Who won High Point, Bush or Kerry? It's anybody's guess, but mine is Bush
Angel Schroeder, a liberal columnist for the High Point Enterprise, has made the assertion several times since last November that John Kerry beat George W. Bush in High Point.
That would be astounding, if it were true, because High Point had been reliably Red in presidential elections for 60 years. The last Democrat to carry the city was FDR in 1944.
Yet, it seemed that Kerry broke the GOP domination in the 2004 election, by the most narrow of margins.
The Guilford County Board of Elections doesn't break down presidential election returns by city. So, you add up the numbers for all the "H" precincts -- those that lie entirely within High Point city limits -- and you come up with 10,179 votes for Kerry and 10,139 votes for Bush. Kerry wins by 40!
Well, not so fast. ...
There's more to the city of High Point than those H precincts.
Specifically, there are hundreds of High Point voters in Guilford County's Friendship 2 and South Deep River precincts. In the first of those, more than 600 people voted on city bond proposals; in the second, more than 200 people did.
Furthermore, another 700 people voted on High Point city bonds in the Abbotts Creek precinct in Davidson County, thanks to High Point annexations into that area.
The problem is that not everyone in those precincts lives within High Point city limits, and you can't sort out who does and who doesn't when you look at the vote totals in the presidential race. However, the overwhelming majority in all three precincts went for Bush: by 566-388 in FR2; by 961-290 in SDRI; and by 1,229-327 in AC. Simple extrapolation would tell you that among High Point voters in those three precincts, Bush more than made up for his 40-vote deficit elsewhere in High Point.
Yet, that's not the whole story, either. There are also absentee and provisional votes to consider; lots of them. Those aren't assigned to precincts.
In Guilford County absentee balloting, which includes early voting, Bush led Kerry, 39,637 to 37,676. Kerry led Bush 819-349 in provisional ballots. How many of those should be allotted to High Point I have no idea.
So, as close as Bush and Kerry were in High Point, it is impossible to say with assurance which candidate carried the city.
My guess, based on the strong pro-Bush trend in FR1, SDRI and AC, as well as the nearly even distribution of absentee votes, is that Bush prevailed by a couple of hundred votes at least. But, officially, it has to be called a toss-up.
That was a pretty good showing for Kerry, better than for all his Democratic predecessors since Roosevelt, and a big disappointment for Bush, who should have done a lot better based on historical standards.
Kerry carried all of Guilford County by 100,042 to 98,254 on the strength of a large margin in very Blue Greensboro. Davidson County, on the other hand, was huge for Bush: 42,075 to 17,191.
Comments (2)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
Doug, do you think it ok for my daughter to travel 10 miles "PAST" SW to go to central? Instead of walking 780 yards?
Sincerely Doug. What do you think?
Posted on December 6, 2005 10:58 PM
Yup,
Don't know what Doug thinks,,,But I bet George Bush would not like the Idea of such a Socialist School System in the Good Old U.S. of A.
On the Other hand,,,Kerry probably would think this "Child Slavery School Lottery Plan" would be a Great Idea for anybody but his children.
I also bet that Bush would not like the Idea of Our Superintendent Abusing the NCLB Act either.
grier,,,,Big Brother may catch up with you yet!!!!
Posted on December 6, 2005 11:22 PM