The “masses” have spoken, and by “masses,” I mean the approximately 9,533 people who realized there was an election happening between their third and fourth trips to Taco Villa. In a city of over 260,000, Mayor Mark McBrayer coasted to victory with 70.3% of the vote. It turns out that if you promise more police and talk about Lake Seven—our local version of a mirage—the few people who actually show up will keep you in office, mostly because they can’t remember the names of the other three people on the ballot.
While McBrayer celebrates his “mandate” from a tiny fraction of the population, the election stats show we’ve officially given up. We had 24,076 people show up to scream about marijuana in May 2024, but when it comes to picking the guy who actually runs the place? We couldn’t even crack five digits. McBrayer says he wants us to feel safe walking to the park, which is a lovely sentiment for the three days a year when the dirt isn’t blowing 60 miles per hour directly into our retinas.
Over in District 3, David Bruegel—a former Lubbock County GOP Chairman, to the surprise of absolutely no one—secured 810 votes to win his seat. His visionary platform includes “roads” and “water,” groundbreaking concepts that Lubbock has been “prioritizing” since the Dust Bowl without ever actually fixing a single pothole on 34th Street. He’s joined by Christy Martinez-Garcia, who held onto District 1 with a staggering 575 votes. When asked what she’d say to the 35.9% of people who voted for her opponent, she essentially told them to check the scoreboard and reminded everyone that 64% of a very small room is still a win.
So, congratulations to the winners. You’ve successfully convinced a handful of retirees and people who got lost on the way to the United Supermarkets to let you keep playing SimCity with our tax dollars. We look forward to another term of downtown “redevelopment” that consists mostly of moving dirt around and wondering why Broadway still looks like a war zone.
Does it really matter who’s in charge when the only thing growing faster than the crime rate is the number of car washes on 82nd Street?
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