2012 Campaign Kick-off at Wabash Days

It's six months until Wentzville citizens go to the polls to cast their vote for a new mayor and three aldermen. You may think this a little early to have candidates positioning themselves but I assure you the drums in at least two of the mayoral camps are beginning to be heard around town. As I stated in earlier blogs, this is going to be a complicated election but as of this writing a couple of the horses have left the gate. So here we go!

Leon Tow, President of the board of aldermen representing ward 1, and Nick Guccione, Alderman of ward 3, both running for the top spot have selected their respective committees and are starting to gear up for next April. Although I'm not usually caught unaware of what's going on in elections, I was surprised to see both candidates availing themselves of the Wentzville Community Club's Wabash Days parade to enter floats. I don't remember their order in the parade but I suppose it's of little consequence, they were however the only candidates entered. Lambi either didn't get the memo, thought he could pass them in the straight-away, or chose not to run. Option three would be best for him, unless he wants to feel, first hand, the agony of defeat.

Tow's procession included three other aldermen, one from each ward; Cheryl Kross from ward 1, and Chris Gard from ward 2 both walked along side greeting spectators and passing out candy for the children (today's equivalent of kissing babies); Rick Stokes of ward 3 drove the tractor pulling Tow, his family, and supporters. All-in-all, a very impressive array of high-profile pundants. In past elections when Lambi and the Lurchettes would be coursing for office, many of them would campaign for each other at the polls but I never saw them clustered up walking in a parade—maybe I'm wrong, I could have mistook them for circus clowns—I didn't pay much attention to them until they got elected, after all, they were only interesting when they were making fools of themselves in the board meetings.

Guccione's float was somewhat less endowed with elected officials, he did however have his family and several benefactors walking alongside. None-the-less, Guccione was announcing that he is a serious contender and is not going to run third this time. His campaigns are always aggressive, he and his committee will be heard around the city

The news about aldermen slots up for bid is about the same, it's wide open in ward 1, since Tow is putting all of his resources into running for mayor, a new candidate has yet to appear. Ward 2 is still a question as rumors that Vann Samples will not seek reelection. In ward 3, Rick Stokes' campaign hasn't disclosed itself but it's almost certain he'll be there in the home-stretch, who his opponent(s) will be is still unknown. It's going to be an interesting election and I look forward to seeing the strategies unfold.

One more indication that the campaign of 2012 has been engaged comes from Tow's camp. A mailed announcement was received by several hundred voters to attend an "Open House" tonight at the Golf Club of Wentzville Pavilion. I didn't receive an invitation because I only heard about it moments ago, I would suppose walk-ins are welcome. I would really like to hear his platform and the questions posed by the attendees but alas, I have prior obligations. The Wentzvillian readers will hear about this event at 6:00 PM this evening at the exact moment it will start, if you can get there before 7:30, you might be able to catch some of it.

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