Westside voters seem to be outpacing eastside voters so far in today's election

Posted by Chad Lawhorn April 2, 2013 at 3:33 p.m.

Westside voters seem to be outpacing eastside voters so far in today's election

The old F-150 and I have been out checking polling sites in Lawrence today, and the results are unscientific (almost everything that happens in the F150 is) but it sure appears that the west side of Lawrence is getting out better than the east side of Lawrence.

I was out over the noon hour at several east Lawrence polling places, and only at one did I encounter more than one voter. Shortly after lunch, there was a steady stream of voters at pretty much every west Lawrence site I went to today.

Here are some of the numbers I gathered:

• Checkers, 23rd and Louisiana, at noon: 29 voters of 921 registered; 3.1 percent turnout.

• Prairie Park Elementary, 2711 Kensington Road, at 12:30 p.m.: 123 of 3057; 4.0 percent turnout.

• Douglas County Fairgrounds 19th and Harper, at 12:40 p.m.: 65 of 1,877; 3.4 percent turnout.

• New York Elementary, 936 New York St., at 1 p.m.: 69 of 1,031; 6.6 percent turnout.

• East Lawrence Recreation Center, 1245 E. 15th St., at 12:45 p.m.; 62 of 1,193; 5.1 percent turnout.

• American Legion, 3408 W. Sixth St., at 1:20 p.m.: 142 of 987; 14.3 percent turnout.

• Mustard Seed, 700 Wakarusa Drive, at 1:30 p.m.: 204 of 1,751; 11.6 percent turnout.

• Langston Hughes Elementary, 1101 George Williams Way, at 1:45 p.m.: 325 of 2,450; 13.2 percent turnout.

• Corpus Christi, 6001 Bob Billings Parkway, at 1:50 p.m.: 125 of 1329; 9.4 percent turnout.

• 360 Church, 3200 Clinton Parkway, at 2:10 p.m.: 103 of 1,160; 8.8 percent turnout.

Polls are open until 7 p.m., so there's still plenty of time for this trend to change. But it would be no surprise if the votes from the west side of town far outweigh the number from the east side. That has been the trend the last few municipal elections. There were questions, though, whether the school bond issue would alter that balance a bit. We’ll see.

As for what a heavy westside turnout would mean for the races, I suppose there could be any number of interpretations. On the City Commission race, it probably makes the race more competitive for Rob Chestnut, who finished fourth in the primary election. The primary election numbers showed a good amount of his support came from the west side of town. As it is shaping up, I expect a close contest for that third and final spot on the commission.

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew provided this report that showed totals for pretty much every precinct at 10:30 a.m. You can do your own ciphering with it.

As for me, I have to put gasoline in the F-150. Now I see why elections are so expensive.

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PwopellewCap 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Here comes rant from an eastsider saying how everything on the west side is easier ....

gatekeeper 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Not easier, most likely more stay at home mom's that can go to the polls during the day. The rest of us on the "bad" sides of town will vote after we get off work. And no, I don't live in east Lawrence anymore. I have lived in all areas of town over the last 20 years and you have to admit that the majority of stay at home moms are all out on the west side. It's much easier to vote during the day when you don't have to work all day.

All that being said, I'd never live west of Iowa again. Nothing worse than neighborhoods with ticky tacky houses that all look the same.

Bob Forer 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Gatekeeper FTW!!

Catalano 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I think your boss might pay for your gas today. But is that okay with your wife?

jackpot 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Chad What was the turnout on advance vote, How many eastside vs westside? Maybe more eastsiders voted in advance?

Chad Lawhorn 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I have only seen a total for advanced voting. I haven't seen it broken out by precinct yet. Thanks, Chad

gatekeeper 11 months, 2 weeks ago

That's not a fair remark. You know there are A LOT more stay at home mom's on the west side, where more people can afford to have one person stay at home.

Your remark is just mean spirited. Of course, on the older, not so wealthy side of town there will be lots of unemployeed guys. Surprised you didn't throw in there unemployed because they won't look for jobs and drunk all day. That is how you see those of us in the older neighborhoods.

All of this is why I moved AWAY from the west side. You may not believe it, but life is more pleasant in the working man's neighborhoods (east, north). We all know each other, take care of each other and have a sense of community that those in the ticky tacky neightborhoods don't have. I grew up in JoCo and the west side of Lawrence is nothing but a copy cat of JoCo.

rockchalker52 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Methinks you are mean spirited with your ticky tackiness. Why must you be so divisive? It ain't the Jets vs the Sharks - or at least it shouldn't be.

Hawkanator 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I know! I was waiting for the musical numbers to break out!

Hawkanator 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Will you please hush up. I live on the west side and I work (I have a full time and part time job) and my husband works and I voted on my lunch break. We women need to build each other up instead of tearing each other down. So what if some one can stay at home. Are you telling me that keeping up with the household and the kids is easy? For some reason you just sound bitter, and you really need to stop all this "East side vs. west side" garbage. Find a way to admire women who stay at home and admire women who have careers. And I totally disagree that ANY part of Lawrence is like Johnson County. I love Lawrence and it is a unique place to live.

George_Braziller 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Do a little reading about the history of Lawrence. There has been an East side vs. West side divide since the late 1800s. The only thing that has changed is the north/south street marking it.

Laura Wilson 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I agree with you. I live on the west side as well and work full time and voted before work. My neighborhood was developed in the 1970s, the houses don't all look alike and I know my neighbors, some of whom have lived in the houses they built for forty years. Yes, a lot of the women in my neighborhood are full time moms--it's a job and if you can afford it, it's a great one. A lot of them work as well.

Generalizations are not going to make anyone friends around here.

eastlawrenceresident 11 months, 2 weeks ago

sigh. I live on the east side, matter of fact everyone in my little courtyard already did advance voting. I even took a few folks there myself.

Single mom, kid at Lawrence High School. Works full time....and found the time to vote...Will wonders ever cease.?

Won't have enough gas in car to manage to get to the new rec center, nothing wrong with East Lawrence Rec center, although it could use some expansion.

Voted for the school bond issue, upgrade all the schools....now have fingers crossed for Amyx, Scott Criqui and Leslie to win....

jhawkinsf 11 months, 2 weeks ago

So as not to be divisive, I went ahead and voted for all six candidates. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. :-)

catfishturkeyhunter 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Its the west side soches against the east side greasers. Monetarily speaking the soches will win. But in a real fist fight they will lose badly and run away like cowards.

arch007bak 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Which north-south street marks this supposed dividing line? I've been here since 1988 and have never quite figured that out. I have a feeling I may live on it though.

bearded_gnome 11 months, 2 weeks ago

more candidates from the west, so more voting enthusiasm from the west?

something like five of six of all of our candidates historically are from old west, new west or far west lawrence, leaving most of lawrence unrepresented on the commission.

time for a ward system for our commission so each area of lawrence elects its own commissioner, instead of citywide beauty contests.

I've been calling for this for years.

jhawkinsf 11 months, 2 weeks ago

While district elections seem like a good idea, there are a couple of problems associated with that. The first problem of course is the need to have each district be of equal number of people. Gerrymandering, anyone? The second problem is that when a representative is elected by one district, it tends to pit the interests of one district against the others. That is already happening here, but it will magnify that problem.

While living in San Francisco, they changed to district elections, then changed back when the problems were exposed. I'd be very careful when calling for district elections.

Centerville 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Just look at some of these comments to see why district elections would be so dumb. People trying to belong to a grievance group just based on where they live. Tiresome as well as very dated.

kernal 11 months, 2 weeks ago

The retirement communities are on the West side. Since older people are more likely to vote than those forty-five years and younger, that helps account for a higher turnout. Also, I think the population on the West side has now surpassed that of the East side.

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