Write In Candidates Fail Again

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Time and time again in Webster County, write-in candidates attempt futile campaigns against candidates whose names appear on the ballot.  And guess what?  The write-in candidates keep losing by large margins.

Last night was no different.

Three time candidate Johnny Sandy, who previously lost to Sheriff David Bender in 2012 and earlier this year in the primary election to Dave Cutlip, attempted a write-in campaign against Cutlip in yesterday's general election.  And, wait for it.... strike three occurred.  Sandy lost to Cutlip in a landslide, 1,724 votes for Cutlip to 891 for Sandy.

Similarly, first time candidate Torli Bush ran a write-in campaign against incumbent House of Delegates member Dana Lynch.  Bush barely registered and Lynch coasted to victory over Bush with about 10 percent of the vote, and  Lynch's closest competitor was perennial Republican candidate Duane Borchers, followed by a Mountain Party candidate.

In the past 25 years in Webster County, the only time a write-in candidate actually won was when the write-in candidate was facing another write-in candidate, but never against a candidate whose name appeared on the ballot.

And so history keeps repeating itself with these futile write-in campaigns.