One of the first things John Odom did after unseating incumbent Rodger Koopman in Tuesday's Raleigh City Council election was make good on a campaign promise.
Odom gave away a garbage disposal. Well, he gave away a $100 gift certificate to Briggs Hardware store to Frank Tortora, a Raleigh lawyer who entered a raffle on Odom's campaign Web site to win the disposal.
Odom, a Republican, set up the raffle to mock the controversial effort by Koopman, a Democrat, to ban garbage disposals in Raleigh. Koopman encouraged Raleigh residents to stop clinging to comfort while their fellow citizens shouldered the burden of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ban passed, but the City Council backpedaled after a huge public outcry.
Odom won in District B, which covers northeast Raleigh, with 59 percent of the vote.
On Friday, Odom said Tortora's name was picked from a hat at random.
Odom did note that Tortora, whom he doesn't know, lives on a street inside Raleigh's Beltline in a part of District B that Odom said he didn't win.
"It was a pretty funny way to drum up some support," Tortora said about the raffle. He will use the gift certificate to finish some home improvement projects.
"Set me loose in a hardware store, and I'll have a great time," he said.
High-priced ads
Campaign reports filed this week show how expensive it was to run last-minute TV ads attacking the Wake County school board candidates who back neighborhood schools.
The recently formed Wake Citizens for Good Government paid for an ad on WRAL claiming that voting for Debra Goldman, Chris Malone and Deborah Prickett would result in higher property taxes to pay for neighborhood schools. All three candidates won easily on Tuesday.
The group spent $11,150 to air the ads. In total, the group raised $22,000, with Democratic pollster Dean Debnam, Democratic political strategist Ken Eudy and National Education Association Executive Director John Wilson each giving $4,000. Debnam also lent the group $6,000, which has been paid back.
Democratic fundraiser Linda Davis and former Raleigh City Councilwoman Stephanie Fanjul both gave $2,000.
Turnout: a new low
Taxpayers shelled out $29.23 for every person who showed up at Durham polls to vote in local elections Tuesday.
The city saw a remarkably low turnout of 4.4 percent in the primary, which whittled down the field for two City Council seats to two candidates in each. The general election will be Nov. 3.
The total cost of Tuesday's election was $175,000, with just 5,988 of 133,992 registered voters casting ballots. (That includes absentee and early-voting ballots.)
That works out to the $29.23 per vote.
"We spend too much money to have too few people voting in such an important election," said Don Moffitt, chairman of the Durham Planning Commission and a close follower of Durham's political scene.
Even by municipal primary standards in Durham, the 4.4 percent turnout was small: the 2007 primary had a 10.6 percent turnout; 2005 had 11 percent; 2003, a whopping 16.3 percent.
"We have set a new low," said Mike Ashe, the "very disappointed" director of elections, once Tuesday's tally was complete.
Political trail
•The Wake County Republican Women meet at 11:45 a.m. Thursday at North Ridge Country Club, 6612 Falls of Neuse Road. Lunch is $25, and the meeting will feature N.C. GOP national committeewoman Ada Fisher. Those interested in going can contact Brenda Dobrick at brenda.dobrick@gmail.com or call 919-906-3289.
•The Orange County Democratic Women will have a forum for municipal candidates for the November election from 7:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 22. Held at OWASA Community Room, 400 Jones Ferry Road in Carrboro. Contact Linda Foxworth at l_foxworth_2000@yaho.com or 942-0045 with questions.
•N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin will talk about insurance policies in the state at a meeting Oct. 29 hosted by the North Wake County Democrats. The talk will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at Milton's Pizza & Pasta, 8853 Six Forks Road.
Compiled by staff writers Sarah Ovaska, Ray Martin, T. Keung Hui and Jim Wise.
