So Ryan, Where've ya Been?

Not that many of you have missed me I'm sure but I have taken a bit of a break...from blogging...but now I'm back.

I've actually been quite busy working on a few local political campaigns.  Below is a quick update on my 2011.  Last November I worked on two Provo City Council races and one Draper race.

For you Provo politicos; if you remember, Gary Winterton and Bonnie Morrow were involved in a very close race. I was helping Gary as his campaign manager.  It was an interesting experience with Gary coming out on top by just six votes.

Me on the right looking over the shoulder of Provo City Recorder Janene Weis and Deputy County Clerk Scott Hogensen with Utah County Clerk Byan Thompson and former Provo City Councilwoman Cynthia Dayton also looking on.

Bonnie ran a great race and had one of the best get out the vote (GOTV) efforts I've ever seen by a local candidate. It's a tough way to lose being that close but she's gone on to do very well for herself having since been appointed to the Provo City Planning Commission and appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Utah County Republican Party.

It was a long day what can I say?  They counted each vote by hand...twice.

In that same 2011 cycle I helped Gary Garrett with his Provo city-wide campaign.  Councilman Garrett's race was not quite as competitive but we put together a nice website and Gary ran a nice city council campaign (if I do say so myself) with Gary winning relatively easily.  Check out is campaign site here: www.garygarrett.org.

Moving North along I-15 I helped former Bluffdale Mayor Claudia Anderson who had since moved to Draper and was running for City Council there. In Draper you only had to be in the top three as all members run city-wide.  Unfortunately, Claudia missed the top three by about 300 votes with the voters re-electing all of the incumbents.  She ran a good race, but didn't get out and knock doors like she needed to in order to be competitive.  She also had an anonymous mailer hit a few days before the election attacking her record as Mayor.  It's always hard to recover from those last minute hit pieces.  We responded with a postcard as quickly as we could but ultimately it wasn't enough. 

Too bad really for Draper.  Claudia is a wonderful person who started her own company (Audio Enhancement) and isn't afraid to ask the tough questions. She has an inspiring story herself that I'll try to share in a subsequent post.

More on my 2012 in a subsequent post...nice to be back.