Grand Forks Marine Wins City Council Seat From Iraq

By Rob on June 14, 2006 at 08:28 am

"We've got a raid going on right now and I can't do anything for another 90 minutes. Can I call you then or is it too late?"

Thus went the e-mail from Maj. Mike McNamara from Fallujah, Iraq, replying to a request for an interview following his victory in the Grand Forks City Council Ward 2 race.

The race had been an intense one with four other candidates fighting for the same office and all of them having the advantage of being in town during the campaign.

Not that Mac, as he is often know, didn't have advantages of his own being both a local media celebrity he's the host of Mac Talk on KNOX radio and a Marine in a time when the military enjoys the most prestige it's had since World War II.

As things turned out, he had no problem wooing the voters. Mac got 49 percent of the 695 votes cast in Ward 2, the city ward with the biggest voter turnout. His closest rival was Jon Dorner who had 19 percent of the vote.

Mac's wife Susan, who went door-to-door on his behalf with their children and other volunteers, said no one they spoke with thought his being away was a problem. She said it would be no different than when current council members are away during meetings: They call in.

Mac is scheduled to return in 93 days, according to his Web site VoteMcNamara.com.

Somehow this flew under my radar. I'm usually fairly up-to-date with North Dakota news, and here I didn't even know this guy was running.

It's a pretty neat story. His website has an email address and phone number where his constituents can reach him even as he's serving in Iraq.

He seems like an amazing man, and a great addition to municipal government in Grand Forks. Hopefully we'll see him moving up to bigger offices sometime in the future.

Comments

Doc,

Just to set the record straight, Major McNamara is a Marine… not a soldier.

Semper Fi, Major.

Bat One on June 14, 2006 at 09:49 am

O.T. My desk calendar has today as flag day, is it wrong? Not seeing much in the media, think they forgot.

hvywgt on June 14, 2006 at 09:53 am

Watch what you wish for.

he thinks forced annexation of more land into the city might reduce what he feels is artificially inflated land prices.

WOOF on June 14, 2006 at 11:25 am

Jarhead

WOOF on June 14, 2006 at 11:31 am

Major Mike is a stand up guy and a good friend. He probably isn’t as idealogic as me or many of us, but at his core he understands personal responsibility and self reliance. He will be a great asset to that council!!!

gilbyguy on June 14, 2006 at 05:26 pm

Knowing Mac like I do, I think he would be upset if he was voted in just because he was in the military. I’m actually somewhat miffed that one (docdave) can say, “that really showed their support for our troops.” So much for voting because you believe in his principles and what his solutions are for the problems of the city.

This is an underlying problem in America. Politicians do not campaign based on issues. Every campaign is always superficial. Politicians give the voters just enough substance to show that they might be smart or knowledgable about the issues. Then it is all about name recognition.

Grand Forks has a problem with electing people mostly because they have a name. Grand Forks also suffers from very low voter turnout. So the people doing the voting are the cool kids and therefore only the cool kids get elected.

I don’t want to take away from Mac’s win, but hosting a popular radio talk show didn’t hurt his chances. Mac is one of the cool kids.

Regardless of whether or not the 49.1% that voted for Mac voted for him because he’s a radio celeb or he’s in the military, they voted for the MOST CAPABLE individual. Mac will be far and away one of the smartest minds on the council. He will keep the rest of the council on their toes and he will bring some needed leadership… if they allow him to slide into a leadership role. But, knowing Mac, he will WANT that role.

Dave Miller on June 14, 2006 at 09:29 pm

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