(Jim, Mary, Emma, and Linley Himes voting this morning in CT-04.)
It's finally here: primary day in CT-04! Orange to Blue candidate Jim Himes is taking on "Hedge Fund Mistress" author Lee Whitnum in what is shaping up to be a very low-turnout contest for the Democratic nomination to take on Chris Shays in November.
Polls have been open for a few hours now and turnout, as expected, is very light. If you have friends or family in southwestern Connecticut, please help get out the vote for Jim today by reminding them to vote:
Get Out the Vote for Jim Himes - Remind Five Friends in CT-04 to Vote Today
Here's Emma and Linley helping Jim fill out his ballot early this morning (according to the workers at their polling place, at about 6:20am Mary and Jim were the 7th and 8th people to vote):
And here's an iPhone pic of the ballot that a supporter sent in about 20 minutes ago - filling out a bubble may not be as satisfying as pulling the old levers, but today, it seems pretty satisfying:
More photos at Flickr. The Greenwich Time reports this morning that "light turnout" is expected throughout the district - which mean every single vote will count! Polls are open until 8PM tonight. To find your polling place and remind your friends to vote, check out our primary info center page at: www.himesforcongress.com/primary
And continue to check the blog at www.himesforcongress.com/blog throughout the day for updates.
In endorsing Jim Himes last week, the Stamford Advocate highlighted the stakes of today's primary:
By any measure, the vote on Tuesday should not be a close one. Conventional wisdom has Mr. Himes, a Greenwich resident, trouncing Ms. Whitnum, also of Greenwich. But conventional wisdom at times has proved itself to be not so wise.
There is a two-fold concern here, and it regards the issue of turnout. First, turnout in primaries is usually abysmal. Second, many people don't bother to vote if they think an election will be a blow-out. It's likely that the only real chance Ms. Whitnum has of winning is if turnout is terrible.
Let's make sure CT-04 Democrats turn out to vote before polls close at 8pm tonight:
Get Out the Vote for Jim Himes - Remind Five Friends in CT-04 to Vote Today
If you're outside the district, you can still get involved today! Our primary fundraising deadline is midnight tonight. Help us have the resources we need to beat Chris Shays only 12 weeks from today:
(Cross-posted from the Himes For Congress blog. I am the Online Communications Director for Jim Himes for Congress.)