Dems win one in Florence!

[MelissaB]

This one was dirty.

Unofficial vote tallies show Irons the winner of District 1 House seat

FLORENCE – Unofficial vote tallies indicate an easy win for Tammy Irons in Alabama’s District 1 House seat special election.

Her win means she will be the first woman to represent the district when the legislative session resumes next week.

Irons declared a victory about 30 minutes after polls closed. The special election Tuesday fills the vacancy that was created in December with the death of longtime representative Nelson Starkey.

Irons, a Democrat, easily outdistanced her Republican opponent William Smith. Based on unofficial results, 4,229 votes were cast for Irons, while Smith received 2,649 votes. Irons and Smith are both Florence lawyers. There were eight write-in votes.

Vote totals must be verified before Irons can be sworn in Tuesday when the legislative session resumes. Florence has not been represented in the House during the current legislative session. There are seven working days left in the session.

Link: http://timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060321/BREAKING/60321005

[Syrinx]

1. I did a little yodel when I saw that in the paper

I don't yodel, but that's what it sounded like. :)

I was worried a little because of the special election we had recently where the pug won.

I haven't hung around Florence much Melissa. What is it like up there politically speaking?

[MelissaB]

2. Well, it's conservative.

Even the local dem group seems conservative. They even state that they are against gay marriage on a pamplet they handed out at the fair. That didn't sit right with me for many reasons. :( My cousin just moved back from San Francisco, and I had hopes of her becoming involved locally.

Thanks for the yodel. :hi:

[Syrinx]

3. cousins

I have a female cousin that is a few years younger than me. She's basically a yellow-dog Democrat (and a very nice girl, by the way).

But I had an email exchange with her a while back about gay marriage and that sort of thing.

She went apoplectic at the very idea. I asked her why, and she said that the whole reason for marriage is for reproduction. Gay people can't reproduce (with each other) so therefore they shouldn't be able to get married. (I refrained from mentioning to her that she's been married for a decade and hasn't had a baby yet.)

I asked her about other people that aren't able to reproduce. Should it be illegal for post-menopausal women to get married? Of course not, she replied.

Should it be illegal for men who have lost their testicles to cancer be disallowed from marrying. She said "of course not," and that I was just being silly.

Then I repeated back her own reason for being against gay marriage. She did a sort of email mumble and ended the conversation.

Personally, I think that the government should get out of the marriage business altogether, and leave that to the churches. I think domestic partnerships should be available for any pair of consenting adults. (Maybe for more than a "pair." I haven't really thought that one out though.)

And, mind you, I'm one of those big, bad straight, white, Southern males. ;)

You know, it might not be a bad idea for the state legislature to pass a law that all of our high-school graduates have to "serve" in SanFran for a couple of years before entering the state universities. Just a thought. :)