Week 46 - Election Day
Politics in Central Appalachia has been a complicated topic for decades. Corruption in the form of bribes and kickbacks from the big coal companies who were more worried about profits than people left the region in the hands of leaders who didn’t always have the locals’ best interest at heart. As the coal business dried up, a vacuum was left, with little in terms of economic development happening in much of the region. Luckily, a new type of politician has stepped up to fill the roles needed to lead the region to greater prosperity. One such leader is high school English teacher Will Turner.
Will started his day as he does most; quick shower and shave, kiss from his wife and they both rush out the door to enlighten the minds of students in Peril County. He had decided to run for State Representative late in the game and would not be on the ballot. Instead, he would be a write-in candidate. He had done the research and knew how unlikely a win would be. But, undeterred, Will had met with almost every household in the district and made his case in public speaking events. And today was the day he’d been working toward: Election Day.
He had thought his time in the classroom was over last spring, but a change in the legislation that decimated teacher retirement meant that he would be spending at least a few more years teaching The Canterbury Tales and Beowulf, among other things. Walking into the Peril County High School building, Will received many handshakes and well wishes from colleagues and students alike. There was a Will for the Win poster on his door that one of his students had made for him. Despite his attempts to keep his political aspirations separate from his teaching, his students had taken a keen interest in the race.
His first batch of students slowly trickled into the room and began doing their bell ringer questions.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Why?
How will you achieve this goal?
After the final bell rang, Mr. Turner submitted his attendance electronically and stood to address his class. “Good morning, everyone. We’re starting a new writing assignment today. And this is one of my favorites because it has real-world applications. Some of you who attend college will write several term papers after graduation. Some of you will attend trade school and maybe not write much more academic stuff. But every one of you will need what we are starting today; a resume and cover letter.”
Will spent the next twenty minutes going around the room, talking with the students about their goals for the future. Many wanted to go to college. A few planned to go to the tech school across town. One girl wanted to be a chef. “Maybe you can cook something for us at the end of the semester, Chloe. Now, let’s get down to resumes and cover letters. Have any of you done one of these before.” No hands shot up and most faces looked confused. “Who knows what a resume is?” Still no looks of recognition.
He walked to his desk and pulled up a document on his smart board. “Here’s my resume. It’s just a document that lists my work experience and qualifications.” For the next few minutes, he walked his class through the finer points of a resume, taking time to answer questions and give insights on why this was an important topic.
Before long the bell rang, and the students collected their things and started for the door. “Good luck tonight!” he heard from a few of the students as they left. The rest of the day pretty much followed this same pattern, with the exception of Scotty Pugh projectile vomiting in his doorway during sixth period. He could smell sour milk and lunchroom pizza for the rest of the day.
Once his day had finished, Mr. Turner signed out and drove to the Baker’s Fork Firehouse about ten miles out of town. There were several cars parked in front of the grey brick building. Ed and Edna Wilson were washing the mud from a new fire engine at the side of the building. They both waved as Will made his way into the fire station.
“Well, Howdy-do, Mr. Turner. You been quite the talk ‘round here today!” Old Man Howard Begley sat at the head of the polling station, checking everyone in. He wasn’t quite as old as he looked, which was good, because he looked about dead. He hacked and coughed as he pointed to the line for Will to sign and then directed him to an empty polling machine. The Baker’s Fork site was one of the larger polling stations in Peril County, having three machines to use. Two were the old, paper machines that had been around for over thirty years. But they also had one digital machine, and that is the one Will walked to.
He scanned the ballot, checking off names for the national races as he went. Will prided himself on being a staunch moderate, not blindly following any party line. Once he came to the State Representative Race for his district, he was careful to select the “Other” option. A digital keyboard appeared on the screen and Will was able to type in his own name. “Easy enough,” he thought. “Just hope other folks thought so too.”
Once finished, he reviewed his selections and smashed the big red “SUBMIT” button to his right. The machine made an odd, crunching noise and a “Thank You!” message appeared on the screen.
“Think ye got’che a shot?” Mr. Begley asked as Will walked toward the door.
“We will find out in a few hours, I suppose,” he replied and let the door close behind him. Will gave another wave to the Wilsons as he drove out of the parking lot. He pointed his car toward his home and hit the gas.
Turning up the radio, Will heard the local news report say a record low turnout was expected for today's race. He shook his head. “Nobody cares,” he sighed.
Will’s wife Alma was sittin’ on the porch when he pulled into the driveway of their home. “You go vote already?” he asked her as he walked up the steps.
“I went before work. Was that Begley man still there?” She was nursing a beer.
Will nodded. “Yeah, he signed me in.”
She shuddered. “That feller would creep out the crypt keeper!”
They both laughed a little.
“Anything exciting happen at the middle school today?” he asked her.
She shook her head and took another drink. “Folks just askin’ about you and this election. Everbody says they hope you win.”
Will raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side a little. “I’m not getting my hopes up. Steward Walker is a successful businessman over in Harlan with a lot of resources. I just want to make a respectable showing.”
Alma polished off her beer and they went inside the house. The afternoon news was on in the kitchen and almost every story dealt with the election in some form or fashion. “And with polls closing in just over an hour, we should get reports to you as soon as they come in,” WEKT’s Jim Morgan said through the television.
The pair worked together to prepare a delicious dinner of stuffed pasta shells, shrimp skewers, and grilled veggies. That, and a half a bottle of white wine later, Will agreed to do the dishes. In truth, he was just looking for anything to keep his hands busy and his mind off of the election. Logically, he knew that the likelihood of winning the House seat was extremely low. But, he had somehow allowed himself to hope, even just a little.
“Will, honey. Can you run in here?” There was an excitement in her voice that caught him off guard. Walking into the living room, Alma sat on the couch, holding the remote to the television, smiling. He glanced up to the screen to see his name, along with Stewart Walker and Horace Griffith. With forty-seven percent of the precincts in, Will was winning by eighty-seven votes.
It took Will a moment to realize what was happening. Up until that moment, he hadn’t allowed himself to accept that this was actually possible. Sure, he was standing up for teachers and making a statement. But, this could happen. A wave of equal parts excitement and panic washed over him. In a low grumble of a voice, “Oh, wow” was all he could say.
For the next few hours, the couple sat in their living room, answering phone calls from friends and neighbors, replying to texts and messages online and constantly checking the reports. The incumbent, Stewart Walker, was his closest competitor. Will could feel his heart racing as the totals kept climbing, and he remained ahead, if only by a hundred votes or so.
“We’ve got a tight one over in Peril and Harlan Counties,” WEKT’s Jim Morgan said on the screen. “Long time State Representative Stewart Walker is currently trailing Will Turner. Turner, a write-in candidate, is a school teacher who is running to oppose Walker’s actions taken against teachers in the Spring. With seventy-five percent of the precincts reporting, Turner has a slim lead. We will keep an eye on this one throughout the night.”
Will was as anxious as he could ever remember. He looked over to see Alma biting her nails, matching his excitement. “Mr. Turner goes to Frankfort,” she said with a smile. The phone kept ringing and texts kept pouring in. “We should have had a party!” Alma said as she got up to make some popcorn.
“Not over yet!” said the pragmatic school teacher.
The late night news open blared through the screen and Jim Morgan sat at his desk with a laptop off to his side. “Good evening, East Kentucky. This has been an Election Day for the record books. We’ve got final results for most of the national and regional races and many of the local ones as well. Let’s take a look.” He started reading through the totals for the US Senate and Representative races; some old faces, some new. Will kept his eyes glued to the bottom of the screen where a ticker rolled with continuous updates of races, hoping to get a glimpse of his.
Alma was finishing up her popcorn when Jim Morgan said “And it was a barnburner of a race in Harlan and Peril Counties tonight, incumbent Stewart Walker comes from behind to beat write-in candidate Will Turner by just thirty-seven votes in one of the tightest races we’ve seen here tonight. Again, Stewart Walker keeps the State Representative seat for his district.”
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry!” Alma said, putting her head on Will’s shoulder.
He kissed the top of her head and leaned into her a little. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. But, honestly, this is not terrible news. Think of it this way. I came into the race three months ago as a write-in candidate and folks liked what I was saying so much they took the effort to do that.” He shifted in his seat so he could face her. “Imagine having the next two years to get out and talk to people and really try to spread the word about making a difference.”
Alma smiled. “You wanna keep pursuing it? I’m all for it if you are.”
“We just started working on resumes in class today. I wouldn’t mind adding State Representative onto mine,” he said with a grin.