Yesterday’s Election Filled With Surprises And Suspense

After all of the political ads on TV, radio, and even voice mail, the November 2011 election has come and gone.  I was keeping a close eye on the results throughout the evening, and was amazed at how close some of the races were right up until the end.

There were interesting twists and surprises including voter turnout like that of a presidential election, an amazingly close recall vote against Paul Scott, and more bad financial news for Flint just hours before the polls closed.

For starters, voter turnout was so impressive in Genesee County for yesterday's election, it is being compared to the turnout of a presidential election.  Much of that is credited to the recall of Paul Scott, with 24,371 voters casting their ballots.  In one of the closest elections I have ever seen, Scott was recalled by only 197 votes.  12,284 voted "Yes" to recall the state representative, while 12,087 voted "No."

Additionally, the race for Flint mayor was a close battle throughout the afternoon and early evening.  But as the night went on, Incumbent Dayne Walling's lead over Darryl Buchanan became more and more apparent.  With just hours left to vote, news came down that the Flint financial review team has determined a financial emergency does exist with no sufficient plan to correct the problem.  This will likely trigger the state appointment of an emergency financial manager for the city of Flint.  Governor Rick Snyder says it is a last resort, but feels it's the state's responsibility and obligation to act.

Do you think that if this news had come out sooner that Mayor Dayne Walling could have lost re-election?  Or do you think that he has not been in office long enough to turn the city around?