Residents Association
PO Box 233
Nampa, Id 83653

Idaho Statesman
8 Nov 2001, front page

Seven pro-Horn precincts switched
loyalties this year

NAMPA -- Voters will go to the polls again Dec. 4 to decide who will be the mayor of Nampa.
     Every vote will count.
     On Tuesday, Councilman Tom Dale kept his edge over Mayor Maxine Horn, ending the night 140 votes ahead. Dale received 48.42 percent of the vote, to Horn's 46.34 percent.
     In 1997, when Horn beat Dale in their first matchup, that number would have made him mayor. But shortly after that election, the council voted 3-1 to require winning candidates to have 50 percent of the votes plus one.
     Dale cast the lone dissenting vote.
     Tuesday, seven precincts that supported Horn in 1997 swung in Dale's direction. One changed from Dale to Horn.
     In 1997, Horn had 90 votes to Dale's 48 in North Nampa's precinct 38. This year, Dale won 187 to Horn's 141.
     "I'm not surprised that Dale got more votes in this area because of the urban renewal," said Shirley Dean, board member of the North Nampa Residents Association and the Nampa Urban Renewal Agency.
     Dale said at a residents' association forum that he would put the future of the renewal agency before the public and appoint a residents' advisory board. Horn credited the agency with helping with projects such as the 11th Avenue underpass, but did not address its future.
     Tuesday, 33.4 percent of registered voters cast ballots. In 1997, turnout was 40.17 percent.
     "I don't understand why the people don't come out and vote," Dean said. "They're complaining about the city spending money. If they'd have come out, we wouldn't have to spend $12,000 to have a re-vote."

     No one remembers an incumbent mayor losing a re-election bid. The two previous mayors served multiple terms: Winston Goering served four and Ernest Starr, five. Both stepped down voluntarily.
     This will be Nampa's first runoff.
     "Turnout is key," said Jim Weatherby, political science professor at Boise State University.
     Pocatello has had runoffs for its mayor's race almost every year since 1985, Weatherby said.
     "Turnout is typically lighter in a runoff," he said.
     He said it's hard to say whether the voters who supported newcomer Lorraine "Raine" Ramsey, who finished with 5.23 percent of Tuesday's ballots, will vote again.
     "Was that a vote for none of the above or for Ramsey?" he said of the 352 votes Ramsey garnered. "Could be a protest vote."
     Weatherby said the race will depend on who can get their voters out in the midst of holiday distractions.
     "We have even more work to do," Horn said. "We'll reorganize. I still feel if the voters look at the qualifications of the candidates, they'll vote for me."
     One of her campaign managers, B. Edgar Johnson, said Horn supporters started working to get voters out on her behalf Wednesday morning.
     Dale said his campaign will continue doing what it has been doing: talking and listening to the people.
     "We're going to keep on putting the message out there," he said. "Last night, the people spoke. I'm optimistic."
     Dale said people he had not spoken to previously were calling him Wednesday to ask how they could help him.
     "With new people coming to the team, we're going to push this thing on to victory."

Reprinted by permission of Idaho Statesman
Note: Article retyped in HTML for better readability

Page Created and
Maintained by