I was doing some research for my May magazine column, and voter turnout in the 2007 mayor’s race was just 13 percent. This time, in a much less interesting election, we could be at 10 percent — or less. Which means that fewer than 70,000 of us, or less people than attend a Cowboys game, will decide who spends the city’s $2 billion budget. No wonder the people downtown don’t pay any attention to us.
Updated odds:
• Far North Dallas councilman Ron Natinsky (4-1, previously 7-2): The aura of inevitability is wearing off. He needs to do more than promise to make Dallas safer for real estate developers, which seemed to be the gist of his West Dallas revitalization plan.
• Park Board president Mike Rawlings (6-1, previously 6-1): Note to pundits: Putting campaign ads on YouTube doesn’t mean mean anything. Voters needs to see the ads, and most voters — especially when they don’t care — don’t go trolling YouTube for ads.
• Former police chief David Kunkle (5-1, previously 6-1): Got a key gay endorsement, which should make a bigger difference than usual in an election where so few people will vote.
• Businessman Ed Opka (100-1): Showed well in the 2007 campaign, but he got just 429 votes. Probably not a factor this time, either.
