The campaigning is done. The end results are now in God's hands. All that's left to do is sit back and wait with nervous (extremely nervous) anticipation.

I have a quote taped above my computer monitor and it reads... "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."  - John R. Wooden  legendary basketball coach, UCLA.

Maybe we'll win maybe we'll lose. But I feel fulfilled in knowing that we have done everything that we can possibly do and we ran the best (positive) campaign we knew how. We find out tonight around 8:30 whether or not we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors.

What's interesting is that if I were running in Wards 3 or 4 or in an At-Large position I feel extremely confident I would be kicked back with my feet resting on my desk smoking a victory cigar right now. However being in Ward 1 the demographics are a little skewed to the older generations and naturally my opponent is a retiree himself. However I will say I am holding on to hope. On my campaign trail while knocking on doors I encountered a lot of "experienced" residents who shared our sentiments - we need younger people with new ideas and fresh faces to step up into leadership roles. One 75 year old resident even said, and I quote, "There's enough of us old-timers on the board. We need some guys like you." So who knows, maybe we'll pull one of the biggest upsets in Old Traditional Fort Smith Politics history.

My next post will either be a victory speech or a congratulations to my opponent.

                                Votes       %

Steve Tyler                741        61

Travis Stephens        471        39

WOW!

First off congratulations to Steve Tyler. I've gotten to know him through the campaign trail and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. His heart is in the right place and I have all the confidence in the world that he will do a fine job representing the voters.

Obviously I was hoping the voters of Ward 1 were ready for a new look and a new direction but in the end I guess the majority felt more at-ease having another retiree on the board. If you've been reading my blog you'll know I felt that I was the underdog and it would have been a major upset for me to have pulled off the win, but I will readily admit that I truly expected it to be a much closer race. My hope was to make it a close race, market myself as a young up and comer who happens to live in the wrong ward, and then make a run in the near future at a city-wide position. However given the vote margin results I'll have to think long and hard about that possibility. 

Maybe it's Ward 1. Maybe it's demographics. Maybe it's major inexperience condensed into a very short election period. Like I said previously, we left no stone unturned regarding the campaign trail so at this point I'm left scratching my head a little. If anyone has any thoughts please feel free to share them.

The one theory I have is that my opposition beat us to the punch at, and quite frankly did a better job of, "branding" me to the public with a certain image. I was running as a young, fresh face with new ideas wanting to see a real change in the direction our city was heading - one that favored families and young people and the future growth of our city.  Unfortunately my opposition painted a picture that I was already a part of the status quo and we were never able to shake the fallacy. As the saying goes "perception is reality".

Oh well, live and learn. The end results were obviously not what we were hoping for but the process was an amazing experience and I am truly greatful for everyone who played a role and helped along the way. It was fun seeing myself on You Tube. It was fun knocking on doors and talking to people. It was fun reading about myself in the paper and hearing myself on the radio - even on La Raza (Hola, soy Travis Stephens. Vota por mi.) And most of all, it was fun being a part of so many young and energetic "greenhorns" trying our hand at politics.

I still feel this community needs more young people involved in the city's leadership but for now we'll have to lick our wounds and analyze what we can improve on in the future.

Now if you'll please excuse me, I have to go and remove about 200 yard signs that are scattered across Ward 1.

Travis- I commend you on running a 'clean', honorable campaign.  I believe it was a great exerience for all of the YEL members to see you through the whole process- giving us all insight as to what can happen during even the smallest of elections. 

The difference from what I could tell was in the running of the campain.  Beating anyone to the 'punch', labeling and fabrication had a great effect on how you were perceived.  Even the great 'Tom Kirkham' had his rant on what he thought on thecitywire.com- but without any merrit, imo.  (Tom seemed to imply that Travis would just ask what people wanted, and not lead- Travis clearly stated that he would listen to all sides of any issue brought to him bofore making any decision-) It just seemed people were putting out opinions without taking time to learn the whole truth.  Oh well- everyone's got their opinion.

Congratulations, Andre' Good!  You'll do a great job!!

Just want to take a moment to clear up any possible misunderstandings. 

I did not intend to imply Travis would do or not do what I asked.  My point was based upon my observation of constituent pandering by directors past and present. 

I was hoping to challenge Travis and other directors through my rant to not sway with the political winds in making decisions for the city, and that they use public forums to engage in critical thought with their constituents rather than just going along with the vocal majority (or, as is usually the case, vocal minority).  I believe Travis would answer that challenge, and I am sorry if there was a misintepretation of my intent.

I know Travis would make an excellent director, and although I do not know Mr. Tyler, I hope that he will also.  Same for Mr. Goode.

Tom the Great  :)

As I'm sure you know you have to go through many failures to find success.  

I hope next time I can have more time to help you.   

Shayne Mckinney

Thanks guys, but if I hear one more encouraging email or phone call about Abe Lincoln, JFK, or Thomas Edison rebounding after enduring multiple defeats I'm going to shoot myself

(in the toe of course)