"We'd like to get to number one, but we'll settle for second." So says Dan Guerra, a spokesperson for Peter MuÃoz's campaign to unseat Dave Cieslewicz as mayor of Madison. Both campaigns are getting ready for a big day of GOTV on Tuesday, the primary for this spring's municipal elections in Wisconsin.
"It hasn't been widely publicized how important the primary is," says Guerra, who will be making phone calls and talking to prospective voters on Tuesday. "In an election like this with such low voter turnout, we remind every person we contact to vote." And, he adds, to vote for MuÃoz.
The incumbent's campaign even issued a get-out-the-vote press release on Sunday. "Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is taking nothing for granted in the final push leading up to Tuesday's mayoral primary election," it reads. "Cieslewicz spent the weekend knocking on doors, making phone calls and attending events throughout the community" -- activities that will continue until the polls close tomorrow.
Once the polls close, the candidates will make their way to campaign parties, where their supporters will be expectantly watching the returns crawl along the bottom of innumerable tavern television screens.
Here are the times and locations for the campaign parties:
- Dave Cieslewicz and his supporters will meet at Madison's on King Street, beginning at 8 p.m.
- Peter MuÃoz and his supporters will gather at the Brink Lounge on East Washington Avenue, starting around 9 p.m.
- Ray Allen and his supporters will be meeting at the Esquire Club on North Sherman Avenue.
More information about voting in Madison is available here (including a poll location finder), while similar details for casting a ballot in greater Dane County is available here. The top two vote-getters will move on to the general election, scheduled for Tuesday, April 3. More coverage of Madison's mayoral race can be found here.
