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King tops City Council primary
Matthew Kutz
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Incumbent Ald. Austin King won the primary election for City Council District 8 Tuesday with 79 percent of the votes. Kami Eshraghi, owner of Kimia Lounge, came in second place with 16 percent.
Both King and Eshraghi will move on to the general election for City Council April 5. King, who is running for re-election, has served as alderperson for District 8 for almost two years.
Ryan Corcoran, the front man of Awesome Car Funmaker, dropped out of the race Monday, but his name still appeared on the ballot. He received 6 percent of the votes, even though he decided to endorse King and persuaded voters to refrain from casting a vote for his own name.
King said he was motivated by the results.
“I don’t want to quote President Bush, but if he had a mandate with 51 percent, then 79 percent is a ringing endorsement of the progressive agenda I have been pushing,” King said.
Although he had no idea he would do so well, King said his support has been great and he wants to ride the momentum to victory.
According to Eshraghi, this election was a “waste of time” because Corcoran had dropped out. It was already decided that both he and King would move on to the general election, he added.
Eshraghi said the results from this primary election do not mean much because voter turnout was very low.
“I’m very saddened nobody took [the primary] seriously,” Eshraghi said. “But it was already decided anyway.”
King also said he was disappointed by the election results.
“I wish it would have been higher,” King said.
King said that because Corcoran dropped out, it kept a lot of his supporters away from the polls. He added that he hopes to get them out to vote in the general election.
A total of 376 people voted in the election between four wards. Ward 46 has 4,200 registered voters and ward 47 has about 2,300 registered voters. Election clerks at ward 46 called the turnout “pathetic” and said they wish more people had shown up. They added the city was expecting a turnout of about 10 percent.
Both candidates said they were disappointed by the low voter turnout but are looking forward to the general election.
King said he wants to keep doing what he has been doing, continue to focus on important issues such as tenants’ rights, and stay positive. He said he plans to continue going door to door to talk with the constituents in his district.
Eshraghi said he plans to get the issues out there and inform the city. He added he puts credit with students and when they hear about the issues he supports, he is confident he will win the election this spring.
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L A N D S L I D E
Apparently Mr. Esrhaghi is the only one in Madison who still thinks he has a chance in hell… Poor, stupid bastard. Er, rich, stupid bastard.
“Rich?” Hardly…
Hey Kami, thanks for reminding us that you aren’t as unbelievably wealthy as we want to think you to be.
Wait, so you’re saying the business owner who apparently has enough money to pick up and move from Fitchburg to downtown for the sole purpose of running a PATHETIC campaign for city council isn’t rich? Why is he wasting his money on this campaign, then? Somebody should have warned him that this would be a very, very bad investment.
Welcome back to the Herald, Kami!!! Congrats on your 58 votes, loser!!!!
How does it feel to be rejected so resoundingly, Kami? Does it feel bad? I bet it feels bad.
The level of maturity as displayed by these posts is astonishing. Wait, you ARE college students.
Don’t worry Kami, we won’t come to your sweet bar
Don’t worry Kami, we won’t come to your sweet bar…yes we ARE college students; college students who just rejected your carpetbagging ass. oh he shoots he scores.
Guys, only 376 voters showed up in support of anyone. THAT’s pathetic. There are 40,000 students on this campus, I’m not sure how many live in district 8, but I would venture more than half. 376?
So please, share with me why you are so hell bent on waging personal attacks against Kami? Come on, it is so obvious that Austin is the better candidate for District 8. Everyone knows it. I’ll bet even Kami knows it.
I guess I don’t understand why you would hate someone simply for running. No one should ever get a free ride, not even Austin. Debate and discussion of issues are always a good thing.
Why does Austin look so dirty all the time? He’s unemployed too. Is he homeless? He’s not a student either.
You have got to wonder about someone who is 24 and still living off of mommy and daddy. His alder pay sure does not cover the bills.
“I guess I don’t understand why you would hate someone simply for running.”
You still don’t understand, even after November? I didn’t vote for Bush either, but I’m not foaming at the mouth with hatred for him, like the vast majority of people around here.
The funny thing is, just like the elections in November, the Democrat got his ass kicked, only this time you liberals are happy. Are you going to protest if Austin wins instead of a Democrat? Stop bitching, and get a life.
Dude! Look at Austin! He looks like a thug! I’ll bet he steals things from dumpsters in the middle of the night.
How about Austin opens an elitist bar and starts a band called Austin King Funmaker.
Then everyone will be happy!
“Austin King Funmaker” - that’s funny!
Seriously everybody, this election’s over. Everyone can calm down and go home now.
Has anyone noticed Austin looks a lot like Michael Moore- Fat, long hair, and a discusting beard?
So it’s “carpetbagging” to live next door in Fitchburg for a while, but it’s not “carpetbagging” to be from White Folks Bay, Milwaukee?
Thanks for clearing that up, moron.
And yeah, what DOES Austin do for a living? Easy to be a “radical” when you’re living off mommy and daddy at age 24.
Pathetic.
i love how mr eshragi believes he’s really “down” with the younger crowd and has his finger on the pulse of what is hip. fuckin loser.
dude! you’re not the “cool older brother” you imagine you are, but the creepy uncle.
I’m surprised no one has yet to comment on the following:
According to Eshraghi, this election was a "waste of time" because Corcoran had dropped out.
Since when has a functioning democracy been a waste of time?
This district is hardly a “functioning democracy.” These ballcap-wearing morons would rather take a header off some upstairs porch than cast a ballot.
The city should sell the district to Shorewood Hills for 50 bucks.
That fat ass hippy thinks he has a “ringing endorsement” when almost nobody voted? LOL
I bet he smells too.
I love how the college Republican camp is trying to down-play the elections because of low turnout. Elections are decided by people show up. And this one was the largest blowouts in history. Show up or shut up, I say.
If it’s a “blowout,” it’s a pretty meaningless one. The only thing that matters is that Austin and Kami made it into the general election. Which of them places first and second and by what margin matters zilch. Especially when nobody showed up for the opening round.
Great spin, Kami. If by whatever miracle you had won this election, you’d be yelling “scoreboard, scoreboard” and dancing. There is no doubt Ryan Corcoran would have easily eclipsed your vote total if he would have stayed in it.
How can you call someone who has lived in Madison for 5 years a carpetbagger? Its not carpetbagging to live somewhere for school and decide to run for public office to serve your community. The turnout was incredibly disappointing but I didn’t see Kami trying to do anything about it. I got a direct mail piece from him that didn’t even mention the issues it just promoted a fundraiser for him. Why would I want to donate to his campaign without knowing anything about him? His campaign tactics are pretty horrible, minus relying on the college republicans. As a moderate republican I say as that he should embrace his right tendencies.
Carpetbagging? Come on you littel fuckers, get it straight. Kami lived in Madison for over twenty years. (20). Austin lived in Madison for 5. Kami came here at 15. Austin arrived as a freeloading college student financed by his rich parents.
Austin is well over a year out of college, and he is still unemployed. Is this a surprise? Who would hire that lo-rent Shaggy from Scooby Doo impersonator?
Ah, if only I could graduate and contiue to live off my parents. What a life of liesure I could have.