I was breezing through my blog, looking at old entries, and realized I had never checked to see what the final outcome was of the election between Tom Abraham and incumbent Don Sherrill, holder of Seat 4 on the City Council of Orange City, Florida. Sherrill, as you may recall, made xenophobic comments regarding Abraham's ethnicity (he's from India) and suggested that he may be a potential terrorist.
Anyway, Sherrill won the election, although only by a very slim margin. From the Orlando Sentinel article, Recount Confirms Orange City Results:
Orange City's heated City Council election ended on Thursday with a handshake and a smile after a recount failed to change the outcome.
The Seat 4 contest between incumbent Don Sherrill and Tom Abraham has been shadowed by disparaging comments Sherrill made about Abraham's Indian ethnicity.
After the general election Tuesday, Sherrill led Abraham by 19 votes. Orange City's canvassing board granted Abraham's recount request despite the fact that the election was not close enough to trigger an automatic recount.
On Thursday, the four-person canvassing board recounted the 746 votes cast in that race. Abraham did pick up one vote, from a wrinkled ballot that was apparently not counted on Tuesday. That reduced Sherrill's margin of victory to 18.
"I conceded the election and he wished me good luck," Abraham said after the results were read out loud and he shook hands with Sherrill.
...
Abraham said he had still not received an apology from Sherrill, but that even if he did get one, it would be too late.
"A delayed apology would not be the same," Abraham said.
Abraham, a nuclear-medicine technologist, said that one of his supporters intends to speak out against Sherrill's comments at Tuesday night's council meeting.
After the recount, Sherrill said he was happy with the outcome and that he accepted his opponent's concession. He said he doesn't think he owes Abraham an apology and that the Orlando Sentinel "twisted my remarks around." Sherrill said he will address the controversy over his remarks at Tuesday night's council meeting.
Yeah, Don, I see you still can't own up and take responsibility for your comments. And if you can't take responsibility for these comments, which are fairly minor in the grand scheme of things, how can we be reassured that you can take responsibility for the more important duties and decisions you'll make on behalf of your constituents?
More can be found on this topic at Sepia Mutiny's post, "It’s over."
One more comment: The very slim margin of this election (18 votes separating the two men) shows the great importance of getting out and voting - and not just for the big elections, but the small elections as well. Little elections, like a city council race, may seem like small potatoes, but every election allows people and ideas to influence and regulate how we live our lives. You may not like any of the candidates, but chances are good you won't like one candidate more than the other. Don't let that one person you don't like tell you how you should live your life. Vote against him or her, and try not to let the rascal get into office. (And if the rascal does get into office, at least your conscience will be clear, insha'allah, that you made your best effort not to let him or her into office.)
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