Burnt Orange Report

Team Musselman

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

You have no idea how happy this makes me. From the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post today.

A newcomer to Fredericksburg politics garnered the highest number of votes in Saturday's Fredericksburg City Council race, earning one of two positions up for grabs in this year's election.

Tom Musselman, a social studies teacher at Fredericksburg High School, received 625 votes, while incumbent councilman and local retail merchant Tim Dooley is returning to the board by gathering the second highest number of ballots at 551. Two other candidates in the race -- political newcomer Ronnie Stotz and former councilman Sharon Bailey -- collected 450 and 416 votes, respectively, in their losing efforts.

Figures show that slightly more than 18 percent of the eligible registered voters in Fredericksburg participated in the election (1,232 out of 6,791). Of those 1,232 voters, more than half (626) cast their ballots prior to the actual election day of May 7.

Personal appearance voting, held through May 3 and conducted at City Hall, drew 610 citizens, while 16 voted via mail-in ballots.

Just as in last fall's elections here in Austin, turnout was shifted to the early vote like never before because of the efforts of the campaigns encouraging people to do so, which made the final turnout come in at the conservative end of my estimate, 1,200. Still, a 50% increase in voter turnout from the last elections, I'm proud.

Mark one down for Team Musselman. And that tie? That's the one I bought him at the UN in New York City a few summers back when I was at the Global Young Leaders Conference.