Why you shouldn’t early vote.

Full disclosure, my firm, The Next Wave, does printing for candidates and campaigns, so far this cycle, we’ve done work for McManus and McDonald. At any minute, we could add others, since candidates are notoriously bad at planning.

First and foremost, please check your current voter registration and make sure it’s still what you expect. You can update it online here. Thanks to unfounded election tampering by the Republican’s all kinds of changes are in place.

Here’s the schedule for early voting:

• October 7: Deadline to Register to Vote. Boards open until 9:00 p.m.
• October 8: Absentee Voting by Mail begins (Ends November 4, postmark deadline)
• October 8: Early In-Person Voting begins
• October 29: Absentee ballot applications must be received by your board of elections by 8:30 p.m.

So what can happen between Oct 8 and Nov 5th to change your mind about a candidate or issue? A lot. Trust me. I consider myself a politically astute and dialed in voter and there have been times I’ve been surprised by a piece of information the day before election day that changed my mind on who I was going to support: Why I don’t vote early. And, I made a huge mistake.

That post is a lot like this post. But this time, I’m giving you a reason not to do it.

By now, all of us are sick of political ads on TV- esp. the Moreno/Brown ones. They (and their proxies) are buying so much TV right now that small businesses in the area can’t buy TV ads (I’m in advertising- and I don’t believe in political advertising). The truth is- companies have to abide by strict truth in advertising laws- and politicians don’t. One of the reasons I believe we should move election day to the 4th of July is because it’s not in the 4th quarter when many businesses do half of their sales- and the other is, what better day to celebrate our independence and our democratic values?

As a candidate, I can tell you that candidates forums are lousy ways to evaluate candidates. One and two minute answers to questions chosen by moderators don’t give you any real insight- and most campaign literature is lucky to have more than 3 bullet points- instead of substance (my literature is distinctively different).

So, for the upcoming campaign, I plan to bring the following candidate into my live stream studio for in-depth interviews of at least an hour, one-on-one, no holds barred. I’ve done some of these before, as has Alex Sharp, part of my team with my non-profit, 501 C-4 “Reconstructing Dayton.” We started this during covid- when gathering wasn’t so simple.

The candidates I’ve got responses from, and who I feel are worthy of my time are:

Debbie Lieberman and Mary McDonald running for Montgomery County Commision, John McManus running for Montgomery County Treasurer, Lynn Cooper running for Montgomery County Clerk of Court. We’ll be streaming in real time- and questions will be taken from our viewers.

There is no way in hell I’ll waste my time on Mohamed Al-Hamdani who is running against McManus, because you can learn everything you need to know about him from this video:

I also won’t interview Mike Foley, the current clerk of courts who is facing 12 felony indictments. There are only two reasons this man is in office- too many voters think he’s related to (or is) Dan Foley- and that he ran originally against Russ Joseph who keeps being saved by the local “Monarchy of Montgomery County” given jobs and paychecks way exceeding his skill set.

Generally, I’m sticking with local candidates, because it’s much easier to choose people who are running for the Statehouse- where they can pass laws limiting your rights to an abortion or own a gun. For instance, between Rose Lounsbury and Andrea White- or Willis Blackshear Jr and Charlotte McGuire- the choices are pretty simple.

As to the Judy Dodge/Kate Baker race for county commission – they both skipped the NAACP forum which leads me to believe they don’t really care that much. In the Stacey Benson Taylor vs the Florida woman for County Recorder- you’d think that there is a residency requirement?

Here’s the NAACP Forum from 23 September 2024. I rendered it before I realized the date on the video was wrong.

The following candidates were in attendance: Front row- left to right:

• DEBBIE LIEBERMAN V MARY MCDONALD- Montgomery County Commission seat 1.
• JOHN MCMANUS- Montgomery County Treasurer
• MIKE FOLEY V LYNN COOPER Montgomery County Clerk of Courts
• STACEY BENSON-TAYLOR – Montgomery County Recorder
• MICHAEL HARBAUGH V AMY COX- Congress OH-10
• WILLIS BLACKSHEAR JR V Charlotte McGuire- Ohio Senate, 6th District
• ROSE LOUNSBURY – Ohio House, 36th District
• Julia J. Mauk V Elizabeth A. Ellis – Montgomery County Judge of the Court of Common Pleas (1) Unexpired Term Ending 7/1/2027

There were plenty of people missing:

• Judy Dodge and Kate Baker running against each other for County Commission
• Mohamed Al-Hamdani running against McManus
• Lori Kennedy running against Benson-Taylor
• Mike Turner running against Harbaugh and Cox
• Andrea White running against Lounsbury.
• The moderator is former Ohio Senator Tom Roberts

If you want to fast forward to the best stuff- anytime Rose Lounsbury stands and speaks is a joy to watch- she’s by far the best public speaker and most put together candidate Mongomery County has ever seen. If I was Andrea White- I’d never show up next to her- because, well, you can’t compete.

The comments from independent candidate Michael Harbaugh are thought provoking and interesting- and refreshing. Amy Cox does sort of steal the show when she calls “Project 2025 is Hot Garbage” but- listen to Harbaugh’s response- miles ahead.

The funniest part was when Lynn Cooper introduced herself as the Un-Indicted candidate for Clerk of Courts, sad but true.

Between now and election day, all kinds of things could come out, happen, or change the dynamic. While you may have already made your mind up about who you want to vote for in Federal Elections, these down ballot races may be way more important to the future of your community.

If you have questions for any of these candidates, you can feel free to leave them in the comments. I’ll be notifying everyone of the schedule as we firm it up.

And, one last reason not to vote until election day- suppose both presidential candidates are no longer viable- is your choice the same if it’s JD Vance vs Tim Walz? Or if Mike Turner’s off the ballot- and you had to choose between Amy Cox and Michael Harbaugh? Here’s my interview of Harbaugh btw:

We don’t know what else may surface in the Mike Foley indictments either.

Then there are the two Countywide issues- Metroparks and the Library tax increases. Considering the library just started shutting down the Belmont branch M-F after school, maybe they don’t need our extra money?

Take your time to thoroughly research all the issues and candidates. I’ll do my best to give you more information than any other source, but, even I get surprises the day before election day.

Song: Wait till Election Day! by David Esrati