Young and Hagen finish at the top in Tuesday’s primary

Originally posted in Gazette, Thursday, July. 29, 2010
by Sherry Greenfield
http://www.gazette.net/stories/09152010/frednew03809_32567.php

Voter turnout registers at 23 percent; 600 absentee ballots to be counted on Thursday

Frederick County commissioners Blaine R. Young and Kai J. Hagen won big win in Tuesday’s primary.

Young was the top vote-getter among the 12 Republicans for the five-member Frederick Board of County Commissioners, and Hagen finished first among the seven Democrats.

Both men, who have sparred frequently on the board over issues such as growth and spending, will now lead their respective political tickets into the Nov. 2 general election.

“I expect it to be a hard fight,” said Young of Monrovia, as he celebrated with family and friends at the Owl’s Club in Frederick. “I hope this election isn’t for or against anyone. Unfortunately, there are those [candidates] that will go to the gutter, but I think people want to talk about the issues.”

With 95 percent of the precincts reporting results as of midnight, Young finished with 13,933 votes. The remaining top five Republican candidates were former Frederick city Alderman Paul Smith at 8,847, Kirby Delauter of Thurmont at 8,420, Billy Shreve of Frederick at 7,352, and Frederick Commissioner David P. Gray of Walkersville at 5,797.

Leading the Democratic ticket is Hagen of Thurmont, with 8,110 votes.

Stuart Harvey, election director of Frederick County Board of Elections, said the results are unofficial.

He said about 600 absentee ballots will be counted on Thursday, absentee ballots postmarked Tuesday will be counted on Sept. 22, and provisional ballots will be counted later, though he doesn’t yet know when.

Hagen, who was first elected to the board in 2006, said making it on the ticket this time was not only gratifying, but also a relief. “You know, just because something isn’t surprising doesn’t mean it’s not nice to get beyond,” he said.

He said things on the next page of the election were “going to get pretty interesting.” He said it looked like there would be two different groups from which voters could choose.

“The two groups of candidates have very different views of the county and different views to approaching problems,” he said. “I think it looks like one that will present us with this huge gulf of different ways of thinking of the county.”

He said he is ready for the Republican group. “I haven’t waited until the general election to try to point out some of those differences,” he said.

In the next few weeks, he said he plans on sitting down with a lot of people to talk about the best way to put together a well-coordinated campaign.

“This is running for one seat, but on a board of five where it takes three seats to get something done,” he said. “We have to think about and care about who the other people are. In the end, if I get elected I’m going to do the best I can as well as possible with whoever else is elected. In the meantime, I don’t have to pretend I don’t care who it is.”

Watching the returns at Danielle’s restaurant in downtown Frederick, Democrat Linda Norris of Lewistown finished second with 7,884 votes.

Rounding out the top five Democratic candidates were Janice Wiles of Frederick at 6,506, Ellis Burruss of Brunswick, 5,663, and Michael Kurtianyk of Middletown at 4,790.

“I’m just gratified that people have heard my message,” Norris said.

Norris said she thinks voters reacted to her as a voice that is moderate and willing to listen and focus on problem solving. “That’s what I’ve been saying over and over again. That is who I am,” she said.

Norris, who had been out and about the county since 7 a.m. Tuesday, said she found the 23 percent turnout discouraging.

“It was frustrating to be standing there ready to talk to people and there were more candidates standing around than there were voters,” she said. “As a first-time candidate when you’ve worked so hard to talk to people and find that so few respond.”

She said in the upcoming weeks she would continue to focus on jobs, especially green jobs. “Right now I’m finding that it’s not even what issues do I want to focus on,” she said. “People want to know so much.”

Meanwhile, over at the Owl’s Club on Jefferson Street in Frederick, country music played in the background as Young watched the election returns with family and friends.

Hosting the party with his brother, Brad Young, who finished first among the candidates for the Board of Education, and fellow winner Kirby Delauter, Young used his skills as a radio talk show with WFMD to read back returns as they came in Tuesday night.

“I’m just humbled,” Young said. “I worked hard and I am just humbled to be in the top five.”

Young was appointed to the Frederick Board of County Commissioners on March 3 to fill the seat of Charles Jenkins. He co-owns Yellow Cab of Frederick, is the owner and operator of Interstate Mobile Advertising, and hosts an afternoon talk show on 930AM WFMD, though it’s on hold during the election.

Delauter, who appeared relaxed throughout the evening, not only thanked the crowd for their support, but also Young.

“Blaine is exactly the right man we’ve got to have to change the direction of the county,” he said. “I’m tired of being taxed to death, and I’m tired of businesses being treated unfairly.”

The remaining Republicans finished as follows: Bob White of Frederick, 4,492; Alan Imhoff of Frederick, 4,360; Elaine Kessinger of Frederick, 4,296; Roy Taylor of Frederick, 3,806; Robert S. Craig of Frederick, 3,684; Dick Johnson of Frederick, 3,508; and Micky Fyock of Woodsboro, 3,037.

The two remaining Democrats, Jerry L. Trout of Woodsboro, finished with 4,638 votes and Walkersville Burgess Ralph W. Whitmore at 3,962 votes.

Staff Writer Angie Cochrun contributed to this story.

sgreenfield@gazette.net