Can a write-in candidate win this race?

When I decided to enter the race for District 2 Supervisor it was already too late to have my name printed on the ballot, so I was forced to file as a write-in candidate, and several people who were in a position to know told me not to bother, because the odds were just too long. Their assumption, of course, was that any given voter was either too lazy or too stupid to take an extra moment and actually write "John Henry" in the space provided, but I've never subscribed to that view. I've worked and lived in this District for a long time, and I know that people here are not lazy or stupid, and that they're perfectly capable of casting a vote for a write-in candidate if they think that it's going to be in their best interests.

And in fact I like being a write-in; anyone who casts a vote for me has gone an extra mile, bothered to inform themselves of my positions and beliefs through this Web page, and made a conscious decision to change the course of County Government by electing a Supervisor for District 2 who will be responsive to their needs and desires, and who will hold that position in trust for the people of the District .

When Abraham Lincoln was President he held most afternoons open, and people from all walks of life came to the White House to visit with "Old Abe," as he was affectionately known. Lincoln knew that the common people had put him into office, and he also knew that if he spoke with them they'd deliver practical and shrewd advice, which was often in short supply in Washington.

Today, of course, you can't walk up to the front of the White House at all, much less walk in and see the President, but there is no good reason why a County Supervisor shouldn't be accessible to any of his constituents at any time; a Supervisor is engaged in the people's business, and the people are quite capable of telling the Supervisor exactly what opinion they have on any given issue. The only thing that the people need is a Supervisor who pays attention to them instead of forgetting who he represents; if they have that the whole thing works just fine.

John-Henry