Why I don’t vote early. And, I made a huge mistake.

I’ve always waited till election day to cast my ballot. Yes, I consider myself a well informed voter, but, one never knows what will come out just before an election.

I’ve been to more candidates nights than anyone other than the other candidates. I’ve heard from candidates night after night. I thought I did my homework and felt comfortable with producing a complete SlateCard for my district ^[1](with me included). And then, last night, talking to a friend who is a judge- asking him who he thinks is most qualified, he brings up a few factoids that escaped me. And, after a night of sleeping on it- I went in and changed one candidate on my slate card.

I’m sure Julie Bruns is more than qualified to be a juvenile court judge to replace Tony Capizzi. But, I was also pretty sure so was her opponent, Steve Abshire. But, judges can’t say much on the campaign trail (One of the reasons I think electing judges is a mistake) and I went along with endorsing Julie over Steve (even though Steve is a fellow veteran).

And then it came out, straight out of my friendly judges mouth- Julie’s husband, David Bruns had worked for County Prosecutor, Mat Heck, at a relatively low paying job. Julie made more as a prosecutor. Julie is also Mat’s 2nd Cousin- which qualifies them both as part of the “Friends and family” wing of the Monarchy of Montgomery County.

For five years, David Bruns was stealing from the public in his job. And when he was prosecuted for being caught for $90K he got off with a relative slap on the back ^[2] (vs. Brian Higgins who was ensnared in an FBI Sting- and was sent to Federal Prison for 3 years ^[3] proving once again, if you are white and connected, you do less time).

Now, I understand that David Bruns isn’t Julie Bruns, but I sincerely question her gullibility when she accepted her husbands lies about where the money came from. This is not a quality I want in a judge. So, this morning, I changed my slate to recommend her opponent Steve Abshire.

I don’t like making mistakes, but, when I do, I admit to them.

I’m also sure I’m breaking the Dem Party rules about endorsing candidates from another party- even though judges are supposed to be in non-partisan races. That’s OK. You have to wonder about a Party that routinely puts family in front of duty. This isn’t the first time a family relationship is the main qualification of getting a job in local government. For the best example- look to the Montgomery County Board of Elections who hired a convicted rapist, without a job posting, to a job, because he was the party secretaries brother ^[4].

Please forgive me for being human, and not related to anyone who is a convicted criminal.

And, please, can we replace Mat Heck yet? A prosecutor who has different standards for justice for people he doesn’t like. See this post about his inability to prosecute a thief who stole from Service Disabled Veterans ^[5] and allowed Phil Plummer and his jailers get away with torture in the Montgomery County Jail ^[6].

And, if you did manage to wait until today, and are still going out to vote, I’d be honored to be your choice. I will work hard to represent you as honestly and transparently as possible- without influence from the billionaires buying our elections ^[7].