Matt Taylor filed to run for the non-partisan post of member of the Yolo County (California) Board of Education. He then learned that his opponent, the incumbent, was raising a great deal of money, so he assumed he couldn’t win and tried to withdraw. But California doesn’t permit candidates to withdraw. Taylor then ceased all campaign activity, but he won anyway. See this story. Thanks to Doug McNeil for the link.
This is an exception to the rule. Richard, do you know how many votes were cast for each candidate?
“Taylor defeated incumbent board trustee Xavier Gamez by a vote margin of 2,641 to 2,326, based on Tuesday night’s election returns.”
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article3655553.html
Doug McNeil:
Thanks for the stats on the votes.
There must have been some internal politics somewhere with a political jurisdiction of some 5,000 voters. Either Xavier Gamez must have turned the voters off through his votes on the Board during his term, or there was a private group supporting and “getting out the vote” for Taylor for whatever the reason.
Voters usually don’t turn against an incumbent without some compelling reason for doing so – especially since this was non-partisan race.