March 19th, 2024. Election day in Illinois. Specifically, the primary day for my campaign to represent District 2 in Tazewell County. I had received many messages during the day from friends and neighbors who said they had voted for me… Someone even took a picture in the ballot booth. Is that legal??? Oddly… This election was sitting differently with me compared to previous efforts. Instead of being on edge and anxious for results that night, I was content to slide through the day and give the news all the time they needed to queue up the results.
I think this comes from losing a few elections. That eager anticipation has been tempered with the reality that knocks on the door when you lose. 
Last election… Well… I pretty much told everyone that politics and elections did not matter versus Summer’s treatments. I dreaded the thought of a win last year. So, it was with melancholy relief that I lost. If I had won, I would have asked David (County Board Chair) what my options were to assign within my party or if it would be relegated to his selection. I thought about it a lot!
When the first batch of election results showed up… I was pleasantly surprised to find myself riding the highest vote totals for my district. Mind you, this is with 10% of the precincts reporting. You have to figure there will be some ebb and flow as precincts more loyal to certain candidates come filing in.
The TV news was kinda useless… It required watching network TV and watching a ticker on the bottom of the screen. No thanks. Angela and I started watching a movie on YouTube while I started doing some 15-minute reviews of the county elections website. I would mumble updates as if keeping a deflated tone would keep me subdued in the event of a loss. Over the next 90 minutes, the results kept coming in… But my totals were still riding high. I was fine with downplaying but my phone started buzzing with energized family and friends.
As someone who is a bit of a newbie to politics… I will Yogi Berra this and say “it ain’t over till it’s over”… But people “in the know” were texting me and messaging me that it is over.
I turned in my petitions last. I waffled and reconsidered running until 2 weeks before the final petition submission date. Do I have time for this? Is it responsible with everything in tatters around our life right now? If it hadn’t been for a few friends and county cohorts egging me on… I would have sat this election out. I bum-rushed 80+ signatures the hard way, but with a little help, it got done. By being one of the last candidates to turn in my petitions at the county clerk’s office a few months ago (Oh, Roy Padget, Vivian Hagaman, and Mary Burris were there after me doing something weird (allegedly), but that’s a story for another day) I had relegated myself to the last position on the ballot. Three will go forward to the November Elections… One will lose.
I heard all the philosophies about how this placement was not the end of the world. My favorite: “4th is best, voters give sympathetic checks to the bottom candidate”. REALLY???
Knowing that I was number 4 in a 3 horse race was another inspiration for melancholy.
All I needed was a 3rd place finish… But the results coming in on the County Clerk website never let me slide out of first place. It was a cool feeling. Angela kept asking “Are you still in 1st?”. I kept answering that I was… Every time she asked, I was a little more confident.
My Mom took a picture of her TV screen and texted it to me. I love knowing that her and Dad were glued to the results. Again, when you lose a few times… You get “over it”. Thankfully, Mom’s never get over it. They are your best cheerleader. Mothers-in-law are a close second!
Movie time was over. By 8:30 I was taking calls and texts to a distracting level. Angela was cool with it and relegated herself to reading a book while I chatted away.
It was a good night. I climbed out of the 4th spot to capture the most votes. Some people have said it’s name recognition from years of running. Others say it’s good signs. #bettercallstahl. I mostly think its a function of talking to 50 (or more) people a day at Fort’s. But, whos to say? Maybe it was the Fence Talks? TikTok? Whatever it was, it has me set up for the November ballot as an official candidate.
Nobody is more surprised than me.
Did I say thank you? THANK YOU!
Tonight I left work at my normal time and proceeded to grab up my campaign signs from homes and businesses around Morton. “Miles to go before I sleep” refers to the rest of the evening. Robert Frost must have run a small campaign. When he was stopping by the woods… He was likely picking up campaign signs and pondering the existential crisis of whether or not to “pick up the rest tomorrow”.
I grabbed everything I could remember in Morton and was just about out of town when Angela called me to say she had just got home from a long day at work. We had talked about a “Celebratory” meal last night after the election results showed I had passed through the first firey rings that exit onto the Tazewell County Board. We made a plan to pick up more signs across District 2 and grab something to eat.
Together we headed back out to the Southeast. Tremont, Royal Colony, and Springfield Road signs were pulled. I have no idea where Karl Lutz and my signs disappeared to at the interchange of Rt9 and Springfield Road. They were there 2 days ago. Angela and I looked across the recessed field that gave an excellent view of anxious soil. No Stahl or Lutz signs anywhere.
We ran into Pekin… Grabbed some Kenzi Express. I have had it before… But it was Angela’s first time. Of course, she was not wearing glasses and was upset when she didn’t realize she had ordered scallops, shrimp, and rice. She hates rice. So, that romantic victory meal was a bit of a letdown!
I hate plastic signs on roadsides. They have become an infestation! Gutters, Mattresses, Power Washers and Stump Grinders leave these signs planted at local intersections until they rot and fall apart. They are a scourge. So, I am more conscious than most, that these need to be pulled ASAP.
IF I LEFT ONE ANYWHERE>>> PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
I just wanted to say thanks… again!
After we got home… We dished up the Kenzi and finished off the movie we started yesterday. It’s back to normal for the next 8 months. Whatever normal is?
Hey, did I say “Thanks”?
Your ” Celebratory” meal sounds wonderful after your long campaign. Shrimp and scallops are easy to pick out of rice!!! Congratulations from one of your best cheerleaders!!!