The Martin Chronicles staff has been talking with people all night long. Everyone can rest later. We all thought now-outgoing malfeasant Mayor Mike Martin would face-how best to say it?-"tough sledding" in his re-election bid. However, we thought the four-way mayoral race presented him with an opening to win with as little as 30% of yesterday's vote. We are convinced that Martin was thinking the same thing.
We must confess that we did not expect such a lop-sided "massacre in Martinville". Martin was defeated 84%-16%. There is really no way for anyone in Martin's camp-which is obviously even smaller than we thought-to put a "smiley face" on such an embarrassing repudiation. But, we suspect some will try. It doesn't matter. The people have spoken-very loudly.
Consider this (again). A council candidate who withdrew from the race shortly after the filing deadline received roughly 300 more votes than Martin yesterday.
"The Martin Five" also failed miserably in their attempt to push their namesake's myth that Villa Hills was somehow a city "moving forward. Only two candidates earned a seat on next year's council. Many are convinced that those two were successful only because there weren't a few more candidates in the council race.
It appears that four years of corruption and incompetence left the voters very hungry for quiet, competent leadership in their city government. We talked to many people who simply want Villa Hills "out of the news". We certainly understand that sentiment.
We have learned that Martin was seen walking away from the River Ridge polling area in disgust last night. Martin was obviously angry after seeing the vote results in his "own precinct" that confirmed his resounding defeat. He was heard saying, "This city is turning to (EXPLETIVE)!" Instead, those numbers actually revealed that the voters decided to turn away from Martin's (EXPLETIVE) of the past four years.
More analysis and reaction to follow.
