THE election on Saturday was interesting in a number of ways. The turnout was 43 percent, well within the normal range for a primary election. The highest primary turnout in recent years was about 60 percent for the 1998 election. Even at 42 percent, this is a very high voting rate for a U.S. primary. I discussed this point about voter turnout at length recently before the Tumon Bay Rotary Club, and the average turnout for an off-year primary is about 47 percent. Adjusting for the 1998 skew, the number is closer to 43 percent. No surprises.

Madeleine Bordallo received the Democrat nomination and will proceed to the general election against Sen. Frank Blas. Her opponent, Karlo Dizon, ran a very good and respectable race against her and he has a bright political future. The exit poll we conducted was right within range and our telephone polls were also accurate for this race. Frank Blas ran a very good race and now he has a strong challenge ahead.

Two other candidates “ran” for delegate. The delegate write-in is not even worth mentioning. Though he was featured in the media, Jonathan Diaz, after a scathing and bombastic set of personal attacks against Congresswoman Bordallo, finished with two-thousandths of a percentage point as a named Independent candidate on the ballot. Besides Diaz’s sad personal attacks, even sadder was that no candidate or public official, Democrat, Republican or non-partisan, stood up and defended Congresswoman Bordallo when she was attacked. We have a pretty gutless group of public officials on Guam. It’s common for leaders to give lip service to community values; practicing them, on the other hand, is rare. About two weeks ago, I spoke for an hour and a half with Congresswoman Bordallo. She is the same Madeleine I have known for 17 years.

The Public Auditor race was the most interesting major race in the primary. Former Gov. Carl Gutierrez ran a very strong write-in effort. Brooks, the named incumbent on the ballot, finished with about 66 percent of total votes cast. Gutierrez, as a write –in in this best two race format, finished with a very respectable 22 percent of total votes cast. The other 12 percent of votes may not have been entered, not countable, spoiled, or flawed. Our exit poll pegged Brooks at 63 percent and Gutierrez at 37 percent. This may have been due to the write-in aspects of this race. It is useful to ponder what this race would have looked like if Gutierrez had been named on the ballot. The general election will be a horserace and a race to watch.

In the legislative races, the only surprises were highs and lows at the inter-party level. Please note that these placements can rise and fall when all voters vote for whom they actually want. Some candidates are strong in-party, but weak overall. Others are weak in-party, but their support goes up overall. For example, Sen. Sam Mabini will likely place better at the general election than at the primary. Others will also place better. Still, a number will fall and possibly three to five incumbents will lose their seats in this off-year election.

We have about eight weeks to think about these points. As I said to the Rotarians: Since 1996, the Legislature has had a critical election four times. Critical elections are where the power shifts between parties. Will the Republicans be able to take the majority back in this election? Will the Democrats be able to push their record to maintain the majority? Time will tell.